RF Electronics noise?

[snack]

Hi guys. First time poster here.

I'm a ham operator and I noticed something really strange recently about my 2007 Xterra. Right after turning the car on or off or with the Sony head unit powered ON, I get some pretty decent interference on 146.52 Mhz. It lasts about 15-20 seconds right after turning the car on or OFF. So that would tend to rule out the alternator or other noise. It's not hurting my audio or even causing other signals to get disrupted. It just appears to be this one frequency.

After discussing with some other folks, they have told me to isolate the computer and cover it with aluminum foil to see if it attenuates or stops the interference from happening.

I'm not a car guy, I'm an electronics guy, so I was wondering if someone could point out where the computer is. Or, if someone has had this problem and fixed it, I'd be grateful for any help.

 

[Muadeeb]

Which computer...

The ECU, which is probably the one your friend is referring to, is located behind the dash, between the driver and passenger at the floor level. You should see a very large bundle of wires heading into it.

 

[snack]

Hm. Okay. I'll give that a shot in the next day or so. Thanks!

 

[snack]

So just in case anyone is wondering, the ECU was actually not the culprit here. The culprit in this case actually WAS the Sony head unit. Go figure!