622 OTA Breakup Caused by CELLPHONE!

ScooterS

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
Dec 14, 2003
940
115
I've been getting sporadic OTA HD pixelization on my 622.

The signal is great, but then breaks up for a few seconds every few minutes.

I finally tracked the problem back to my Cellphone (Blackberry)!

Whenever the phone is exchanging data (including polling the tower site while on-hook) I get a breakup.


Here are the details:

-The phone is 8-10 feet away from the receiver and the outside antenna.
-I am using a Radio Shack amplified outside antenna.
-This particular phone has always shown typical "cellphone" noise, but nothing more than the usual. Problem occurs both when doing "EDGE" web data and phone calls.
-There is no problem with satellite signals coming over the dish, just OTA.

I'm going to do some more testing with other phones, etc. I will attempt to see if this is a 622, antenna, or phone problem.

Can anyone else confirm/deny this problem?
 

mike123abc

Too many cables
Supporting Founder
Sep 25, 2003
25,861
5,194
Norman, OK
Cellular frequencies are just above UHF TV frequencies. I would try to move the amplifer for the antenna first, or try shielding it.
 

Cyclone

Proud Stiff Member
Supporting Founder
Sep 9, 2003
2,586
16
Maryland
My blackberry makes noise out of anything with a speaker. Its really annoying. My PC speakers, speakerphones, car radios, baby monitors. These BB's really hit with a strong signal.
 

bpickell

SatelliteGuys Pro
Aug 16, 2005
196
0
If its a nextel, they have huge issues with interfering with anything electronic. Whenever data is transmitted it will interfere (e.g. speakers, radios, telivisions, and computer monitors.)
 

DishBacker

SatelliteGuys Guru
May 22, 2004
132
0
DFW Area
I saw someone post a similar issue in a Verizon FIOS thread. a tech mentioned that you need make sure that all of your Coax connections are snug and have good fittings on them to not let any signal interference into the stream with your OTA antenna....

Sounds good to me (I'm no electrical engineer so I can't vouch for the above statement).
 

ScooterS

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
Dec 14, 2003
940
115
I just gave it a try with my wife's Motorola phone with the same results. I suspect that the amplified antenna is the problem.
 

mike123abc

Too many cables
Supporting Founder
Sep 25, 2003
25,861
5,194
Norman, OK
The amplifier is probably picking up the signal from the cell phone and it is overloading or causing noise on the UHF channels. Many UHF amps amp to 1GHZ for cable TV too and would pick up and amplify the cellular phone band.
 

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