What is radio interference and why does it occur?
Radio Interference is any signal, whether radiated as radio waves or conducted on the power lines, which hampers reception in radio, television and other similar equipment. The first radio transmitters used arc discharges to produce radio frequency noise that could be detected by a distant receiver. Neon signs utilize arcs within a glass tube filled with an appropriate gas. Although not to the same degree, the arc of a neon tube generates radio noise in a similar fashion as spark gap transmitters of yesteryear. These early transmitters utilized an antenna to radiate the radio waves over distance. In a similar way, the neon tube itself acts as an antenna broadcasting the radio frequency interference (RFI) over some unknown distance. This generated noise can also be conducted back through the transformer and the power lines possibly requiring a filter to inhibit this interference.
