Picture & sound drop outs on both aerial and hdmi

[Halitosis]

After removing the virgin box in favour of an Amazon fire tv stick I'm getting sound drop- outs of a second every 20 seconds or so, and also slight picture pixelation every minute or so. The two issues don't appear to happen together.
When hooking up a different TV to the same inputs/cables i don't get the same problem... So is the tv fit for the skip, or might it be a cheap(ish) fix?
Thanks for any advice

 

[Lucid]

If this was a problem affecting cable TV or an internet TV service then it might point to a poor noise margin. However, the fact that you're getting this whether the signal is derived from a Firestick on HDMI and also an aerial connection, and further to that you have swapped the TV and the problems go away, then in the absence of any new information I'd say it does all point to the TV. The question though is what's causing it. This isn't one of those relatively simple "My TV won't turn on" or "the screen is blank" issues, so unless you can find something by searching Youtube or Google then I'd say it's going toi take an engineer some time to diagnose. That means it won't be a cheap fix.

 

[winston1]

If this was a problem affecting cable TV or an internet TV service then it might point to a poor noise margin. However, the facet that you're getting this whether the signal is derived from a Firestick on HDMI and also an aerial connection, and further to that you have swapped the TV and the problems go away, then in the absence of any new information I'd say it does all point to the TV. The question though is what's causing it. This isn't one of those relatively simple "My TV won't turn on" or "the screen is blank" issues, so unless you can find something by searching Youtube or Google then I'd say it's going toi take an engineer some time to diagnose. That means it won't be a cheap fix.

He did mention an aerial connection and did not imply there was a fault with Virgin cable TV.

It is one TV with an Amazon firestick only. Could be an incompatibility with the two rather than a fault as such. Certainly would not skip the TV if it works otherwise. This throw away society for the slightest fault is terrible.

 

[Halitosis]

Sorry - to clarify, it worked fine when it only had Virgin box feed. I removed that and plugged in the fire-stick (same HDMI input socket) and coax from aerial, after which the drop-outs started. When plugging the same inputs into another TV there is no problem, so it's definitely the TV. I wondered if it might be a common fault with modern-day TVs and needs a new "motherboard"(?) or some-such (of which I see plenty on Ebay)

 

[winston1]

Not a common fault with modern day TVs, but very common due to a poor aerial installation. If the signal is near the digital cliff a slight difference in sensitivity between two TVs could explain why only one was affected.
A new TV could be similarly affected.
Best get the aerial checked out.

 

[Halitosis]

Not a common fault with modern day TVs, but very common due to a poor aerial installation. If the signal is near the digital cliff a slight difference in sensitivity between two TVs could explain why only one was affected.
A new TV could be similarly affected.
Best get the aerial checked out.

I appreciate your point Winston, but can the aerial cause these symptoms on HDMI input as well? May be worth pointing out I've installed a masthead amplifier at the aerial and PSU at the TV, and the coax cable is 3 years old and perhaps 10m long (to be fair it doesn't look particularly high quality - that thin brown variety!)

 

[Lucid]

He did mention an aerial connection and did not imply there was a fault with Virgin cable TV.

Yeah, I know he mentioned the aerial, and I never said that there was an actual or implied fault with Virgin. What's your point Winston1?

 

[Lucid]

...can the aerial cause these symptoms on HDMI input as well? May be worth pointing out I've installed a masthead amplifier at the aerial and PSU at the TV, and the coax cable is 3 years old and perhaps 10m long (to be fair it doesn't look particularly high quality - that thin brown variety!)

I'm just spit-balling here, but if there's a socket or cabling shorting out and making part of the building live and then that's somehow getting to the aerial and coming down the cable. Itr's a bit convoluted but once you rule out all the other possible causes then what's left might be an answer. I wouldn't nail my flag to that mast just yet though.

What happens if you have just one or the other signal source connected. Have you tried with just Freeview and with just the Firestick? Are the results still the same?

 

[Halitosis]

...What happens if you have just one or the other signal source connected. Have you tried with just Freeview and with just the Firestick? Are the results still the same?

Bingo - thanks for the lightbulb moment Lucid - when I remove (or turn the power off to) the Amazon Fire-stick then the problem disappears... I'm now trying it in a different HDMI socket to see if its specific to the HDMI socket, or the Fire-stick. Might need an evening of testing but will update when certain.
Thanks all - you may have saved me a few hundred quid!