Monitor Mayhem

Our house isn't that big, but the set up makes it so we need to have a monitor on upstairs, in order to hear anything that goes on (a kid crying or Emily if she should ever happen to have a seizure again). Our bedroom is in the way back of the house on the first floor, and the kids bedrooms, especially Julia's are all toward the front of the house on the second floor. Unless a kid was screaming bloody murder, we wouldn't be able to hear at all, and even then it might be tough.

So anyway, the monitor is set up in Julia's room. It pretty much picks up all sounds up there, even if they are coming from Katherine's room, which is the one furthest from the base. It works well in that regard, you know, doing what it is supposed to, but it also has an ungodly amount of interference that it picks up, and sends through to our unit in our bedroom. Picture a tv, going to all snow, on the loudest volume possible, and you will gt a pretty accurate description of what it sounds like, even if the volume setting on the monitor is fairly low. Needless to say, it is quite a distraction when it comes to sleeping (or anything else for that matter) and some nights, against my better judgment, I end up turning the darn thing off altogether. I have tried moving both our monitor and the one up stairs, and nothing seems to work. In my room, we have moved it from the floor next to the phone jack and cordless phone, to my nightstand next to the alarm clock, and finally to the bureau, next to nothing even remotely electrical. Upstairs, it has been in all three bedrooms and the hallway. I know we didn't pay a lot of money for it, and, in fact it is probably bottom of the line as far as monitors go but, I certainly don't feel like going out and buying a new one. Does anyone have any suggestions? Even Ryun (who is usually good with this type of thing) seems top be at a loss.