generator interference question (1 Viewer)

[welshcowboy]

hi all. we have a small 900w generator and when it is running we cannot watch telly as it freezes the picture. we have tried plugging the telly in to the 240v and 12v but no difference. we have a maxview booster.
also our neighbours here at chester have similar size generator and that also makes our telly go funny.
can anyone shed any light on what we can do to stop this happening
we are at chester in the big red iveco if anyone wants to pop across with advice
many thanks in advance from colin. Steph and the gang.

 

[pappajohn]

sounds like RF interference.

try a new resistor type spark plug and plug cap first.

if its an unregulated two stroke genny it could be the wave form is not stable....nowt you can do about that....but as its the same on 12v i doubt that is the problem.

also, check ALL your tv coax connections...could be a bit of corrosion in a plug or actual coax lead causing a poor connection.

 

[welshcowboy]

hi I can't seeing it being the plug etc as when the generator next door is running it does exactly the same. so puzzled now.

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[Jaws]

As a genny at some distance is causing the same issue, it may well be a duff connection on the earthy side of the coax inside the actual aerial .

What make is the antenna and how old is it ?

 

[welshcowboy]

the aerial is a status one. the connections are both fine as I have checked them. when the generator is off the tv works fine 100% of the time. no problems at all even with the van engine running no problem at all.

 

[pappajohn]

hi I can't seeing it being the plug etc as when the generator next door is running it does exactly the same. so puzzled now.

they too could have an iffy plug but i would also check the tv coax and plugs for corrosion.

I had a similar problem at Oswestry last year, whenever the RV'ers next to me started their onboard genny (the RV was brand new) i got RF interference....but my own genny had no effect.

also try turning off the booster or bypass it by unplugging the input and output leads and plug them together...it may be getting too strong a signal

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[pappajohn]

the aerial is a status one. the connections are both fine as I have checked them. when the generator is off the tv works fine 100% of the time. no problems at all even with the van engine running no problem at all.

almost definitely RF interference then.

theres very little to shield the plug on a genny, unlike a car body, so any interference will transmit out

plug and cap.

 

[welshcowboy]

I will try bypassing the booster tomorrow and see what happens. fingers crossed lol cheers for your help.

 

[Gromett]

I actually know what I am doing when it comes to electrics and electronics. However even I have been caught out be a faulty cable.

My mother recently upgraded from a PVR to the BT vision box. The old PVR/Tuner worked fine but the BT one failed. I checked the connectors, the aerial and everything else I could think of. I was blaming the new box as the old one worked fine...

We eventually got a BT engineer out. He whacked a meter on it and saw that there was horrendous interference and signal loss. We ended up swapping the whole cable run as a last resort and this fixed it.

Upon closer inspection of the cable we found a tiny burn mark. When we cut the cable at this point the insulation inside was burnt/melted. The only thing we could think of was a lightening strike prior to mum taking over the property.

I would suggest putting a new length of cable with fresh connectors on from the aerial to the tv. Shouldn't cost more than a tenner but will rule out all the cheapest problems before going onto the expensive ones.

With all the flexing and movement that cables suffer from in a vehicle it is possible that there is non visible damage to a cable which is allowing the interference into the system..

Just my thoughts, feel free to mock/laugh oh:

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[pappajohn]

I will try bypassing the booster tomorrow and see what happens. fingers crossed lol cheers for your help.

this is a test recommended by status to verify the booster is working correctly.

incorrect/faulty booster operation can cause pixelation and picture freezing.
the following link is for the new 550 aerial but the test will be the same.
dont worry id you dont have the mentioned cables...just join together as my other post.

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