Computer hard drive creating noise

[Ozone Express Radio]

Here is a dilemma I have now:

I have a Dell laptop that I use to run most of my audio from using Audacity and WMP. It works well for that purpose, but it has a problem I cannot see a way around. The hard drive is generating some noise that I can hear when monitoring and its going out over the air as well, as a faint steady beep in the background. It also affects my headphones making them a bit fuzzy sounding at times.

My setup is such that the laptop is close to my transmitter and mixer, and it really isn't an option to move it anywhere else for various reasons.

My question is: Is it possible to muffle this noise somehow? It isn't the power supply, but the actual hard drive because I can make the noise go away by powering down the computer only. Running on battery power doesn't change anything. As soon as I boot up the laptop the noise starts. Any suggestions?

[Kage]

So it's coming through your audio output from your laptop?
Sounds like a cheap laptop sound card. I had an older CTX laptop where I could hear the data being accessed from the hard drive and CDROM though the sound card. The interference reminded me of what it sounds like when you take an AM radio and put it next to the laptop.
If your problem is the hard drive itself just being loud you can replace it with newer quieter ones.
Either way you may want to invest in an external sound card because they are almost always better than the built-in ones laptops have and usually have extra features useful for radio and production work.

[Ozone Express Radio]

No, the thing about this is that the noise seems to be generated by the hard drive itself. It can be completely disconnected by hardwire and just upon booting it up the noise begins in my transmitter or headphones.

Being a laptop, replacing the hard drive is a bit more difficult and not really worth it as this is an older unit that I only use for the purpose of running my station right now.

I was wondering about isolating it inside of some sort of Faraday cage maybe? Just to see if that could block out all the emissions from it.

[RadioFreeEuropea]

I have same problem whit my Acer Aspire 3000 laptop.
I grounded it same way whit my SW tx.
I have 25m groundingcable for SW tx and LW tx.

[Ozone Express Radio]

Did you just ground the case of the laptop?

I hadn't thought of a ground issue, but its certainly worth a try!

[RadioFreeEuropea]

I grounded it using USB port ground.

[Ozone Express Radio]

Well, it seems I have discovered my noise demon, but I don't know how I am going to fix it yet.........


It wasn't the hard drive itself, but the power supply. And, not the power supply but something within the laptop when the power supply is connected to it. Disconnect the power supply from the laptop and let it run on battery power and the noise goes away and the signal is clear as a bell. It isn't the power supply itself generating the noise, as I can leave it connected to 110V and it doesn't interfere as long as it isn't connected to the input port on the laptop. There is a ferrite core on the power input cable, so I don't think that its and RF issue from the low voltage side either.

In my OP I said it didn't make a difference running on battery power, but I guess I didn't pay close enough attention then, because it really does make a night and day difference. Of course then I was still sorting some other RF issues too.

Odd.

[Ozone Express Radio]

Alright! I finally found the issue.

It seems that the LCD screen on this particular laptop was causing the noise. Unplugging the power supply causes the computer to go into power save mode and the screen dims as a result, nearly, but not completely eliminating the noise.

I dug around and found an old CRT monitor I've had kicking around for years, and then connected it and shut off the LCD screen. Viola! Noise all gone.

Now I can concentrate on all the other bugs I need to work out........