# Weird car shit **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 26, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938 "2011-06-26T20:33:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938/1 "2011-06-26T20:33:12Z")
This almost made me pull over yesterday in confusion when it happened. I was driving along, listening to the radio (it was set to 88.7) and had both hands on the steering wheel (I had it on cruise control so I didn’t have my other hand on the acceleration). I happened to be glancing over to my right, probably to check the next lane for traffic, when my eyes fell on the digital display of the radio dial. The radio dial, completely independent of any movement on my part, heck even independent of any road turbulence, changed from 88.7 (a rock station) to 88.5 (static). Has this anomaly ever happened to anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938/2 "2011-06-26T21:15:29Z")
I will leave the technicalities to others, but the radio is trying to lock on to that frequency. When the reception gets too weak, possibly due to interference, it seeks the next available channel. You could make this happen all day long by selecting extremely weak stations and driving around or even standing in your driveway and waiting. ---
**Author:** ![inkling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkling)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938/3 "2011-06-26T21:22:55Z")
Yep, it’s happened to me a couple of times, correlated to traveling near or under high-tension power lines. I suspect some kind of electromagnetic induction in the circuitry of the radio. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938/4 "2011-06-26T21:30:40Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > I will leave the technicalities to others, but the radio is trying to lock on to that frequency. When the reception gets too weak, possibly due to interference, it seeks the next available channel. You could make this happen all day long by selecting extremely weak stations and driving around or even standing in your driveway and waiting. It’s a digital radio, though. In all my years in a car, it’s never happened before. It wasn’t a weak signal (at least it didnt’ appear to be) it was a mainstream Detroit station and I was in the middle of Detroit (not literally in the city, mind you). And it went FROM a strong signal to complete static. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938/5 "2011-06-26T21:31:44Z")
> [@inkling](#): > > Yep, it’s happened to me a couple of times, correlated to traveling near or under high-tension power lines. I suspect some kind of electromagnetic induction in the circuitry of the radio. This makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938/6 "2011-06-27T05:52:06Z")
Your car got an influx of jiggowatts, but got confused, so is trying to get to 88.0 MHz and not 88 MPH. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938/7 "2011-06-27T06:09:51Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > I will leave the technicalities to others, but the radio is trying to lock on to that frequency. When the reception gets too weak, possibly due to interference, it seeks the next available channel. You could make this happen all day long by selecting extremely weak stations and driving around or even standing in your driveway and waiting. Nope. If that’s happening you have a busted radio, simple as that. The detector does not change frequencies on its own, it merely locks onto the strongest signal on that frequency. A possibility: The tuning knob, assuming it has a tuning knob, typically has detents, tactile indicators that you are turning the knob so that you need not look at the radio while you’re changing the frequency. It could be that you turned it and stopped before the knob locked into place but after the frequency changed and it simply finally clicked into place, causing the frequency to change. Two other possibilities: you accidentally bumped the seek button, though that typically retunes up instead of down. Or you have stereo controls on your steering wheel and you bumped the button that controls the tuning function there. The last possibility: the dead body you carry around in your trunk reanimated itself and changed it for you just to creep you out. If that’s the case, I’d be thinking about getting rid of it if I were you. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938/8 "2011-06-27T06:15:22Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > The last possibility: the dead body you carry around in your trunk reanimated itself and changed it for you just to creep you out. If that’s the case, I’d be thinking about getting rid of it if I were you. Now why would he be wanting to get rid of a perfectly good radio just because some zombie is feeling frisky? Sprinkle it with salt, **jamiemcgarry**. Best if you can get the salt into the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-car-shit/586938/9 "2011-06-27T12:30:48Z")
It was trying to nudge you away from that Canadian station toward a good ol’ American station. mmm