What is that very annoying warble on 40M SSB band

[W3HKK]

I hear it during the daytime  most anywhere  between 7.125 and 7.250.  It sounds like somebody is  jiggling their  tuning knob while in cw mode.  But its  varying so quickly I dont think thats possible.  And it slowly moves up and down the band, as if drifting, but at a much faster rate than normal drifting.

Anyone know what it is???

Man, Id like to see it go away.

[N3OX]

Does it sound like this?

http://n3ox.net/files/sounds/switcherQRM.mp3

That's a switching power supply.  If that's the type of noise, that narrows it down to pretty much any piece of consumer electronics you or your neighbors own

[W3HKK]

Well, thats fairly close, and has the general sound of what Im getting.   Hmm.  Let me try shutting off my CalRad 6Amp regulated supply here on the desk and see if it goes away next time I hear it.

I'll let you know.

Thanks.

[W3HKK]

Nope.  It's not any power supply in my shack, excluding the  IC7600 external supply.

Im sitting on the other side of the wall from our HDTV/cable TV/receiver though.

[N3OX]

Check everything ... and remember that if there's a proximity effect it's proximity to the antenna, not to the radio.

Also keep in mind that many devices, especially TV's and stuff, never actually have a real "off" switch.  To fully cut power you have to unplug it.

I had a TV for a while that ONLY made noise on the ham bands when it was plugged in and turned off.  If it was turned on it was fine, if it was turned off I got S3 to S5 noise on 15m with the beam pointed at it

[M6GOM]

Where are the stations you are hearing this with? There has been a bit of arctic flutter noticable on phone the last couple of days which was a bit unexpected.

[W3HKK]

GOM:  its not something I hear on a signal, it's a separate signal  slowly sweeping up and down  several ham bands including 40m.  With its own  cw like tone  wobbling about its slowly changing frequency.  Quite annoying.

[W0BTU]

Also keep in mind that many devices ... never actually have a real "off" switch.  To fully cut power you have to unplug it.

Exactly!

I visited a ham recently who thought his S9 noise on 20 meters was normal. I had him go through the house and unplug one thing at a time. There were several noise generators, most notably his son's laptop charger.

With that stuff unplugged, his noise dropped below an S2, and he now enjoys working 20m.