Stb Least Suseptible To Impulse Noise

[monhaj]

I have had a problem with audio dropout on HD digital TV due to interference caused by light switches in my home.

I have already replaced all cabling with Quad shielded cable and made sure that there are no electical cables nearby.

My HD STB is the Humax HD-7000 which I have replaced twice already.

I have tried a very expesive surge protector to try to eliminate any impulses through the power supply.

The sales person at Dick Smith suggested that I replace the STB with one that is "less sensitive to impluse noise", such as the Sony DSTH500.

Does anyone have any advise for my as to whether this is true?

Please help!

[SKG]

I used to have bad impulse noise till I installed the following:

PureAV™ Home Theater Power Console PF40

[austruckie]

I have had a problem with audio dropout on HD digital TV due to interference caused by light switches in my home.

I have already replaced all cabling with Quad shielded cable and made sure that there are no electical cables nearby.

My HD STB is the Humax HD-7000 which I have replaced twice already.

I have tried a very expesive surge protector to try to eliminate any impulses through the power supply.

The sales person at Dick Smith suggested that I replace the STB with one that is "less sensitive to impluse noise", such as the Sony DSTH500.

Does anyone have any advise for my as to whether this is true?

Please help!

saw another post a month or so ago which said the sony wasnt bad with respect to impulse noise. I dont see what you have to lose as dick smith have 14 day return policy and they are/were $199. cheers alan

[HeXa]

The Philips DTR7200 ($199 HD STB) advertises patented 'Pulse Killer' technology on the box.... and I've never had impulse noise with it.

[mtv]

monhaj

Some STB's do appear to be more susceptible to impulse noise than others, however, you need to determine where the impulse noise is originating.

Whilst using a well-shielded cable like RG6 Quadshield and keeping is clear of electrical cables is a positive move, what steps have you taken to ensure the interference isn't being picked up from your antenna?

The majority of impulse noise problems result from insufficient strength and 'quality' signals. When interference of levels higher than the signals occur, that's when you have problems.

The key to solving this problem (in most cases) is capturing strong, error-free signals at the antenna.

You should only use an antenna for the digital channels in your area (which you haven't mentioned where you are).

A very common problem is the use of antennas that are prone to picking up impulse noise, such as those which are designed to receive any channels below channel 6, typically Bands 1 & 2 (ABC Ch2 analogue and FM)

The use of amplifiers and splitters can also contribute to the problem.

Power conditioners are only useful for impulse noise if the interference is on the mains power, if it's coming via the antenna/distribution system, it will have no effect.

Is it only light switches that cause the dropouts? What about other appliances? Is it all light switches in the house, or just some? What type of lamps... tungsten, fluoro, halogen... any transformers... electronic, iron-core?

Are there any dimmers in the lighting circuits? Do you experience droputs at other times, other than using light switches?

What type of antenna do you have, what channels do you receive and how is the antenna mounted?

Precise measurements in dBuV of the channel power and bit error rate (BER) of all your digital channels plus signal strength and carrier to noise (C/N) measurements for your analogue channels would help.

As you can see, tracking down an impulse noise source, can be challenging.

[butterfingers]

i was getting this interference with digicrystal and teac sd boxes. got a dsthd500 and it solved the problem 95%. when this box gets interference, it never chirps, audio drops out for a second instead. i only seem to have occasional problems on stormy days now, but i have an old, old, old ariel, so.......

[Merkava]

Got a Philips DTR-7200 and it has minimised our pretty bad impulse noise problem. Our Strong sd-stb while being a very good receiver suffered alot of chirps, combined with pixelating image. The Philips box hasn't chirped once and only very slightly stutters the image where the Strong would pixelate.

[alanh]

monhaj,

Go to the Geographic Viewers’ Forum, which is near the bottom of the main forum’s home page. Select your region and read the pinned post “Get the Best Reception”. Please post any further correspondence in this strand for all in your region to see. I will see it anyway. You could also search your location in that strand for others in your area.

Read Antenna Design Basics + Amplification, Terms and comparison of types This includes a section on impulse noise, however you should read the "Get the Best Reception" posts first.

Further posts on this topic should be in your geographic viewers' forum.

AlanH

[monhaj]

monhaj,

Go to the Geographic Viewers’ Forum, which is near the bottom of the main forum’s home page. Select your region and read the pinned post “Get the Best Reception”. Please post any further correspondence in this strand for all in your region to see. I will see it anyway. You could also search your location in that strand for others in your area.

Read Antenna Design Basics + Amplification, Terms and comparison of types This includes a section on impulse noise, however you should read the "Get the Best Reception" posts first.

Further posts on this topic should be in your geographic viewers' forum.

AlanH

Thank you for suggesting this. I will certainly read this.

[monhaj]

The Philips DTR7200 ($199 HD STB) advertises patented 'Pulse Killer' technology on the box.... and I've never had impulse noise with it.

Where did you see it for $199?

[JimmyB]

Healing STB's are also worth a look.

In my place, using my old Panasonic HD STB it was unwatchable, with my Healing HD STB it is

perfect.