TV Fool - Cyclical Freezing/Unfreezing

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Cyclical Freezing/Unfreezing

Almost every 31 seconds (with slight variation) one particular channel freezes in video and audio for a second or so, then resumes. Reception on other channels fine.

What strikes me is the 'almost to the second' cyclical nature of the freezing, not random. Or maybe it's random in cyclical fashion lol. I don't know. Channel is WLLA, real channel 45.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...82305b5102eaf4

Antenna is Winegard 7694P. Help appreciated.

Where is your Winegard 7694P antenna located (roof? attic?)?

What direction is the antenna aimed? For real channel 45 it needs to be aimed at 167 degrees (using a compass).

It's something electronic, probably close by, that's causing interference most likely. Might be from your own home, a neighbor, or some distance off?

Are you in an urban, suburban, semi-rural, or rural location?

Start by shutting off ALL circuits in your house except the one the TV is on and retest. If it's still there, swap the TV to a different branch circuit and switch the first one off and retest. If it's still there, it's not coming from anything in your home that's mains powered. Check for battery or solar powered stuff, especially anything with a charger.

Check of time of day cycles. Is it 24/7 or only certain times of day?

That will give you a few things to look at. See what that turns up.

Welcome back. You have three other threads with the same problem, so we have to read them first before answering. It would have been easier if you had continued on the original thread. Your previous threads:

Throwing TV Signal Downstairs
http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=13985

Quote:

Originally Posted by voidcomp (Post 40685)

More of an observation - signal to a downstairs TV can be problematic without direct cabling, split or otherwise, from the roof/attic mounted antenna. Lots of discussions here about throw length, amplification, etc.

An alternative - attach the antenna cable to a HDHomerun, which in turn is connected via cat5 to a wireless switch. So long as you have a laptop/computer downstairs connected to the basement TV (HDMI preferably) and the distance or interference isn't too great, simply install the HdHomerun Quick TV software to the computer.

Pretty quick and dirty. I'm actually getting decent OTA pictures, even when thrown over Wireless G.

Are you having the problem now with the TV or the wireless with HDHR?

Intermittent Interference
http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=13890

Quote:

Not sure if this makes any difference but there's a police and fire transmitter directly, and I mean directly in line, roughly 1/2 mile away. Could this possibly be the source of interference?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADTech (Post 39994)

If you were able to determine what frequency(ies) the public service agencies are operating on, then you could install a frequency selective filter to attenuate them from the input of your set(s).
For testing, you could use the UHF input of a UVSJ to trap out the VHF band since that appears to be where most of your local police dispatch appears to operate. That would at least give you an idea if interference from the VHF band is the issue.
Unfortunately, many of the other public services use UHF frequencies almost adjacent to UHF channel 14 (450-470 MHz), so filtering them out would be a lot more difficult and you won't be able to pick something up at Radio Shack that will do the trick.

Did you try the UVSJ test, using the common and high ports, suggested by ADTech to see if it would remove the interference?

confused with results
http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=13756

Quote:

Good signal on all channels except WLLA Ch 45 which drops out now and then. No consistency to the pattern. Funny thing is, my indoor Mohu Leaf on another tv pulls in the station better (at the expense of other stations not coming in).

I can see it's in a fringe zone, yet stations WOLP and WZPX (with lower NM's) come in just fine. WZPX is in a significantly different direction too which is kind of surprising considering the direction sensitive nature of the antenna.

Can anyone shed some light as to why some stations one would think would come in poorly come in fine, and vice versa?

There's no erratic behavior with the Mohu Leaf. Reason?
Interesting, the Leaf is lower, within the house, subject to more interference and blockage, and considerably less powerful than the Winegard.

The acid test will come when I install a HDHomerun and see if signal strength remains strong enough to record. Unfortunately my Vizio has no signal strength function to give me a ballpark idea.

The 7694 has more gain on VHF than the Leaf, so it is more likely to pick up VHF interference.

As previously mentioned, indoor and attic reception is difficult to predict. Antenna location can be critical and signal loss from the attic location is unknown.

It is possible that the HDHR is more easily overloaded than the TV by strong signals.

You have some strong FM signals. In addition to the UVSJ test, you should try an FM filter. See attachment.
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/produc...-FM-88-/33-341
https://www.antennasdirect.com/store...on_filter.html
http://comingsoon.radioshack.com/rad...l#.VX8mYzjbKHw

A 4G filter would be worth a test; the interference might be coming from above channel 51.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G-LTE_filter
https://at800.tv/find-out-more/
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/81-o...ml#post1911626
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/25-hdt...l#post24603050

If you could tell us more about the police and fire station, maybe we could find out the transmitter frequencies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbit73 (Post 51675)

Welcome back. You have three other threads with the same problem, so we have to read them first before answering.

My apologies, I forgot about those posts made some 20 months ago.

I just found the solution - https://www.silicondust.com/forum/vi...p?f=13&t=18487

Why do you think it is the solution to your problem?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbit73 (Post 51683)

Why do you think it is the solution to your problem?

Because I tried the suggested fix and the freezing issue no longer exists. Talking about obscure! Affects only specific devices running certain firmware viewing certain TV stations.

Appreciate all the help.

Mixed emotions here ... nice to see the problem resolved but sobering there remains a ton of variables, in isolation or in combination, that can contribute to reception issues. Could of been worse ... I could of got a new antenna, relocated it, repointed, eliminate possible interference sources, recabled, cut down trees, amplified, hired an electrician, replaced light bulbs, moved chargers, moved closer to a tower, chewed my neighbor out, etc etc and STILL have the problem. I'm figuring this board solves the majority of problems ... it's the few unsolved that can drive one crazy.

It makes you wonder at what point do people just throw up their arms and go back to dish or cable, pay the extra $, and relax with a cold beer knowing it's worth the aggravation avoided.

Quote:

Because I tried the suggested fix and the freezing issue no longer exists. Talking about obscure! Affects only specific devices running certain firmware viewing certain TV stations.

Thanks for the details, and the link to that forum. Congratulations on the good effective research.

Symbol quality dropping out every 30 seconds - HDHR3-US
thread:
https://www.silicondust.com/forum/vi...p?f=13&t=18487
post:
https://www.silicondust.com/forum/vi...art=15#p125206

Quote:

Re: Symbol quality dropping out every 30 seconds - HDHR3-US

Postby arcturus » Mon Jun 15, 2015 2:55 pm

Confirming this issue with TV station WLLA (Kalamazoo, MI).

The command instructions worked like a charm with the latest non beta firmware.
Unrelated - my only remaining issue is HdHomerun View crashes when changing stations.
Fortunately WMC doesn't crash and serves as the viewer until issue is resolved. I'm open to suggestions.

Yes, very obscure! The closest I got to it is when I asked about reception on the HDHR vs the TV.

Quote:

it's the few unsolved that can drive one crazy.

It bothers me when I am not able to solve a poster's problem.

Quote:

there remains a ton of variables, in isolation or in combination, that can contribute to reception issues.

Yup, and we have to make an analysis by "remote control.":)

Quote:

It makes you wonder at what point do people just throw up their arms

It varies according to the person, depending on how persistent they are.

I don't like computers, and only tolerate them for what they can do for me. I prefer to watch TV on a TV set, instead of a computer.

Thanks again for telling us about the solution that worked for you. Having it posted here might help others.