Why do I hear an FM radio station transmitting through my computer speakers?!


Question:

Why do I hear an FM radio station transmitting through my computer speakers?

Sometimes it is pretty loud, sometimes it is just soft but most the time I can hear FM 90.9 radio station (a college run station here in Tacoma, WA) through my computer speakers. I can hear the music even if my PC is shut down. Why does it do this, and is there any way to prevent it? Luckily I don't mind most the music I hear but it still gets irritating at times when trying to study and write. And yes, I know I can unplug the speakers but I wonder if there's any other way or device. Thanks!

Additional Details

2 months ago
No, I don't have braces, I'm 27 years old. I had braces when I was much younger though. And no, the speakers are not cheap and they aren't the ones that came with the computer. They cost $100 in a specialty store. There's two regular speakers and a subwoofer.

2 months ago
And the radio station is about ten miles away.. I wonder if that is close enough? I used to much closer to a radio station at my old apt, and had the same speakers and never heard anything through them.


Answers:

It's called RFI (= Radio Frequency Interferfence). There's a few reasons this could happen: you may live near a transmitter or your speaker's or computer's hardware / wiring is pulling in the signal. There's a couple things you can try, though none are 100%:

- You can buy a magnetically shielded set of speakers
- Use thicker, heavier gauge speaker wire
- Try moving your setup around the room away from the spot of interference.

Try the wikipedia article below for more technical info.

BTW...This is why they put that pesky FCC warning on electronics: "This device may not generate any harmful interference and must accept any interference received, even if it adversely affects performance."

Good luck.


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