OTA Interference issues / HDHomeRun support not helpful

#37

yea. i get that, however, pretty sure that phenomenon would have manifested much early on when i first got this all setup. ALso, none of the cable tv coax in my building is grounded that i know of. I have never actually needed to grounded any antenna cable before. But, i have never paid much attention to it ill admit.

but, i cant figure why it is ONLY these select devices.
Like i mentioned, somewhere, i lost track how many places i have been posting about this, i have used many tricks and devices, right next and against the cable and antenna direct, wifi router, cb radio, other fans, there is even a window fan in the window directly beneath the antenna, none of those cause any issues.
If it was truly a ground issue, then, shouldn't i be able to reproduce the issues using other devices that are KNOWN to cause said interference issues.?

#38

That is not quite what i mean....not a auto sensing dynamic thing, or some that have a push button that "auto optimizes" the tuned channel..

I mean one that is fully user programable, either via web UI, or a smartphone app.
Techy level programable, manual settings of each db and mhz. Maybe even show me in a graph the spectrum and detected interference, like a spectrum analyzer.
(My Ubiquiti wifi AP's already can do something similar for the wifi spectrum.)

I did find at some point some antenna that has Bluetooth and a app, but, it was still, not quite to the level I need, and more on the gimiky side of things, based on the reviews and video reviews i looked at.

EDIT: O i see they do have a amp that is programable.

but...not seeing a price...
found it on some random site via google. $400, um..yea...no. but not surprised. Also have to buy the programmer thing $200, and the software not sure on price of that.

#40

That is good advice, for someone just setting up their OTA setup...your about 2yrs to late lol. :wink:

I did that when i first setup and tested locations and different antennas.
Still have the maps saved and did recently confirm that the towers have not moved.
I already posted saying that i know where the towers are and i am close to them.

I will add, that i dug out my Mohu Curve antenna, and hooked that up with the cheapo china coax cable it came with, no shielding at all it seems. And just sitting on my desk, it gets most channels fine with no interference issue just letting the channel play. But it has the same results in my "tests" when i engage the electrical device. And, none of those indoor antennas, are ever or even designed to be grounded it would seem.

#41

I have a Televes Eclipse Mix in the attic and clear line of sight at 10mi but there is tree canopy in the Fresnel zone around it. Even during perfectly clear conditions, my HDHR reports to a SignalGH iPad app a signal quality drop to zero once or twice an hour on our PBS station. I can't cause it with any of our appliances or fan controllers, however. The HDHR at least handles it gracefully - maybe it loses a frame or two and a word or two. SD may have an Achilles heel somewhere they or their chip vendors don't know about. On the other hand, VSB-8 is a very fragile signal, which is why they're rushing to fix it, at our additional expense of course, with a more robust modulation format in ATSC3.

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#42

have you tried unplugging or moving the fan?

Since you don't know if the issue is caused by noise coming through the ac adapter for the HDHR, noise picked up by the antenna or coax, it's possible the noise is coming through the ac to the fan which radiates it to the antenna,

#43

From my previous posts.
"Tried the offending devices, all of which have a electric motor, or speed switch thing in them, on a different circuit, even out in the public hallway outlet outside my unit.
No change"

Also,

#44

Picked up one of those grounding blocks.
Attached a 3 prong power cord to it, just the green ground wire.
Put it inline of the coax, right at the tuner, plugged the cord into my ups outlet that is grounded(tested with outlet tester) also tried direct to the wall outlet, not UPS.

Tried right at the end of the short built in cable of the on the antenna, where my coax connects to it, plugged cord into wall outlet. Even tried just a wire wrapped around the water pipe in the floorboard radiator heat to the ground block.

No change.

So....its not a grounding problem.

#45

Sounds like you did ground the coax, although hot water pipes are not a good ground.

I'm thinking since your lower frequencies like 201 MHz (VHF-Hi) are affected more, it's noise being picked up by the antenna. There's a post on the SD forum of an installer finding LED bulbs causing interference at 201 MHz even though the quad shield RG6 run is 20 feet from the bulbs https://forum.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=113&t=75307

You'll probably find the higher the frequency, the less interference you're getting.

#46

Well...i thought that too. but....

2.1 at 593mhz is nearly as sensitive as 11.1 at 201mhz.

Also, if anything, adding the ground adapter, made things more sensitive across the board.

I again, just tried a short coax setup. A new 12ft RG6 QS cable, and moved the HDHR to the end of that, which puts it just on the other side of the wall from the room the antenna is in, and ran a longer ethernet cable.

No change, just like before when i tried that.
So does not seem to have anything to do with cabling, length, quality, shielding, power cords, ground.
Must be the actual antenna that picks up the interference.

Once i get the new Channel Master LTE filter and high pas filter...see if that affects anything at all, that seems to be my last idea.

#47

As much as I liked the mohu and how it mounted on the wall, etc, after a few years of never having a good signal I gave up on it and finally got a cheap rca attic antenna from Walmart. Is yours mounted in the same room? Might I suggest eliminating the coax with a male to male adapter. You could also add a second antenna hooked up backwards through a splitter.

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#48

look up the ranger antenna, it has a short integrated coax cable and a female connector.

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And no, it is mounted above a window the the second bedroom, one room over from my own. (single level 3 room L shaped corner apt unit) liv/kitchen is top part of L, back bedroom, bottom part.)
And like i said, i plug in the offending electrical devices, in the back corner of the living room, farthest away possible, and 3 walls between it and antenna....still causes issues.

#49

Ok, I see. You could still try running 2 antennas though.

#50

If the issue truly is the antenna picking up things, then doubling the antennas, would double the interference i would think.

#51

Hook up a piece of coax with the copper exposed as the antenna and see if it gets any channels, just one, and test your devices. Would be like trying a different antenna. Mohu left a very bad taste in my mouth, I don't think I'll ever do that again.

#52

I have tried 2 other antennas, the original Mohu Curve i used at first for a time, but could not get some channels in well, like 11.1. And some old Radio Shack powered uhf/vhf antenna thing with a flat panel in the center and 2 extendable whips.
They all react the same in my testing.

I am done messing with this for the day, but, the bare wire things, may give that a try tomorrow. But i don't expect any different results.

If only Locast could bump up their bitrates a bit, even just 500mbps, preferable 1,000, would be just fine using that.

#53

To be clear, I’m talking about a change outside of your apartment. It’s been clear you have changed nothing, but are getting interference.

Signal strength is only part of it, in the case of interference, signal strength can be the same, but if your SNR is now worse (from something between you and the transmission locations, whether local or remote), it would cause the scenario I am describing where interfering appliances previously did not have an affect, but now they do.

Did your old photos show any difference in the SNR? I think the HDHR app has a reading for that in the tuner stats?

#54

So I noticed minor interference from the Vornado fan. I have it right next to the tv in the bedroom, one floor directly above the HDHR. A very minor blip when I turned it off. And it also reminded me that the central HVAC also creates a minor blip of interference when it turns on/off and also did this with a Hauppauge tuner before I got a HDHR.

#55

If you flip the switch back and forth continuously for about 10 seconds or so between my medium and low high for me that continuously glitches out the TV signal quite badly. I know you don't normally do that and normal everyday use of the fan but it's something I noticed.

#56

Some odd interference patterns.... makes me wonder if the ground on your house is properly connected to the ground rod. If it isn't, your supposed ground wouldn't really be a ground, but one big antenna.

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#57

Well, its a 3 story, large, 300 some unit apartment complex.
I am on 3rd floor in a corner unit.
They have been doing renovations over the last 2 years.
Replaced the flat roof last year (and all the cable tv and ethernet wires are run up there and some were damaged/cut by the roofers. but no electric cables are up there)
Replacing patio doors, refurbishing the outside stucco and trim.
Re-modeling the interior of the units, new kitchens etc.

They have not done any re-wiring or work to the electrics or in wall wiring anywhere that I know of.

It certainly is possible that something among all that re-modeling and maintenance, has changed the overall environment, or knocked loose some core electrical things or something.

But, I could never know for sure, or do anything about that.

I guess maybe, i could one of those giant battery box travel/camping battery pack, things. And run the massager based items off that...at least then, when my back or legs hurt, or other uses....it won't cause the TV to go out.