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Old 12-10-2017, 06:43 PM   #1
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Bathroom Fan and Ceiling Lights Affect TV Reception

Anytime I use the bathroom fan or ceiling lights I get fewer over the air TV channels in my Interstate. In one location anytime I used the fan or ceiling lights I lost 2/3 of the OTA TV stations. In another location I lost about 1/2 of the stations using the fan and a few less using the ceiling light. The ceiling light is on a dimmer. I can use other lights and it has no affect on the TV.

Does any body else have this problem? If so have you found a solution to the problem? I did send a message to Airstream a couple of weeks ago and so far I have not heard back from them.

Thanks
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Old 12-10-2017, 07:24 PM   #2
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Electrical interference due to induction between the power for the light and fan and the television coax because the lines are too close together.

You may be able to get an RF filter that you could attach between the coax and the television that would clear up the interference. But I can't tell you which filter to get. Knowing that you need an RF filter is the far edge of my expertise; beyond that to knowing which one to get is terra incognita for me.
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Old 12-10-2017, 07:26 PM   #3
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I have actually heard of this issue before. I can remember where or when. Do not quote me on this, I think it had something to do with the fan and it’s proximity to the Winegard traveler antenna. Please make sure that the antenna power red light is on. This is found above the drivers Ed in the storage. It is a black button and when searching channels it must be engaged showing a light above it.

I am quite positive other people respond to this post. That is all I can remember about the subject. I hope it’s helpful.

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Originally Posted by AI927 View Post
Anytime I use the bathroom fan or ceiling lights I get fewer over the air TV channels in my Interstate. In one location anytime I used the fan or ceiling lights I lost 2/3 of the OTA TV stations. In another location I lost about 1/2 of the stations using the fan and a few less using the ceiling light. The ceiling light is on a dimmer. I can use other lights and it has no affect on the TV.

Does any body else have this problem? If so have you found a solution to the problem? I did send a message to Airstream a couple of weeks ago and so far I have not heard back from them.

Thanks
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Old 12-10-2017, 07:41 PM   #4
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Thanks for the replies. I forgot to turn the antenna amp on before and I get no stations then. In this case it was on. I have the Winegard Roadstar antenna on my unit.

I was also thinking I could use a filter somewhere, maybe on the fan and light circuits.

Thanks again for the replies.
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Old 12-10-2017, 08:11 PM   #5
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The fan motor and LED lights dimmer/regulator generate interference which radiates from the devices and their power wiring to the Winegard antenna. Generally a filter in the antenna line will not help. The interference is on the same frequency as the signal you want and a filter passes or rejects signals based on frequency.

The best bet is a filter at the interfering device. Automotive audio electronics shops sell filters designed to keep alternator and ignition noise from getting into radio head units and amps. One of those filters mounted at the fan and/or LED lights may help.

If the interference is being radiated direct from the device it is harder to suppress. Some judiciously selected capacitors soldered across the fan motor or LED light dimmer power line might help. These fixes are pretty invasive and require some amount of technical skill with a soldering iron.

Al
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Old 12-10-2017, 08:23 PM   #6
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Al, thanks for the suggestion.
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Old 12-10-2017, 08:24 PM   #7
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All this in the new units... I am making a check list for this Saturday... need to test all these issues 2018 owners are encountering.
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Old 12-10-2017, 08:31 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wachuko View Post
All this in the new units... I am making a check list for this Saturday... need to test all these issues 2018 owners are encountering.
This problem will be less visible in a metropolitan area where signal strengths are high. If there are some distant stations, running a station scan and counting channels found may be useful.

Al
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Old 12-11-2017, 08:43 AM   #9
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Bathroom Fan and Ceiling Lights Affect TV Reception

Getting over-the-air (OTA) TV channels in rural areas is always challenging. I've not noticed any interference from the bath fan, but have seen it from the lights or even from where I sit in the van. I added a USB charger port in back of my Interstate and have seen it cause a signal loss. Even the time of day can effect signal when you are on the edge of the reception area.
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Old 12-11-2017, 10:27 AM   #10
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We have a 2009 27FB and after I installed LED lights throughout I found interference problems for weaker stations when the lights are on. No dimmer in the system so it’s radiated noise from the LEDs themselves. I decided the benefits of LED outweighed TV reception. As we travel more that choice may change or I may try some different LEDs to see if it improves.
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Old 12-11-2017, 10:32 AM   #11
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Most LED lamps have a switching power supply that can generate interference. Sometimes putting a snap-on ferrite on the supply leads right at the lamp can help. The problem is that the interference they generate travels over the power leads back into all the other electronics in the AS.
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Old 12-11-2017, 02:57 PM   #12
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I am not an engineer but I recall that, longer ago than I care to admit, I installed a new stereo system in a boat. I had a lot of interference from the engine when it was running and even the refrigerator when it was running. I did some research (no internet then!) and installed a ground noise filter between the Negative battery line and the stereo. Maybe putting one of these on the negative line going to the antenna amplifier might help?
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Old 12-11-2017, 09:57 PM   #13
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Thanks for all the suggestions about putting filters in. I am a little surprised that more people have not observed this issue but then I did not notice it right away. I initially thought the channels were just drifting in an out like when you have a weak signal. Once I noticed the correlation between the bathroom fan or ceiling lights and the TV it became very clear.

The test I did at a couple of places was to scan for channels with the fan and ceiling light off to see the number of channels I could actually watch. Then I ran the fan or ceiling light and then counted the number of watchable channels.

As mentioned in my first post I lost about 2/3 to 1/2 of the channels.

Maybe it is just my unit with this severe of problem.
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Old 12-12-2017, 07:41 AM   #14
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We seldom use the TV's and when we do I have never known which channels I should and should not get. Next time I will try a channel scan with lights and fan off, then see which channels I can get with the LED and fan off then again with them on.

The LED lights in our kitchen cause interference with the radio in our kitchen. Not so with compact fluorescent or incandescent. So there must be something uniquely problematic with LED.
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Old 12-12-2017, 11:16 AM   #15
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Bathroom Fan and Ceiling Lights Affect TV Reception

I've often done a channel scan, but then after sunset many channels will not come in. Part of the issue is that OTA TV is now all digital - which gives you a great HD picture. But the trade off means when the signal is weak - no picture. Unlike the old analog TV signal that just gave you a "snowy" picture when signal was weak.

OTA radio signal reception is a bit of a black art. I live half way between Wash D.C. & Baltimore. I have OTA TV setups on several of my TVs. The reception on the top floor is much better than the lower level. Weather conditions cause noticeable effects. I also have an FM HD radio, also digital, in my garage where I experience all sorts of problems from weather, where I stand in garage, what lights are on, etc. I'm on the fringe of one station that gets totally wiped out when I turn on the battery charger for my Ryobi power tools.

Such is the nature of OTH TV. I spent most of my professional engineering career dealing with the issue of Electromagnetic Interference (EMI).
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Old 12-12-2017, 01:44 PM   #16
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Reception is a bit of a black art. As a design engineer for IBM, we had to test for electrical noise injection events such as a static spark from someone's knee when they had just stood up from a chair. The solutions were much less designed than found by chance. An odd piece of metal plate in an unobvious place was often more effective than all sorts of ground straps.

I had one RV park where I could only get PBS if I was sitting in the 2nd row roadside chair. When I would get up for any reason, we lost reception.

My wife's hairdryer and her electric toothbrush spells doom for any but the strongest stations.
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Old 12-12-2017, 06:10 PM   #17
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I agree that radio/tv reception is a black art. From my own experience moving an antenna a couple of feet one way or the other would make a significant improvement in reception. Other times I would get better reception with a directional antenna by not pointing it directly toward the transmitting tower location. I took that some reflection was a stronger signal than the direct route.

Thanks to all for their comments and suggestions.
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Old 12-12-2017, 07:23 PM   #18
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Interference could be radiated (through air) or conducted (wiring) emissions. If it is the former, then a power-line filter will do no good. When I get a chance I will fire up my spectrum analyzer and see what I can discover here. Alas, we are lucky to get one station where we live so I can't do any practical test other than measuring the interference.

Thanks for bringing this awareness to us by the way. I use the antenna frequently on the road and had not considered degradation due to fan and LED dimmer.
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Old 12-13-2017, 05:05 AM   #19
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I have a 2017 - and yes - we just noticed that when we had the ceilings lights on we had noticeably different TV reception (painful - since a favorite football game was on). When I turned off the ceiling lights and turned on the floor lights - the reception was perfect! We then checked the scan for channels and noticed a significant difference. Mentioned it to our Airstream dealer and they seemed surprised. Did not try the fan...
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Old 12-13-2017, 09:47 AM   #20
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I plan to shoot the LED controller in the head one of these days anyway since under heavy load of our 2KW inverter, it will start to flicker at anything but maximum setting.
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