My damn TV picks up radio signals!¿?

[chipperrox]

Alright
somethin weird here- i have this tv in my room, that does not recieve cable- only local channels, and it works great for fox25, mtv2-24
but as soon as I go down to NBC7- one of two things happens
It either
1) Works fine
2)doesnt get any signal- just static
3) works fine for a second, then bursts into static, then after a while- back into reception

Now the weird thing here is that while it is busy not working, If i turn it up, I can hear radio reception. I thought it was a coincidence and I was hearing the RHCP from my tv, i thought it was a reception from mtv2. so I flipped to MTV2 and i saw the RHCP "californication" video, big sigh of relief- or so I thought, i flipped it back to NBC 7 and realized it was RHCP, but it was their new-ish song, "Can't Stop" ....I had a weird feeling so i turned on the radio- my rap station was ..rap- one preset up, on 101.7 FNX, I heard, "cant stop" it was in the same place on the song as the tv...
So my tv was playing radio waves- yes i am positive they were the same waves playing, cause then i heard a commercial.

does anyone know what is up?
or how to fix this?

as always, any help is appreciated.

[Scott2201]

Well, I know you can get FM traps from Radio Shack. I know FM waves can interfere with cable, so I imagine they can interfere with broadcast, too.

Go to the shack and tell em you need an FM trap. Plug it in between your antenna and your TV. If that doesn't work, take it back and get your maney back, and put it towards a new TV. :mellow

[phalkon30]

The only antanaee my stereo had for a while, was the cable tv signal, they used to broadcast radio stations thorugh cable

Do you live near any towers?

[Krell]

A tuner is a tuner.

So if the carrier is a frequency that is near channel 7, a trap will not work. Filters do help, but not in that same freq range.

What your tuner needs to be able to do, is to get really good signals, and to "lock" on to them.

Your problem mostly happens with an older TV. Especially ones with a manual dial type tuner. The newer tuners, (actually for a long time now) either for radio or TV, use whats called Phase Lock Loop, and theres a chips that does the PLL in the tuning, to get you on the EXACT carrier frequency.

My suggestion is to get a better antenna. Be wary of the cheap electronic ones, they rarely work as well as advertised. There may also be a home or an apt near you, that is using an RF transmission to distribute their home entertainment, which is bleeding over.

Try a really good antenna first, and the filters.

[Bodhisattva/GoldenSilence]

On a somewhat related note, if you get poor radio reception with your stereo, you can connect your cable TV coax wire to the antenna input on your receiver (whether you have cable TV or not). Radio reception is very good using coax, esp. in the FM band.

You would need to buy an adapter to do this. . . just a couple of bux at Radio Shack.

[Potato]

an old tv of mine used to pick up people in ambulences. :mellow

[Krell]

Originally posted by Potato429
an old tv of mine used to pick up people in ambulences. :mellow

No, that was just the "Crossing Over" with John Edwards



he he



btw . . . another good call there Bodhisattva/GoldenSilence

the voice of experience

[isus]

thats pretty cool. i wouldnt want it to happen to my tv though, since it only has one speaker though. everything is mono, even the headphone output.

shitty tv...

[vikram_mohan]

Originally posted by chipperrox
Alright
somethin weird here- i have this tv in my room, that does not recieve cable- only local channels, and it works great for fox25, mtv2-24
but as soon as I go down to NBC7- one of two things happens
It either
1) Works fine
2)doesnt get any signal- just static
3) works fine for a second, then bursts into static, then after a while- back into reception

Now the weird thing here is that while it is busy not working, If i turn it up, I can hear radio reception. I thought it was a coincidence and I was hearing the RHCP from my tv, i thought it was a reception from mtv2. so I flipped to MTV2 and i saw the RHCP "californication" video, big sigh of relief- or so I thought, i flipped it back to NBC 7 and realized it was RHCP, but it was their new-ish song, "Can't Stop" ....I had a weird feeling so i turned on the radio- my rap station was ..rap- one preset up, on 101.7 FNX, I heard, "cant stop" it was in the same place on the song as the tv...
So my tv was playing radio waves- yes i am positive they were the same waves playing, cause then i heard a commercial.

does anyone know what is up?
or how to fix this?

as always, any help is appreciated.

Hehe i still got a old and i mean OLD TV that picks up mobile phone receptions :P

Pretty cool stuff............ Sometimes i hear drug dealers and stuff

[vikram_mohan]

Hey guys,

I also wanted to ask another thing ..

My creative inspire 4.1 speakers picks up radio channels when it is connected to the computer and the computer is switched off but it doesnt do this when it is not connected to the computer...........

Any idea how i can exploit this phenomenon to scan through frequencies and pick up other radio channels even when the computer is switched on !??

[moshsandwich]

Got a similar problem with one of our bands amps.
When we're practicing (down south u.k.), stop playing the guitar, and for some reason we can hear Portuguese (yes! Portugese! It's not playing on AM or FM) radio through the amp!
Tinny, but it happens. We think it's the guitar cable, must somehow be acting as a receptor/

[Krell]

Even with my background, I may as well tell you to stand one one foot and wave your arms around to get better reception.

Bleed-over, is not something that you can manipulate in a scientific way. Generally, it is symptomatic of improper grounding, there is little one can do to variably tune this phenomena.


Always use grounded 3 prong outlets

If thats not available, run an 18 Ga wire from some grounded part of the chassis, to a ground plane, such as metal plumbing, or a ground rod, utility ground.

For low level cables, such as mic and guiter cables, try to buy balanced and shielded cables, and tie loops in them. (knots)

[vikram_mohan]

Originally posted by Krell
Even with my background, I may as well tell you to stand one one foot and wave your arms around to get better reception.

Bleed-over, is not something that you can manipulate in a scientific way. Generally, it is symptomatic of improper grounding, there is little one can do to variably tune this phenomena.

Drats thought i could hear FM on my comp without a radio tuner card :P

[Krell]

Radio Shack used to sell a small ampifier that strapped to a telephone receiver, to aid the hard of hearing. It detected the magnetic flutuations of the earpiece, and amplified that on its own speaker.


I used that cheap item, to find low level noise on data cables buried in walls, ( which was sometimes A.M. radio signals) and to spot transmitters (bugs) that were hidden.

Relatively low-tech, saved thousands of dollors in high tech equipment.

[vikram_mohan]

Originally posted by Krell
Radio Shack used to sell a small ampifier that strapped to a telephone receiver, to aid the hard of hearing. It detected the magnetic flutuations of the earpiece, and amplified that on its own speaker.


I used that cheap item, to find low level noise on data cables buried in walls, ( which was sometimes A.M. radio signals) and to spot transmitters (bugs) that were hidden.

Relatively low-tech, saved thousands of dollors in high tech equipment.

Now thats called being smart :)