# Why am I picking up a radio station through my TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-picking-up-a-radio-station-through-my-tv/188893 "2003-07-16T15:20:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-picking-up-a-radio-station-through-my-tv/188893/1 "2003-07-16T15:20:38Z")
This sometimes happens if I am using my VCR to play a movie - I can’t hear the tape because I pick up a radio broadcast through the TV. I know it’s radio because sometimes I’ll hear the station ID. It seems to happen more often during the daytime and stop after sunset, but not always - sometimes I get noise after sunset as well. Anyone got any ideas? Is there anything I can do (besides getting a DVD player)? ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-picking-up-a-radio-station-through-my-tv/188893/2 "2003-07-16T15:53:05Z")
Not much I could do when I had a smilar problem. My TV would pick up the moron across the street when he used is CB radio. The only solution that worked for us was to move. I have had friends who could hear radio signals on their telephones when they lived close to broadcasting towers as well. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-picking-up-a-radio-station-through-my-tv/188893/3 "2003-07-16T16:30:07Z")
does your tv and vcr have hook ups for a/v cables? just in case you don’t know (don’t feel bad if you don’t, neither does my mom) check each for a jack with yellow on it, a jack with white on it, and maybe a red one too. unless your right done the road from the radio station using a/v cables should fix it. another solution (in theory, never had this problem so i never tried this) would be to sheild the cable, and hook ups. first you have to insulate the stuff, wrap plastic sandwich wrap around the cable and hook ups (with the cable screwed into the tv and vcr). next the shielding, wrap a good layer of tinfoil around the cable and hookups. the tinfoil should catch and stop the signal, the plastic sandwich wrap should prevent the tinfiol from conducting it on to the cable. let me know how well it works and good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-picking-up-a-radio-station-through-my-tv/188893/4 "2003-07-16T16:36:09Z")
The FM band is located, on the electromagnetic spectrum, between the bandwidths for Channels 6 and 7. By virtue of frequency modulation, which both FM radio and TV use, there will inevitably be a certain amount of overlap. A FM station at 88.1 is on the top edge of what Channel 6 is built to pick up (82-88 MHz); one at 107.9 is on the bottom edge of Channel 7 (108-114 MHz). There is also the harmonic intervals of signals, so that something going out at 58.5 MHz or 29.25 MHz will have an “echo” square in the middle of Channel 8’s frequency, etc. ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-picking-up-a-radio-station-through-my-tv/188893/5 "2003-07-16T21:43:47Z")
Go to Radio Shack and get some ferrite cores to wrap your power cords in, try to re arrange your cords too. ---
**Author:** ![DPimpJ3di](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@DPimpJ3di](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPimpJ3di)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-picking-up-a-radio-station-through-my-tv/188893/6 "2003-07-17T05:40:23Z")
haha i remember i used to pick up the police radio thingies on the discovery channel…good fun nice to listen to… ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-picking-up-a-radio-station-through-my-tv/188893/7 "2003-07-17T07:58:37Z")
Around channem 80 or so I can here phone conversations on the TV. I think it’s kinda cool. I’ve sat there listening for a while.