Tv

hillbilly1 said:
Found this, it may even interfere with vhf. See if that channel is in a different band than the others.
ka7oei.blogspot.com

Minimizing VHF (and HF) RFI from electronic ballasts and fluorescent tubes

Several years ago we started replacing the old, "iron" ballasts with T-12 fluorescent tubes at my work with T-8 tubes and electronic ballast...
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It appears to affect those channels that are 5.6 etc. I'll check more tomorrow.

I've noticed those channels come and go. I never knew the fixture influence until this evening. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Thanks
 
ptonsparky said:
It appears to affect those channels that are 5.6 etc. I'll check more tomorrow.

I've noticed those channels come and go. I never knew the fixture influence until this evening. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Thanks
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It doesn’t matter anymore about the channel display numbers, lower numbers can be in the uhf range now, and the old high numbers can be vhf. They tend to like uhf, maybe longer transmission distance.
 
hillbilly1 said:
It doesn’t matter anymore about the channel display numbers, lower numbers can be in the uhf range now, and the old high numbers can be vhf. They tend to like uhf, maybe longer transmission distance.
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Figured the channel numbers didn’t mean anything , but whatever the range is for 5.1 to 5.6 in this area. I believe It is a more distant transmitter.
 
KNHL Hastings is what I think you're watching. They are one of the few stations still broadcasting on the low-VHF band (channels 2-6)...they are on "physical" channel 5, which is very susceptible to electrical noise. We also have a channel 5 broadcaster in our market...they also own a UHF station in the market and are rebroadcasting their 5.1 (ABC network) stream on their UHF channel to improve reception of their main moneymaker.

Very few companies manufacture TV antennas designed to receive low-band VHF these days. If you have a big old-fashioned Winegard or Channel Master outdoor Yagi antenna from 40 years ago, that's still your best option if it's in good shape.
 
grich said:
KNHL Hastings is what I think you're watching. They are one of the few stations still broadcasting on the low-VHF band (channels 2-6)...they are on "physical" channel 5, which is very susceptible to electrical noise. We also have a channel 5 broadcaster in our market...they also own a UHF station in the market and are rebroadcasting their 5.1 (ABC network) stream on their UHF channel to improve reception of their main moneymaker.

Very few companies manufacture TV antennas designed to receive low-band VHF these days. If you have a big old-fashioned Winegard or Channel Master outdoor Yagi antenna from 40 years ago, that's still your best option if it's in good shape.
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We rarely watch those stations because of the formerly unpredictable reception. We just happened to be watching when MDSW turned those lights on and about 5 seconds later we lost the channel.

Outside antennas blow about within a year. Attic installed.
 
ptonsparky said:
...Outside antennas blow about within a year. Attic installed.
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I get it...my antenna is also in the attic. I have the advantage of living four miles away from most of the TV tower sites in my area. I still get interference on occasion...not from electrical sources but from trains. When a train goes past my house, the strong TV signals play ping-pong with the moving train, the water tower across the street, the grain elevator on the other side of the tracks, and the UPRR microwave relay tower 200 feet away.
 
I started out in life doing master antenna systems for apartment buildings and was also asked to do a fair number of antennas for houses. Whenever a customer insisted on an antenna in the attic I refused the job. Anytime I had ever put one there it resulted in poor reception and the customer blaming me. It couldn't be aimed properly, foil insulation, HVAC ducts, etc. I remember one where the customer, for who I was able to get decent reception, called me to complain in the fall. I found that he moved all his lawn furniture into the sizable attic with a metal table right under the antenna. When I told him that's what the problem was, the unbelieving customer asked, "should the legs go up or down".

So, moral of the story is antennas don't belong in attics. If your antenna doesn't survive being outdoors installed on the roof it's improperly installed or a piece of junk. Granted, what was a normal quality antenna back then isn't available now. I kind of remember at the end I had to order Jerrold/TACO antennas from Canada. In my opinion, over the air reception is a joke today... or a hobby.

-Hal
 
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