Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 30, 2015 21:11:13 GMT -5
Forgot to mention, after canceling my Dish account I'm still receiving a bunch of channels at no charge. Most are of no interest to us, but we saved a few to our guide and they're F-R-E-E. They didn't want my equipment back because they deemed it "obsolete", so my guess is that they leave me with some service while they bombard me with offers to come back and if I bite they just turn it back on. It's the same kind of marketing strategy that Sirius/XM uses. Every so often they open their service up free of charge, just to get people who have sat radio receivers in their cars to give it a try and hope that they see something they like and will buy. Same goes for you. It would cost them to process your old equipment, but if you keep it, they have a method to entice you with offers.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 1, 2015 10:37:42 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 2, 2015 7:58:35 GMT -5
So last night I notice channels 2 and 12 weren't coming in, then later when we attempted to watch an earlier recording off of channel 6, it was broken up and pixelated. Hmmm, now what? This morning when I got up I realized that the coffee maker was still plugged in....
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,247
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 2, 2015 8:14:33 GMT -5
So last night I notice channels 2 and 12 weren't coming in, then later when we attempted to watch an earlier recording off of channel 6, it was broken up and pixelated. Hmmm, now what? This morning when I got up I realized that the coffee maker was still plugged in.... Get yourself a timer for the coffee maker, and set it for when you normally use it (or to shut it off when you watch TV), so that way you won't have to remember to unplug it.
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Post by cbrown on Apr 2, 2015 9:01:43 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 2, 2015 9:44:18 GMT -5
I need to pick up a new coffee maker(s) until I find one that doesn't cause any interference. Interference aside, I'm not very fond of this one anyway.
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Post by bill on Apr 3, 2015 9:47:34 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 6, 2015 17:12:34 GMT -5
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,247
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 6, 2015 18:37:15 GMT -5
Yea, you can't completely cut the cord, if you're like me and get your internet via cable........
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 9, 2015 19:56:45 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 9, 2015 20:00:55 GMT -5
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,247
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 9, 2015 20:54:31 GMT -5
And that is why cable equipment suppliers are scrambling to develop products that can blend traditional cable delivery with net-based services, so that the consumer can bundle (there's that ugly word again) all of their programming sources through one device with one guide and a cloud-based DVR. When you time shift your programming, you can usually fast forward through commercials, which greatly reduces their annoyance factor. It's all about saving their market share.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 13, 2015 13:57:10 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 13, 2015 14:04:07 GMT -5
I came to the conclusion that we weren't watching any of the free programming we were still receiving over Dish so I completely killed it this past weekend. I unplugged and unhooked the receiver and dismantled the dish and the only remaining trace is the base of the j-pole lag bolted to my back porch roof. It felt liberating.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 13, 2015 14:08:34 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 13, 2015 19:40:24 GMT -5
Ah ha! Found another culprit, the electric blanket on our bed upstairs. Was checking out www.dennysantennaservice.com/vhf-tv-reception-interference.html today and went looking with the AM radio. Sure enough, lots of noise in the radio until I unplugged the blanket at which point channel 2 went from choppy and unwatchable to clear and perfectly watchable. At the same time channel 12 went from a black screen to almost watchable. I'm left wondering if it was the reason I had to point the antenna in an odd direction (actually away from the outlet the blanket was plugged into) in order for the signal quality on channel 2 to go up enough to watch it. Now I can't wait to get back up on the roof to point it directly back at the towers. If you couldn't tell, I'm rather enjoying all this.
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,247
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 13, 2015 19:53:40 GMT -5
Ah ha! Found another culprit, the electric blanket on our bed upstairs. Was checking out www.dennysantennaservice.com/vhf-tv-reception-interference.html today and went looking with the AM radio. Sure enough, lots of noise in the radio until I unplugged the blanket at which point channel 2 went from choppy and unwatchable to clear and perfectly watchable. At the same time channel 12 went from a black screen to almost watchable. I'm left wondering if it was the reason I had to point the antenna in an odd direction (actually away from the outlet the blanket was plugged into) in order for the signal quality on channel 2 to go up enough to watch it. Now I can't wait to get back up on the roof to point it directly back at the towers. If you couldn't tell, I'm rather enjoying all this. It's an education for sure, and it only goes to show how many widgets we have in our homes that emit broadband noise. I did do an experiment to see if the source of my radio noise was coming from my house. I could see the noise jump up from nothing to about S7 as I drove around the side of my house. So to determine whether the noise was coming from my house vs. the neighbors, I pulled the main breaker, effectively killing power to everything. The noise didn't drop (darn!). So I guess my neighbor is the one giving me S5 - S7 hash noise. And that level would be enough to interfere with TV reception as well.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 14, 2015 7:31:30 GMT -5
Ah ha! Found another culprit, the electric blanket on our bed upstairs. Was checking out www.dennysantennaservice.com/vhf-tv-reception-interference.html today and went looking with the AM radio. Sure enough, lots of noise in the radio until I unplugged the blanket at which point channel 2 went from choppy and unwatchable to clear and perfectly watchable. At the same time channel 12 went from a black screen to almost watchable. I'm left wondering if it was the reason I had to point the antenna in an odd direction (actually away from the outlet the blanket was plugged into) in order for the signal quality on channel 2 to go up enough to watch it. Now I can't wait to get back up on the roof to point it directly back at the towers. If you couldn't tell, I'm rather enjoying all this. It's an education for sure, and it only goes to show how many widgets we have in our homes that emit broadband noise. I did do an experiment to see if the source of my radio noise was coming from my house. I could see the noise jump up from nothing to about S7 as I drove around the side of my house. So to determine whether the noise was coming from my house vs. the neighbors, I pulled the main breaker, effectively killing power to everything. The noise didn't drop (darn!). So I guess my neighbor is the one giving me S5 - S7 hash noise. And that level would be enough to interfere with TV reception as well. I'm not using the RCA ANT751R I bought so if you get the urge to experiment you're welcome to borrow it.
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,247
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 14, 2015 8:57:38 GMT -5
It's an education for sure, and it only goes to show how many widgets we have in our homes that emit broadband noise. I did do an experiment to see if the source of my radio noise was coming from my house. I could see the noise jump up from nothing to about S7 as I drove around the side of my house. So to determine whether the noise was coming from my house vs. the neighbors, I pulled the main breaker, effectively killing power to everything. The noise didn't drop (darn!). So I guess my neighbor is the one giving me S5 - S7 hash noise. And that level would be enough to interfere with TV reception as well. I'm not using the RCA ANT751R I bought so if you get the urge to experiment you're welcome to borrow it. I appreciate the offer. I may play in that sandbox a little later, when I have a little time. What was the price of that DVR unit you ended up getting?
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 14, 2015 9:42:31 GMT -5
I'm not using the RCA ANT751R I bought so if you get the urge to experiment you're welcome to borrow it. I appreciate the offer. I may play in that sandbox a little later, when I have a little time. What was the price of that DVR unit you ended up getting? The DVR+ with the WIFI adapter was $288 shipped. That's for the 16GB version, then I purchased a 1TB external drive separately.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 16, 2015 16:20:22 GMT -5
Ah ha! Found another culprit, the electric blanket on our bed upstairs. Was checking out www.dennysantennaservice.com/vhf-tv-reception-interference.html today and went looking with the AM radio. Sure enough, lots of noise in the radio until I unplugged the blanket at which point channel 2 went from choppy and unwatchable to clear and perfectly watchable. At the same time channel 12 went from a black screen to almost watchable. I'm left wondering if it was the reason I had to point the antenna in an odd direction (actually away from the outlet the blanket was plugged into) in order for the signal quality on channel 2 to go up enough to watch it. Now I can't wait to get back up on the roof to point it directly back at the towers. If you couldn't tell, I'm rather enjoying all this. Soooo, the day after I posted this ^^^^^ I come home, turn on channel 2 and find the signal level is back down around 70, and the quality level at ZERO!?! Electric blanket still unplugged. Hmmm, I recalled turning on and off and unplugging/plugging in a few things upstairs that night. I assumed the blanket because the noise in the radio dropped off when I unplugged it. So last night I go back up and do it all again, come back down and all is well, great signal strength and decent quality levels. About 3 hours later I completely loose channel 2 just like that, BAM! DAMN IT! Back up I go turn on and off and unplug/plugging things one at a time. Turns out it's the power strip under my radio desk. Plugged into it is my power supply and digital clock. My UHF antenna is on the same mast as the IMAX and my VHF/UHF combo is on the chimney about 12 feet away (yeah, I know), so I'm gathering the coax might be picking it up and sending it out. More on this later, but I'd put my money on the power supply....
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,247
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 16, 2015 19:55:13 GMT -5
Ah ha! Found another culprit, the electric blanket on our bed upstairs. Was checking out www.dennysantennaservice.com/vhf-tv-reception-interference.html today and went looking with the AM radio. Sure enough, lots of noise in the radio until I unplugged the blanket at which point channel 2 went from choppy and unwatchable to clear and perfectly watchable. At the same time channel 12 went from a black screen to almost watchable. I'm left wondering if it was the reason I had to point the antenna in an odd direction (actually away from the outlet the blanket was plugged into) in order for the signal quality on channel 2 to go up enough to watch it. Now I can't wait to get back up on the roof to point it directly back at the towers. If you couldn't tell, I'm rather enjoying all this. Soooo, the day after I posted this ^^^^^ I come home, turn on channel 2 and find the signal level is back down around 70, and the quality level at ZERO!?! Electric blanket still unplugged. Hmmm, I recalled turning on and off and unplugging/plugging in a few things upstairs that night. I assumed the blanket because the noise in the radio dropped off when I unplugged it. So last night I go back up and do it all again, come back down and all is well, great signal strength and decent quality levels. About 3 hours later I completely loose channel 2 just like that, BAM! DAMN IT! Back up I go turn on and off and unplug/plugging things one at a time. Turns out it's the power strip under my radio desk. Plugged into it is my power supply and digital clock. My UHF antenna is on the same mast as the IMAX and my VHF/UHF combo is on the chimney about 12 feet away (yeah, I know), so I'm gathering the coax might be picking it up and sending it out. More on this later, but I'd put my money on the power supply.... If the power supply is a switcher, I'd agree......
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 17, 2015 7:19:31 GMT -5
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,247
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 17, 2015 9:28:22 GMT -5
That's not a switching supply, so if it's producing hash noise, there is probably a regulator in there that's taking off into oscillation. The usual cure for that is to bypass the input and output legs of the regulator with .1 uF caps. I have a very similar supply and it's pretty quiet.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 17, 2015 9:42:25 GMT -5
That's not a switching supply, so if it's producing hash noise, there is probably a regulator in there that's taking off into oscillation. The usual cure for that is to bypass the input and output legs of the regulator with .1 uF caps. I have a very similar supply and it's pretty quiet. Hmmm, well then I'll have to narrow it down between it and the clock. At least now I'm in the right ballpark.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 17, 2015 17:11:27 GMT -5
- Plugged the power strip back in and unhooked coax = interference - Unplugged clock = interference - Unplugged power supply = interference - Unplugged power strip = interference slowly fades away There is the time delay component so I'm not 100% certain yet, but I believe I've found the offender....
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 17, 2015 18:24:18 GMT -5
Okay, this is getting weird. Everything still unplugged, I try channel 2 again and we're back to a signal level back down around 70, and the quality level at ZERO... - Hook the coax back up - nothing - Plug the power strip back in - nothing - Plug the clock back in - nothing - Plug the power supply back in - nothing - Power up the power supply - signal comes back! Any thoughts or ideas? It's definitely in the radio equipment, but this last go-round has me stumped. Could it be the IMAX itself?
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Post by BBB on Apr 17, 2015 19:32:12 GMT -5
Maybe try and do an all new channel search with your Quam tuner in the TV. I doubt you'll find any analog channels any more but let it search for "on air," "digital" and "cable" channels. This may tweak the tuning on some existing channels so they come in strong again and also maybe find some of the new Free Digital stations even though there are is no subscription cable attached.
Not sure how that works yet but my bro in Florida did a new scan of all and found some new additional digital programming. Hopefully your tuner scans relatively fast so you don't have to wait too long for the searches.
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,247
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 17, 2015 20:38:01 GMT -5
Okay, this is getting weird. Everything still unplugged, I try channel 2 again and we're back to a signal level back down around 70, and the quality level at ZERO... - Hook the coax back up - nothing - Plug the power strip back in - nothing - Plug the clock back in - nothing - Plug the power supply back in - nothing - Power up the power supply - signal comes back! Any thoughts or ideas? It's definitely in the radio equipment, but this last go-round has me stumped. Could it be the IMAX itself? Sounds like your power strip might have a problem. If it has a MOV or some other form power surge suppressor, it's possible that it's arcing ever so slightly, enough to generate noise. But why turning on the power supply make the signal come back is strange. Where is channel 2 located? It's not listed in the Philadelphia area. Maybe you're just dealing with fringe signal variations that are common on UHF.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 17, 2015 21:53:50 GMT -5
Okay, this is getting weird. Everything still unplugged, I try channel 2 again and we're back to a signal level back down around 70, and the quality level at ZERO... - Hook the coax back up - nothing - Plug the power strip back in - nothing - Plug the clock back in - nothing - Plug the power supply back in - nothing - Power up the power supply - signal comes back! Any thoughts or ideas? It's definitely in the radio equipment, but this last go-round has me stumped. Could it be the IMAX itself? Sounds like your power strip might have a problem. If it has a MOV or some other form power surge suppressor, it's possible that it's arcing ever so slightly, enough to generate noise. But why turning on the power supply make the signal come back is strange. Where is channel 2 located? It's not listed in the Philadelphia area. Maybe you're just dealing with fringe signal variations that are common on UHF. kjwp2.com/ ,I believe it's on the same tower as channel 6, which comes in perfectly, 100% level and quality. So after that last post I left everything plugged in. Got signal for a while, then it was gone again, back to the same low level and zero quality. Went back up, unplugged the power strip and it came back. So I'm thinking it's an issue with either the circuit or the IMAX, and leaning towards the IMAX. Is the IMAX building up static and the plugging and unplugging effecting something with the ground?
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