TV reception problem

[rickbecker]

This is mostly irritating - after we are set up, raise the antenna, booster is turned on, tv is on and the channels are scanned for and found. Now watching tv (ie Super Bowl!). When you turn on either the bedroom or living room ceiling light it wipes out the tv - blue screen of signal lost. Turn off the light and the tv comes back. Someone opening the door causes overheads to come on and tv loss.

My guess is tv cable from antenna runs to close to electrical for lights and we just have to live with it, but this forum has provided me many solutions I did not think of. So, any ideas/solutions out there??

Rick Becker - 2013 3150RL

[jimcol]

The coax connectors have been notoriously bad in our units. DC sources seemed to be the biggest culprits. I changed all of mine with good crimp connectors. (I think there were 3 at the antennae booster block and three or four in the entertainment center)It fixed all the interference problems with the exception of the bathroom exhaust fan. It still causes the picture to snow up but no longer goes blank. Let us know how you come out. Jim

[Bama Camper]

No, don't just live with it, there's something wrong.

Could be that you are affecting the voltage source to the booster by turning lights on (loading the +12v source). Is your battery in good shape and is the camper plugged in to the pedestal? What happens if you have one set of lights on and turn on another, do they get dim? Has the camper always done this or did it just start?

It could also be one of the 12 volt connections arching. That will cause interference that will "blank out" reception.

[K0LCB]

Do you have a way to measure your 12 VDC supply? Check your voltages

[H. John Kohl]

I suggest you pull the bulbs from those lights (especially if they are LED). See if your problem is gone. If so next plug in one light at a time and see what happens.
Good luck and yes work on fixing it. Don't live with it. I also agree the connectors are a very weak link in good tv signal delivery.
Good luck and let us know what you find.

[Bama Camper]

H. John Kohl is right, poor quality LED lamps cause RF interference that can interfere with TV reception. Did your problem start right after you installed any LED replacements?

[egregg57]

It sounds like you may have a light fixture that has a short. If pulling bulbs does not identify the location, you may need to drop your fixtures one by one and inspect. I bet the 12V supplying the amplifier is tapped off of the lighting circuit somewhere and there is a short.

If there are lugs anywhere, check to make sure there isn't a strand that was missed and is in contact with a ground point. I had a zone of 24 Smoke Detectors in a Trouble Status that dogged me for days. Finally found a strand of wire that was missed when the wire was crimped. It was intermittently shorting out to the detector ground. One little strand! UGH what a pain that was!

[jcurtis934]

Classic case of signal to noise ratio...the more noise on a line, the worse the overall signal quality is. Coaxal runs have the ground as the outside layer, signal run in the center. Crappy connectors, bad crimped on connectors, or poor cable prep for connectors all result in lower signal quality to the tv. Add noise from cheap led fixtures or bulbs or do anything to affect that antenna low power amp and what you get is what you have. Time to play detective, doctor, or magician. John

[cw3jason]

quote:Originally posted by Bama Camper


H. John Kohl is right, poor quality LED lamps cause RF interference that can interfere with TV reception.

X3 My guess as well, I have read about this issue many times.

[rickbecker]

Batteries are only 4 months old and show 13.5 volts and the rig is on shore power. Great suggestions and I think
i will start at the booster unit - pull it down, check voltage and then check / replace connectors. I will report back if / when I pin it down and correct. Thanks for the responses!

RIck

[rohrmann]

We had a problem with the bedroom TV loosing power when we would turn on a light switch next to the sink in the bedroom. Turns out, the poorly made connections behind the light switch, which also fed the TV and also the antenna booster, were causing the voltage problem. After replacing the connectors properly, we have had no more problems. So, the thing to do would be, starting at the antenna booster, and working backwards, look for loose 12 volt connections, which are the likely cause of your problems, as you did not indicate any other 12 volt issues. If you don't already have a good crimping tool and an assortment of connectors, this may be a good time to add them to your toolbox.

[rickbecker]

Finally got back to this in Tucson where we had broadcast TV to work with. I pulled the signal amp down from the ceiling - just moving it around and getting it out made a difference so was pretty sure I was in the right area to solve the problem. As I pulled it out, it was followed closely by a splitter as well. The splitter was also tangled up in a 12 volt wire.

Anyway, did as suggested and changed all of the coax connectors - total of 6 in a small area. Re-routed as best I could away from 12 volt wire and then wrapped the splitter and some of the coax in foil as an attempt at shielding. Stuffed it all back in to the ceiling and the problem was solved.

Thanks to those who convinced me to keep after it rather than live with it and for the suggested solutions - hope it helps some one else as well!

[egregg57]

That's good! Congrats!

[jfaberna]

I debating changing my connectors but it's a lot of work. I just make a rule that no one can turn on the overhead light in the bedroom or bathroom during a critical part of a movie or drama on TV. :-)

[Beau2010]

We have had the same problem in only one location and only on the PBS stations. Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina. When the overhead bedroom or bathroom light was turned on, killed the signal. Since most all signals are now digital, if your station is near the edge of reception area, it doesn't take much in the way of electrical interference to kill it. Since it is digital, it is either a good signal or none at all.