Elevator and Reception

norton · 5-Jan-2012, 10:27 PM

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...7fb97395efbc7f

I live in a 4th floor apartment and I have the Terk HDTVa antenna. For the most part I am very happy with the number of stations that I can receive since I am able to get all the "green" stations.

Also the reception is very stable except when the elevator door opens or closes on my floor. I am about four apartments away from the elevator. When this happens there is a dropout which last a fraction of a second so I could lose a word of dialogue and the image will freeze. Also it is very annoying. In the early morning or late at night when not too many people are using the elevator the reception is great.

Is there anything that I can could do to reduce the interference? I have tried both with and without the amplifier on. Thanks.

Dave Loudin · 6-Jan-2012, 12:49 AM

Try turning the HDTVa's amplifier off. Leave the unit plugged in, though.

norton · 6-Jan-2012, 1:34 AM

I have tried it without the amplifier on (but plugged, otherwise the antenna does not work at all) but there is not much difference.

Electron · 6-Jan-2012, 2:16 AM

What direction does the balcony face?? What directions do the windows face??

norton · 6-Jan-2012, 2:28 AM

Both the balcony and windows face east. I have the antenna at the window which is as far as possible from the elevator. If the elevator is not moving, there is no reception problem.

ADTech · 6-Jan-2012, 4:46 PM

If the elevator doors are operated by electrical motors, they may be emitting RFI that is being picked up by the antennas.

The alternative explanation is that the elevator doors are changing the complex patterns of signal reflections inside the building enough to cause what is generally called "multi-path interference".

norton · 6-Jan-2012, 10:53 PM

I don't think it is multi-path interference because I have to point my antenna in different directions to get the various stations and the dropout effect is too consistent regardless of which station I tuned.

But RFI does make sense. Maybe I am hoping for too much, but are there any tips or tricks to circumvent it?

Electron · 7-Jan-2012, 1:21 AM

Go to , http://www.furmansound.com , and http://www.apc.com. Call the companies and describe your situation for the , power conditioner , for your situation. . Also go to Radio Shack and get a FM Trap that screws on to the coax line and a noise supersion filter that screws on to the coax line.