Using a Terk XM Commander hooked up to my C90 HU via an XA-300 aux input
selector. Anyway, I've tried hooking up the power, accessory, and ground
wires in multiple different locations and have a very LARGE electrical
interference (alternator whine, noise with headlights, turn signals, etc)
problem I can't seem to get rid of. I've used different RCA cables with no
change to eliminate those as a possible source.

It did this before when using the FM modulator as well.

I'm not sure what to try next???

Tony


--



What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact

Let a professional look at it and give an opinion?


I'm not sure what to try next???

Masterson wrote: "Let a professional look at it and give an opinion?"

Uh....next please.

What do you think I'm online asking for in the first place?

Tony



--



What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact

"Masterson" wrote in message
...
Let a professional look at it and give an opinion?


I'm not sure what to try next???

have you been able to figure out if its the xa-300 or the xm commander
causing the noise?

if you disconnect the xm tuner and leave the xa-300 does the noise go away?
if you unplug the rcas between the xa-300 and the xm tuner does the noise go
away? try tracing the source unplugging one thing at a time to see the exact
source. sounds like a really bad ground, maybe of the units has a bad
ground inside.


"Tony Fernandes" wrote in message
...
Using a Terk XM Commander hooked up to my C90 HU via an XA-300 aux input
selector. Anyway, I've tried hooking up the power, accessory, and ground
wires in multiple different locations and have a very LARGE electrical
interference (alternator whine, noise with headlights, turn signals, etc)
problem I can't seem to get rid of. I've used different RCA cables with
no
change to eliminate those as a possible source.

It did this before when using the FM modulator as well.

I'm not sure what to try next???

Tony


--



What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or,
that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we
wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact

ummmmm....

re read my post....."look at it".....

Cause you would need to post pictures if you
wanted us too.




Uh....next please.

What do you think I'm online asking for in the first place?

It's not the XA-300. It was doing this before I got that, when I was using
the FM modulator...I just didn't want to mess around with it just now.

I'm guessing the XM tuner has a bad ground inside, because it's not the RCA
cables.

Tony


--



What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact

"Z Gluhak" wrote in message
...
have you been able to figure out if its the xa-300 or the xm commander
causing the noise?

if you disconnect the xm tuner and leave the xa-300 does the noise go
away?
if you unplug the rcas between the xa-300 and the xm tuner does the noise
go
away? try tracing the source unplugging one thing at a time to see the
exact
source. sounds like a really bad ground, maybe of the units has a bad
ground inside.


"Tony Fernandes" wrote in message
...
Using a Terk XM Commander hooked up to my C90 HU via an XA-300 aux input
selector. Anyway, I've tried hooking up the power, accessory, and
ground
wires in multiple different locations and have a very LARGE electrical
interference (alternator whine, noise with headlights, turn signals,
etc)
problem I can't seem to get rid of. I've used different RCA cables with
no
change to eliminate those as a possible source.

It did this before when using the FM modulator as well.

I'm not sure what to try next???

Tony


--



What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or,
that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we
wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact

This could possibly be an alternator problem, but before you get it checked
out. Check to make sure your battery and alternator are grounded well on clean
metal, and your battery connections are good and clean. Also, where are your
RCA's in relation to the power cable? If you don't allready know, they
shouldn't be run together. You could for example run the RCAs up one side and
the power cable up the other side of the vehicle. Let us consider the
grounding issue. "The best way to ground your equipment is to have a single
ground path to the negative side of your vehicle's electrical system for all
your equipment. That means connecting the ground terminals of the head unit,
primp, equalizer, crossover, and power amplifiers together. Then you have to
route that common heavy guage ground to a point on the vehicle body or frame
that you're certain is part of the negative side of the car's electrical
system. The best ground point of all is the battery itself." Reference (High
Performance Car Stereo, By Joe Pettitt) There is actually more in this book
that is related to this, but I hope this helps. Let me know if you need more
info.

Troy
carbudgetaudio.com

"Budgetaudio" wrote in
"The best way to ground your equipment is to have a single
ground path to the negative side of your vehicle's electrical system for
all
your equipment. That means connecting the ground terminals of the head
unit,
primp, equalizer, crossover, and power amplifiers together. Then you have
to
route that common heavy guage ground to a point on the vehicle body or
frame
that you're certain is part of the negative side of the car's electrical
system. The best ground point of all is the battery itself." Reference
(High
Performance Car Stereo, By Joe Pettitt) Troy
carbudgetaudio.com

Yes you should ground everything to the same point, it is giant and makes up
a large part of your car, It is called the Chassis. Running everything to
one ground point is usually a wasteful endeavor. Your chassis is essentially
one giant wire. I have never had to resort to grounding everything to the
same point. The trick is to make sure you have a solid ground to chassis.
The mere fact of running long ground wires all over the car is a problem in
and of itself. Wire does have a voltage drop associated with it, which
causes ground potential and then the buzz. The voltage drop of the chassis
is usually insignificant considering it's "wire size" is huge.

Les

yeah but he is running high end stuff that has been working fine and just
adding the xm tuner is creating horrible noise.

it sounds like the noise is so bad that there is almost no ground to the xm
unit and its throwing noise into the rcas

don't sound like major stuff like alternator if things have been working
fine before the xm tuner.

Z Gluhak wrote: "yeah but he is running high end stuff that has been working
fine and just adding the xm tuner is creating horrible noise."

Yes. True.

"it sounds like the noise is so bad that there is almost no ground to the xm
unit and its throwing noise into the rcas"

Agreed.

"don't sound like major stuff like alternator if things have been working
fine before the xm tuner."

Agreed again. I just put a noise filter in-line with the RCA cables and it
took care of 90% of the problem. I would still like to solve the issue
rather than just hide it.

I appreciate everyone's advice! Like Z Gluhak said, my system is well
grounded with zero noise. It's the XM receiver that's not cooperating. I
took it out from behind the dash and set it on my lap while I tried all
sorts of grounding and power locations. I also tried several different RCA
cables. I believe the unit is bad, but thought maybe I'd missed something &
wanted some second opinions.

The filter seems to have done the trick for now. Unless someone comes up
with a better idea, I'll just go back to Circuit City and ask for a new XM
receiver. I already spoke to them on the phone and got nowhere. It's an
hour drive, so I wanted to do everything possible before making the trip.

Thanks everyone.

P.S. Sorry I snapped at you, Masterson. I had pretty much lost my temper
trying to fix the stupid thing and didn't mean to be an A-hole.

Tony



What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact

P.S. Sorry I snapped at you, Masterson. I had pretty much lost my
temper
trying to fix the stupid thing and didn't mean to be an A-hole.

Not a problem Tony....
I also didn't realize that Circuit City was an hour away.
(not that they are professionals).

Glad you got most of it figured out.

ummmmm....

re read my post....."look at it".....

Cause you would need to post pictures if you
wanted us too.

What good would pictures do?

Tony's as competent as any installer at troubleshooting. He'll come to a
solution eventually, just as Nick did in the previous thread. That's the
way you learn.

What good would pictures do?

Mark....you missed the point.

I'm not sure what to try next???

He asked.....I gave my thoughts on what he should try.

Masterson wrote: "Not a problem Tony....I also didn't realize that Circuit
City was an hour away. (not that they are professionals). Glad you got
most of it figured out."

I wasn't expecting Circuit City to provide "the answer" because quite
honestly, I'm assuming most of their installers are pretty inexperienced (as
would any "big-box" electronics retailer). I was hoping they would say
"Hey, bring it in and we'll let you try another receiver". Well, that
didn't happen. Next time I'll just show up with my receipt and they can
look at my install and draw their own conclusions.

Tony



--



What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact

"Masterson" wrote in message
...
P.S. Sorry I snapped at you, Masterson. I had pretty much lost my
temper
trying to fix the stupid thing and didn't mean to be an A-hole.

Not a problem Tony....
I also didn't realize that Circuit City was an hour away.
(not that they are professionals).

Glad you got most of it figured out.