Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Biggles on May 28, 2014 at 11:31

Sure sounds like some kind of interference that starts at or around 6pm. Do you have Sky with an rf modulator or anything else in the house or a near neighbour that turns on at 6pm?

How have you connected everything?

UHF antenna to T1000 and HDMI to TV?

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Permalink Reply by Bill McMurray on May 28, 2014 at 16:46

Hi Erin,

We have a lot of trouble with exactly that in the Waikato and have traced it to the SMART METERS which the power companies are installing. Apparently between 5-00pm and 6-00pm is the time of the day when the meters "report back" to the power companies computer.

You don't have to actually have a smart meter yourself: - Your UHF aerial may be pointing towards the neighbour's meter!!!

It seems to affect some receivers (T1000 included) and TVs more than others.

DishTV market a filter with F Connectors which is designed to be installed at the aerial, to protect all your TVs and receivers, or a filter with RF sockets which plugs into the back of your TV or receiver; - (about $25.00? each).

It has become so prevalent now that the people who install the meters are actually carrying some of the DishTV filters with them, in case the problem arises while they're there.

I suggest you phone DishTV and, if they're sure that's what the problem is, get them to send a filter out to you or get a local installer to fit one. - But make sure they install one of the "new DishTV" filters because there are cheaper ones on the market, which don't filter out the unwanted frequencies as successfully.

I hope that solves your problem. Cheers,  Bill.

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Permalink Reply by Biggles on May 28, 2014 at 17:14

Now that's an interesting problem. Is it the viewers problem. No! Is it DishTV's problem? I don't think so. Is it the Power Companies' problem. Definitely. Their equipment is causing harmful interference to TV reception. I would be complaining to RSM if I had that problem. They would soon sort it out. Logical solution - the SMART meters need to be sorted to stop the interference. Adding filters to the viewers equipment is not a solution as the interference is still being radiated.

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Permalink Reply by John Baird on May 28, 2014 at 19:06

Bill, can you tell us what frequencies are involved please?
Cheers

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Permalink Reply by Erin on May 28, 2014 at 20:35

Hi there!

Yep, I've connected everything as instructed by the manual...and it did work properly for a few days...I called Dish TV and they've said that it's not there receiver and that it's probably something an installer can help with? Pretty sure that it's something to do with some kind of outside interference.

Would it be better to get another LORANZ as the other TV has that receiver and doesn't have any problems?

Thanks for your advice!

 
Biggles said:

Sure sounds like some kind of interference that starts at or around 6pm. Do you have Sky with an rf modulator or anything else in the house or a near neighbour that turns on at 6pm?

How have you connected everything?

UHF antenna to T1000 and HDMI to TV?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Erin on May 28, 2014 at 20:40

Thanks Bill!

Much appreciate the info and advice....when I called Dish TV...well, there customer service wasn't very helpful or interested with what I had to say, only that they were sure that it wasn't anything to do with their product.

Just frustrating as the LORANZ receiver worked from day one without a hitch...

Once again, thanks for you help and advice!

 
Bill McMurray said:

Hi Erin,

We have a lot of trouble with exactly that in the Waikato and have traced it to the SMART METERS which the power companies are installing. Apparently between 5-00pm and 6-00pm is the time of the day when the meters "report back" to the power companies computer.

You don't have to actually have a smart meter yourself: - Your UHF aerial may be pointing towards the neighbour's meter!!!

It seems to affect some receivers (T1000 included) and TVs more than others.

DishTV market a filter with F Connectors which is designed to be installed at the aerial, to protect all your TVs and receivers, or a filter with RF sockets which plugs into the back of your TV or receiver; - (about $25.00? each).

It has become so prevalent now that the people who install the meters are actually carrying some of the DishTV filters with them, in case the problem arises while they're there.

I suggest you phone DishTV and, if they're sure that's what the problem is, get them to send a filter out to you or get a local installer to fit one. - But make sure they install one of the "new DishTV" filters because there are cheaper ones on the market, which don't filter out the unwanted frequencies as successfully.

I hope that solves your problem. Cheers,  Bill.

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Permalink Reply by Bill McMurray on May 29, 2014 at 21:45

John Baird said:

Bill, can you tell us what frequencies are involved please?
Cheers

Hi John,

In the Waikato, it seems that the TVNZ mux (TV1 & 2) from Te Aroha  is the most susceptible. So that's channel 34.

But I'm sure the smart meters aren't using the same frequencies, they just seem to "cross over" somehow, because as soon as we fit the filters and block out the unwanted frequencies, the problem disappears EVERY TIME.

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Permalink Reply by Bill McMurray on May 29, 2014 at 21:55

Biggles said:

Now that's an interesting problem. Is it the viewers problem. No! Is it DishTV's problem? I don't think so. Is it the Power Companies' problem. Definitely. Their equipment is causing harmful interference to TV reception. I would be complaining to RSM if I had that problem. They would soon sort it out. Logical solution - the SMART meters need to be sorted to stop the interference. Adding filters to the viewers equipment is not a solution as the interference is still being radiated.

Hi Biggles,

The power companies are very aware of the problem; - As I mentioned earlier, We were talking with DishTV about it and they told us that the power companys' installers are now buying filters off DishTV to fit at any troublesome sites!!

I would hope that the power companies are already working on modifying their smart meters to fix the problem long-term, but in the meantime our customers can't watch their TV channels for a period most nights, so we're fitting the filters as a short term solution.

Cheers,  Bill.

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Permalink Reply by Bill McMurray on May 29, 2014 at 22:12

Erin said:

Thanks Bill!

Much appreciate the info and advice....when I called Dish TV...well, there customer service wasn't very helpful or interested with what I had to say, only that they were sure that it wasn't anything to do with their product.

Just frustrating as the LORANZ receiver worked from day one without a hitch...

Once again, thanks for you help and advice!

Hi Erin,

I'm sorry to hear that about DishTV, because they are usually most helpful, and they do know about the problem and have discussed it with us; - Maybe you got one of them on a bad day!

Would you like us to mail a filter to you to try? - Now I'm not saying that it definitely is the problem, but it certainly sounds like it could be, and it will only take one minute to plug it in and one night to find out if that was the problem!

Why don't you phone Andrea on 07 856 6846, at Rainbow Connections, give her your mailing address and tell her what it's about; - I'll be back there on Monday and will mail a filter out to you with instructions next week, and then we'll all see what happens.

If it doesn't make any difference then we'll know that's not the problem and you can send the filter back to us. If it does fix the problem, we'll invoice you for the filter.

Cheers,  Bill.

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Permalink Reply by nzdtv.com on May 30, 2014 at 5:58

What frequencys do your magic filters notch out? I think really someone should be contacting

http://www.rsm.govt.nz/cms

If those smart meters are really causing such an issue

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Permalink Reply by Steve J on May 30, 2014 at 8:28

From what I was told Advanced meters use vodafone 2G up on 900 Mhz GSM  at very low power output  make a brief pulse around 1am

so i'm at a loss to why there is an issue at dinner time !!

Supreme Antennas in Levin do a filter for pass of ch 26 to 48 uhf region   !!

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Permalink Reply by Biggles on May 30, 2014 at 9:11

+1

If my reception was being affected I would definitely be contacting RSM to investigate. There is definitely a source of interference from somewhere. I do find it strange though that if Smart meters operate in the Mobile Phone frequency bands that they are causing interference at TV frequencies which are lower. There are many other souces of interference likely in your home such as Heat Pumps, Powerline networking adaptors, etc.

nzdtv.com said:

What frequencys do your magic filters notch out? I think really someone should be contacting

http://www.rsm.govt.nz/cms

If those smart meters are really causing such an issue

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