Freeview set top box....

[ali68]

Hope this is the right topic for here apologies if not.

Just installed a Top up tv box at my parents,Thomson type, new high gain ariel and a new screened cable (10 meters) from set top box to ariel.

My problem is when the washing machine is operated the tv signal deteriorates. i.e. when the solenoid valves operate to allow water into the machine the picture goes blocky and on the spin cycle the picture just disappears. Tv and box in a different room, ariel in same room approx 8 feet away from and above machine.

Any ideas , can only think it must be the new ariel and a very electrically noisy washing machine.

 

[breezer]

Any ideas , can only think it must be the new ariel and a very electrically noisy washing machine.

or combination of both. can you not move the soap powder?

 

[masona]

the picture goes blocky

I get this when the washing is not on Go onto freeview website to see if your postcode is acceptable for freeview because my postcode isn't but I do get blocky picture time to time.
Just noticed do you have a indoor aerial in the room ?

 

[breezer]

Just noticed do you have a indoor aerial in the room ?

that's why i suggested he move the soap powder (aerial)

 

[masona]

Ahhh got yer I'm still learning

 

[ali68]

Yeh Yeh not bad Breezer for so early in the morning.

A chap on the AV forum site had a similar prob and he fitted a surge protector with inbuilt RFI protection to his AV equipment and it seemed to cure his problem, so that will be my first form of attack.

It's a external AERIAL mounted in the loft of a porch, the main loft has been converted therefore no room to fit there.

I know the solution is outside but I am trying to avoid that as the area I live is under regular battering from high winds and salty air. I go through a sat dish every 2 year going to try waxoil on the next one.

 

[GRC]

In my experience, Freeview digiboxes are horrendously bad for electrical interference.

I have a Nokia and a Philips in different rooms. Both of them decide to lock up at various times, and need to be unplugged from the mains for a while to 'reboot'. The front-panel controls don't seem to be connected to the innards of the boxes, apart from the on/off switch on the Philips which is a latching type; the instantaneous contact 'standby' switch on the Nokia has no effect.

The Nokia is especially bad - we can't do any washing whilst viewing or recording from it due to the interference, and at one stage I operated one of those little vacuum cleaners, the battery operated type that you'd use to get biscuit crumbs out from the computer keyboard, upstairs, and the Nokia picture (downstairs at the other side of the house) went haywire. Someone tell me how fitting a mains filter would help in this instance.

The boxes are fed by a loft aerial through a pro-grade (ie.e not a Maxview or similar from B&Q) 6-way distribution/booster amplifier.

And don't get me started on the hassle of selecting the correct widescreen or 4:3 setting to allow me to view all programmes the way they're intended .....

Never had these troubles when it was just an aerial lead into the TV, and all transmissions were in 4:3 .....
Grrrrr

Regards, Graham

 

[bodger67]

Ali68 - what's the signal like from your porch aerial? Advice from a BBC broadcast engineer I know suggests that the signal doesn't need to be all that strong to get a decent picture but the weaker it is the more chance of interference causing the picture to break up. If the aerial isn't high up on a chimney or mast then its not going to get the best signal. High-gain aerials are very directional and even a slight movement can get you a stronger signal, so it might be worth an hour spent watching the signal strength meter (assuming the box has one) while someone else goes out in the cold to move the aerial around.

 

[GaryB]

Digital signals are very sensitive to impulse interference such as that from electrical switches and car ignitions. The most likely source (assuming the aerial isn't pointing straight at the washing machine!) is leakage into the cable. If you bought the cable from the usual high street stores it's probably standard 75 ohm coaxial. It's best to try replacing it with CT100. This is double screened and much better at rejecting interference.

The Digital TV Forums at Digital Spy are a good source of further advice if you need any.

http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=13