Strange noise

Mark Vinbury · Post by **Mark Vinbury** » 29 Nov 2005 8:37 am

My Dell 4550 running Win.XP has started making an unusual noise.It comes from the external speakers.Sort of a ba-da-dat, quick buzzing sound.It repeats three times in about 2 seconds,then is not heard for another hour or so.It's not very loud,about the same as everything else from the speakers.Hard to tell but doesn't seem to be connected to any specfic program and no CD,ect. is running. I'm wondering if my harddrive has an issue.
Has anyone else experienced this?

Carter York · Post by **Carter York** » 29 Nov 2005 8:42 am

Do you have a cell phone on the desk, or in your pocket near the speakers? That has caused intermittent clicking and static when placed near some speakers for me.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 29 Nov 2005 2:50 pm

It does sound like something external may be causing it.

Make sure the speaker plug is making good contact with the Speaker jack. In fact, unplug and plug it back in several times to "clean" the connection and make sure it's fully plugged in. Do the same thing to the interconnecting cables on the speakers.

Have you tried the headphone jack to see if you hear the noise there? You can plug the speakers into the front panel headphone jack for testing.

I'm on the Dell users forum and don't recall anyone ever posting this particular problem.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 29 Nov 2005 3:06 pm

Sounds like it could be a nearby cell phone.

erik · Post by **erik** » 29 Nov 2005 4:25 pm

cell phone or portable, my guess.

Topic shift: You can create static on a radio by switching a battery operated flashlight on and off. Explain THAT one?[This message was edited by erik on 29 November 2005 at 04:27 PM.]

Mark Vinbury · Post by **Mark Vinbury** » 30 Nov 2005 5:46 am

Cell Phone sounds like a good bet.I only recently got one and it is often on the desk.
I'll keep it away for a few days and see what-up.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 1 Dec 2005 5:02 am

You can create static on a radio by switching a battery operated flashlight on and off. Explain THAT one?

That's an easy one, Erik. When you switch most any electrical device on or off, it creates a small electric arc inside the switch, between the contacts. An electrical arc creates a pulse of electro-magnetic waves (this is what radio waves are made of). The slower the switch contacts are opened and closed, the larger that arc will be. Most good switches operate with a fast snap-action to minimize the arcing, but they don't worry about that much in a cheap flashlight. In a flashlight, with no "snap-action" switch, the contacts usually move only as fast as your finger can move...and that's pretty slow.