Ham or CB radio interference?

[GrogLikesBeer]

I've had D*'s HD for quite a while now. About 1-2 months ago I started getting pixelation and audio dropouts on the national HD channels (Discovery HD Theater, TNTHD, HD movie channel). I called to see if some bad weather had knocked my dish out of allignment. The tech said everything was great (all my signal strengths were 95 or higher). He saw what looks like a ham or CB radio antenna in my neighbor's yard (it was there before the problem started), which my dish points at, and said that I'm probably getting interferance from that and there was nothing he could do.

Has anyone else heard of or had this problem? If so, is there anything I can do, or am I screwed?

Thanks.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

Satellite TV operates at frequencies well above CB and most ham operation. My original round dish pointed almost directly at my vertical ham antenna which was 10 feet away and I experienced no interference to the satellite signal. When I upgraded to HD, they had to move the dish to avoid looking into some trees, so it isn't looking directly at the ham antenna (but close), still no problems.

 

[cybertrip]

Even if the frequency of the Ku band signal falls on the same harmonic as your neighbors Ham/CB frequency it is unlikely that it is causing interference. I operate my transceiver at 100 Watts output and my antenna is right above my dish. I have never had a problem. I use a di-pole wire antenna. That tech has no clue what he is talking about.

Now if you have OTA troubles then a Ham or CB could potentially cause intereference to your OTA signal and cause pixelation on HD OTA.

 

[paulman182]

My ham rig interferes with one of my receivers on one of the sats.

Until I realized this, I was thinking the problem was solved, and then it would crop up on another channel.

I just decided not to operate when someone is watching TV. The receiver in question is about 30 feet from my ham antenna, but the dish is far away.

 

[GrogLikesBeer]

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to hear that you guys don't think that's the trouble. I have no control over when my neighbor would use his radio (if that's even what that antenna is for).

To the poster who's radio did affect receiver (sorry, I can't figure out how to quote you now that I started typing this reply): his antenna is over 200 feet away. Do you think it could still affect my receiver? If so, would putting some tpye of shielding (foil or something?) inside my entertainment center around the receiver help?

Now that I've been watching today, I don't seem to have the trouble anymore. Maybe the tech fixed something and didn't know it (loose connection, alignment?). Hopefully it doesn't come back. TV is my life!!! That and beer!

If it does come back, do you guys have any suggestions as to what could be causing it? It only happens on HD channels. There are no trees in the way at all. I asked the tech if it could be the splitter (not sure what it's called), but he said it would show weak signal if it was that.

Thanks.

 

[cybertrip]

My ham rig interferes with one of my receivers on one of the sats.

Until I realized this, I was thinking the problem was solved, and then it would crop up on another channel.

I just decided not to operate when someone is watching TV. The receiver in question is about 30 feet from my ham antenna, but the dish is far away.

I take it you are using the CATV Coaxial out? Having the antenna so close would indeed cause interference. I recommend using ferrite beads on your TV Out Coax to keep that signal out.

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to hear that you guys don't think that's the trouble. I have no control over when my neighbor would use his radio (if that's even what that antenna is for).

To the poster who's radio did affect receiver (sorry, I can't figure out how to quote you now that I started typing this reply): his antenna is over 200 feet away. Do you think it could still affect my receiver? If so, would putting some tpye of shielding (foil or something?) inside my entertainment center around the receiver help?

Now that I've been watching today, I don't seem to have the trouble anymore. Maybe the tech fixed something and didn't know it (loose connection, alignment?). Hopefully it doesn't come back. TV is my life!!! That and beer!

If it does come back, do you guys have any suggestions as to what could be causing it? It only happens on HD channels. There are no trees in the way at all. I asked the tech if it could be the splitter (not sure what it's called), but he said it would show weak signal if it was that.

Thanks.

If it happens again, post back and we can see what we can do at that time... I would avoid the aluminum foil thing entirely.

Jimbo

 

[GrogLikesBeer]

It turns out to be happenning on the SD channels now, too. I saw it on SciFi and my local SD CBS channel. It's also on both receivers now (HR20 and HR10-250). It happens in the morning, during the day, and at night.

Since it's on both receivers, that leads me to believe it's an outside problem (dish, coax, or splitter). Is there anyway to force D* to just replace components until problem is solved?

Do you guys have any suggestions as to what it could be? I'll post my signal strengths if that will help.

Thanks.

 

[Tower Guy]

I've had D*'s HD for quite a while now. About 1-2 months ago I started getting pixelation and audio dropouts. The tech said that I'm probably getting interferance from that and there was nothing he could do.
Has anyone else heard of or had this problem? If so, is there anything I can do, or am I screwed?
Thanks.

There are two ways that nearby transmitters can interfere with reception. One is spurious transmission on the received frequency. The other is off frequency signals getting into the satellite receiver.

In is nearly impossible for a ham or CB to actually transmit any signal on DBS frequencies, so it's likely that the satellite system is at fault. Yet, the installer may be right that he is not competent on diagnosing and resolving the problem. You deserve a technician that is able to fix it, but that is easier said than done.

 

[Jimbo]

There are two ways that nearby transmitters can interfere with reception. One is spurious transmission on the received frequency. The other is off frequency signals getting into the satellite receiver.

In is nearly impossible for a ham or CB to actually transmit any signal on DBS frequencies, so it's likely that the satellite system is at fault. Yet, the installer may be right that he is not competent on diagnosing and resolving the problem. You deserve a technician that is able to fix it, but that is easier said than done.

That said,
I would call D* repair out , especially if you can duplicate the problem, if you cannot duplicate the problem then it will be much harder to eliminate.

Jimbo

 

[paulman182]

I take it you are using the CATV Coaxial out? Having the antenna so close would indeed cause interference. I recommend using ferrite beads on your TV Out Coax to keep that signal out.

No sir, HDMI. There is no RF out on an HR20, and surely no one would use it if there were!

For many years I have avoided operating while anyone watches TV. I'm a 4-5AM type ham, anyway.

 

[dave29]

Terminators

If you have all the equipment you listed then you must have a switch. If so, are there 75 ohm terminators (with the stinger removed) on the unused ports? We put them on all 6x8's to avoid ghosting in and interference. It shouldn't be a problem untill the new signals start coming in in sept. but it is worth a shot. I have seen one case where a guy was getting strange audio on some channels. I put terminators on the switch and it went away.