Ham Radio General Class Test 2026 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The sound heard from an audio device or telephone when there is interference from a nearby single-sideband (SSB) phone transmitter is characterized by distorted speech. In SSB, the modulation process removes the carrier frequency and only the sidebands are transmitted. When interference occurs with audio equipment, especially if it is not designed to filter out SSB signals, the result is often garbled or distorted voice patterns. This distortion can occur because the SSB signal is unintentionally demodulated by the equipment or due to improper filtering, causing the audio to sound unclear, fragmented, or jumbled.

In contrast, a steady hum or on-and-off humming or clicking typically relates more to electrical interference from other sources rather than the specific characteristics of SSB signal interference. Clearly audible speech would indicate a lack of interference, which does not apply in this case where the SSB transmitter disrupts the audio quality.