I recently moved and now have Optimum cable (I previously had Fios). A couple of times now while watching, I think PBS shows, I get a few seconds of what sounds exactly like Morse Code playing in the background. Its not at the very beginning or end of the show, nor is it right before or after commercials. And its not that fast ‘Touchtone’ sound that ESPN used to (still?) use.
Don’t know if it matters but I record & watch everything via an HD TiVo Series 3.
The first thing that comes to mind is maybe you are hearing STL (studio-transmitter link) equipment IDing periodically.
At one time, some transmitters in the VHF range (repeaters, pagers etc.) would identify in “morse” code to satisfy governmet regulations. This is likely still the case but I’ve never heard it on TV.
If you could record it, there are numerous dopers who could read it. (Including me)
If the Morse code repeats the same letters over and over again, you’re likely hearing an aviation navigation beacon. Either a marker beacon for an instrument approach to a runway, or perhaps a VOR. (Very high frequency Omni-directional Radio beacon).
Or… perhaps you’re just leaving your cell phone too close to your TV equipment (it can cause interference that can sound a little ‘Morsey’).
frequencies (not intended) that a tv set might receive could be from high frequency to very high frequency, so antennas could be large to small. depends on many things.
morse code identification might be used on frequencies of VHF and UHF commercial, government in addition to ham radio.
I get a “Morse code” sound on various receivers (such as my car radio) at times. It’s always the same – basically one long followed by two shorts… actually, it sounds like it’s in 6/8, with the first tone covering beats 1-3, the second coming on beat 4, and the third on beat 6… the same pattern that’s played on cymbals in songs like “Riot in Cell Block #9”. (Really.) I assume it’s a cell phone thing, but I don’t know, and now I realize I should have asked this question here a long time ago! To the OP and others who experience this – do you hear that same pattern, or is it something different?
Cellphone near a radio reciever did it for me. The phone pings the tower every once in awhile. Used to bug me at night as I’d have the cell phone charging next to the radio/alarm. Six feet of separation and all was quiet again.
Let me piggyback onto this: Lately, I’m hearing not Morse code, but a short, rapid burst of 4 or so “touch tone” sounds - exactly like someone hit 4 telephone buttons in rapid succession.
This is using Verizon FIOS service. The TV isn’t near any phones, but obviously the phone and TV signal come into the house on the same cable.
If you’re hearing this while you’re watching TV, it may not be the FiOS. Cable channels use what are called “cue tones” to signal cable providers that the network feed is ending and that local programming can start, or that the network feed is starting and the local programming has to end. These tones are also called “bee doop” tones. You’re not supposed to hear them, but sometimes you do. It’s just another one of the technical details that makes TV so romantic.
FWIW, I can recognize exactly what my phone is doing from the static patterns I hear. If it sounds like galloping followed by a single long buzzing tone, I’m about to get a call or a text. If not, it’s either the phone pinging the tower (based on one pattern), or the phone is getting e-mails or other notifications (a different pattern).
I used to run a show provided by my university’s athletic conference that had these cue tones edited into the show, for reasons that escape me. I just edited them out and replaced them with a standard introduction, inserted public service announcements into the breaks, and an outro. No more annoying cue tones!
