TV picture freezes & sound distorts

Joined
3 Dec 2007
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Leicestershire
Country
United Kingdom
My daughter's TVs have been working fine for the last 3 or 4 years but 2 or 3 months ago the picture started freezing & the sound distorts. It happens from about 5pm till about 11pm to varying degrees most nights. Outside of these hours picture & sound are fine.

The main TV in the lounge has Freeview and changing to an analogue the picture & sound are fine. There is a TV in each bedroom. There is a Wolsey WFAV 425 4-way splitter in the loft (although the gain was on minimum, I have turned it up a 1/4 and it's made no difference) powered by a Wolsey WPS 100/1 power supply unit in the main bedroom.

All the connection are fine and the light on the power supply is on.

Could the power supply have developed a fault? Or is there anything else I could check?

Any suggestions would be welcomed.
 
Sponsored Links
I won't rule out a problem with the amplifier, but if it was the power supply then I'd suspect the fault would be there all the time. That is unless you switch off your amp and 5pm to 11pm represents the warm up time.

The fact that this occurs at a specific time lot is, IMO, significant. Do these times correspond with anything happening in your house? Are any other TVs affected, or your neighbours experiencing the same problems?

Are there any new businesses or developments in your local area? I once had a customer's equipment affected by the mains disturbance from some commercial refrigeration plant.

In the meantime, try swapping the feed to your daughters room to a new socket on the amp.
 
Thanks for that ChrisFrost. I asked my daughter if anything had changed on her set-up or any new kit. The answer was no.

I will ask her if she has bought a new appliance around the time it started. When the problem started it was bearable but has gradually got worse.

Her neighbours are not experiencing these problems.

Thanks again.
 
Propogation has been bad this year, so a misaligned aerial might be to blame, and that particular TV is sensitive to the response, even, an overpowered signal. Or the cables might have water damage, the slightest split in a cable, and it injests water.
 
Sponsored Links
Hi ChrisFrost. I've swapped the power supply feed to another socket in the amp and picture quality is no different. All 4 TVs in the house have picture and sound distortion and neighbours' TV are OK. The aerial, 4-way amp and cabling to TVs are 6 years old. The power supply is on all the time. I'm running out of ideas.

Any other suggestions would would be welcomed.
 
Seem to be running out of ideas here...has a new building or aerial been built near to your property recently?

Automatic doors on Supermarkets cause interference, a local taxi firm installing a transmitter? (they have to provide you with RFI filters if so), a mobile mast?

But strangely, your neighbours don't experience wash-outs? Do they use 2-3 TV's on a amplified distribrution system? Have you discounted feedback, from the amp systems? Have you run a direct feed?
 
Hi Mickymoody. I bypassed the amp last night and picture no different. Also I did a continuity check on cable up to the aerial, centre core back to the shielding. On the 200M (presumably milliamps) range, I got a reading of 12. I would expect zero. Suggests damp in aerial connector box?

I'm going for a loft aerial. Not ideal I know but it's lack of pennies.

What type should I go for? Ideas would be welome
 
My PC TV card does not like a weak signal and if freezes like you say but TV just misses a bit.

I cured problem with TV's by moving over to a satellite box. I have found the problem with mine is the three transmitters within range seem to change as to which is stronger and the TV is forever wanting to re-tune and losing channels. Freeview is rubbish and I now only use it for UK History, and 5US the rest I can get on free to air (satellite). I have considered freesat but since only for bedroom not really a problem with rubbish TV guide.

Cheap satellite systems start at about £40. The cheap ones have rubbish TV guide. The all singing dancing boxes start at about £135 just for box and have full 7 day guide, HD, and Internet TV too.
 
A possible reason for this problem could be a faulty streetlamp during the hours of darkness,On some occasions the lamps looked ok but radiating interference at quite some distance.

Sometimes it can just affect one persons installation as it would depend on how good the signal is at the aerial.

So it's worth having a look at your streetlamps.

Andy
 
A possible reason for this problem could be a faulty streetlamp during the hours of darkness,On some occasions the lamps looked ok but radiating interference at quite some distance.

Sometimes it can just affect one persons installation as it would depend on how good the signal is at the aerial.

So it's worth having a look at your streetlamps.

Andy

That's a valid point, but hard to prove unless the streetlight isn't working. I had a streetlight out, reported to council, and they took ages to fix it, as it wasn't the bulb out, it was some transformer issue? They replaced the entire pole.

TeeCee - I'm unsure of the definition when people call aerials 'digital ready', but a high gain X configuration aerial in the loft should work. I used to use a lesser aerial in my parents loft, but that had sight of the transmitter (so to speak). I see houses in my area, with these hi-gain aerials, attached to chimneys, and just thing WHY!!!!?? When a bog standard aerial would do the job.

You know the type? A large reflector, with X shaped beams?
 
It's not so much that it's difficult as that it's hard to get a good handle on the RF situation without a spectrum analyser and they don't come cheap.
 
It's not so much that it's difficult as that it's hard to get a good handle on the RF situation without a spectrum analyser and they don't come cheap.

They can be bought at car boot sales...but a bit excessive, in this scenerio?
 
Whilst reading up on the subject for my new house and extra TV install.
It said the most common cause of the 2 second freeze on digi channels was people still having the old BROWN coax cable.
And its low tolerence of interference from all kinds of sources in the evening.
Basically not up to the job of carrying a digital signal.
Mine is old style brown at the moment, so, its worth a quick look.
 
Whilst reading up on the subject for my new house and extra TV install.
It said the most common cause of the 2 second freeze on digi channels was people still having the old BROWN coax cable.
And its low tolerence of interference from all kinds of sources in the evening.
Basically not up to the job of carrying a digital signal.
Mine is old style brown at the moment, so, its worth a quick look.

I'm not sure that the colour of the coax cable is an issue. Is new coax cable a different colour?
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top