Mystery click

JohnPerry

RiftAmps said:

My soldering station emits a clicking noise that certain guitars pick up if I get too close to it.

hmm. but all the power is off in the house bar one amp and it's still at it

m_c

JohnPerry said:

m_c said:

Anybody with an electric fence nearby?

now this is not a bad shout and I had the same thought only this morning. The fence is, however, a good 100 yards away (surely too far?!) and anyway seemed to be off when I inspected it (having left the amp ticking away).

Also, it's been there ten years and I only started noticing this noise about a month ago

If it's starting to short out i.e. some grass/bush has grown close enough, it's the spark of it shorting out that causes the problem. If you have an old portable AM/MW radio, tune it to 612KHz and have a listen. If you get a steady tick, you can use the radio to trace where the tick is the strongest.

ewal

Sounds live you've already eliminated a lot of the obvious culprits - recording near my laptop is the only source of interference I've ever encountered.

JohnPerry

m_c said:

JohnPerry said:

m_c said:

Anybody with an electric fence nearby?

now this is not a bad shout and I had the same thought only this morning. The fence is, however, a good 100 yards away (surely too far?!) and anyway seemed to be off when I inspected it (having left the amp ticking away).

Also, it's been there ten years and I only started noticing this noise about a month ago

If it's starting to short out i.e. some grass/bush has grown close enough, it's the spark of it shorting out that causes the problem. If you have an old portable AM/MW radio, tune it to 612KHz and have a listen. If you get a steady tick, you can use the radio to trace where the tick is the strongest.

good call. will dig one out tomorrow

SNAKEBITE

Had the same problem until I realised I had left the metronome running.

At least it's not those voices in my head again though. that was getting a bit awkward.

mort

Also had the same problem - drove me nuts.
Problem went away when I moved house 

Roland

We had a click which we traced to a phone charger. Some models are designed to stop charging once the battery is full. They keep trying, and click every time they do.

JohnPerry

Roland said:

We had a click which we traced to a phone charger. Some models are designed to stop charging once the battery is full. They keep trying, and click every time they do.

they still need electricity though. And I have turned it all off

ICBM

If it goes away when the guitar volume is turned down then it almost certainly is some sort of electromagnetic pulse being picked up by the guitar pickups. The usual culprits will be something with a timing circuit in, but not necessarily.

Does it change when you turn the guitar round? If so you may be able to pinpoint where it's coming from - usually the 'null point' will be when the pickups are facing directly towards (or directly away from) the source, although that's not always a certainty.

Do you have a burglar alarm, or a car alarm in a vehicle parked close by outside?

HAL9000

I know you've already eliminated the wristwatch, but as @icbm has already pointed out anything with s timing circuit could be causing this. Digital clock in the room for instance. I can't wear a watch when I'm playing as the pulse always gets picked up (I wear my watch on my right wrist). The symptoms you describe do sound like a watch or clock could be the culprit.

HAL9000

Pacemaker?

SNAKEBITE

Tinnitus?

paulnb57

Central heating timer?

Roland

JohnPerry said:

Roland said:

We had a click which we traced to a phone charger. Some models are designed to stop charging once the battery is full. They keep trying, and click every time they do.

they still need electricity though. And I have turned it all off

If there's a capacitor in the circuit then it can hold charge for a while, and continue to click, even when the device has been turned off at the mains.

AndyR

Has the house had smart meters installed?

normula1

Are you anywhere near an airport? I've seen radar do this. On one occasion, a new one had been brought on line and would randomly cause a computer to crash.

JohnPerry

Roland said:

JohnPerry said:

Roland said:

We had a click which we traced to a phone charger. Some models are designed to stop charging once the battery is full. They keep trying, and click every time they do.

they still need electricity though. And I have turned it all off

If there's a capacitor in the circuit then it can hold charge for a while, and continue to click, even when the device has been turned off at the mains.

I'll look into it but I don't think so.

AndyR said:

Has the house had smart meters installed?

nope.

normula1 said:

Are you anywhere near an airport? I've seen radar do this. On one occasion, a new one had been brought on line and would randomly cause a computer to crash.

no. a fair distance from the, ahem, "London Oxford" Airport.

favourites thus far, all to be investigated tomorrow: car alarm, neighbour's wifi, short-circuiting cattle fence, GCHQ/KGB/Mossad bug.

JohnPerry

m_c said:

JohnPerry said:

m_c said:

Anybody with an electric fence nearby?

now this is not a bad shout and I had the same thought only this morning. The fence is, however, a good 100 yards away (surely too far?!) and anyway seemed to be off when I inspected it (having left the amp ticking away).

Also, it's been there ten years and I only started noticing this noise about a month ago

If it's starting to short out i.e. some grass/bush has grown close enough, it's the spark of it shorting out that causes the problem. If you have an old portable AM/MW radio, tune it to 612KHz and have a listen. If you get a steady tick, you can use the radio to trace where the tick is the strongest.

Right.

In my guitar room, the cable itself does not pick up the tick. Only the guitar.

However, if i haul a guitar and amp down the garden (picture the ridiculousness of this), towards the cattle fence, the tick gets louder and is picked up by both guitar and cable.

Tuning my little Roberts MW radio to 621khz, this tick is very audible, becoming very loud indeed right next to the fence. I think we have our answer, for which many thanks @m c !

I have a further question though. None of my foliage is shorting this thing out. Next door, however, have weeds now overgrowing the live wire. Would this produce a spark at such metronomic intervals? They are basically sitting on it permanently. Does that produce such a regular spark, one every second and a bit?

m_c

JohnPerry said:

m_c said:

JohnPerry said:

m_c said:

Anybody with an electric fence nearby?

now this is not a bad shout and I had the same thought only this morning. The fence is, however, a good 100 yards away (surely too far?!) and anyway seemed to be off when I inspected it (having left the amp ticking away).

Also, it's been there ten years and I only started noticing this noise about a month ago

If it's starting to short out i.e. some grass/bush has grown close enough, it's the spark of it shorting out that causes the problem. If you have an old portable AM/MW radio, tune it to 612KHz and have a listen. If you get a steady tick, you can use the radio to trace where the tick is the strongest.

Right.

In my guitar room, the cable itself does not pick up the tick. Only the guitar.

However, if i haul a guitar and amp down the garden (picture the ridiculousness of this), towards the cattle fence, the tick gets louder and is picked up by both guitar and cable.

Tuning my little Roberts MW radio to 621khz, this tick is very audible, becoming very loud indeed right next to the fence. I think we have our answer, for which many thanks @m c !

I have a further question though. None of my foliage is shorting this thing out. Next door, however, have weeds now overgrowing the live wire. Would this produce a spark at such metronomic intervals? They are basically sitting on it permanently. Does that produce such a regular spark, one every second and a bit?

Glad you've found the source.
Anything that causes the wire to short out, will cause the exact symptoms you've described. The way an electric fence works is by pulsing every second or so, so if anything comes into contact with it, they get a single shock that throws them off. If it's shorting out/sparking, you get a pulse of EMI, which can even knock out broadband if bad enough (the 512KHz thing is actually a quick check for anything that can affect broadband).

Probably best to go have a chat with whoever's electric fence it is, as if it is shorting out, it will be reducing the effectiveness of it. Let them know you're willing to go trim some foliage to clear it.

JohnPerry

Will do, and thanks again