Interfering With Neighbors TV

[BC Coyote]

Make sure you replace the feedline as well as the antenna. If she is using the old 300 ohm twinlead shit, replace it with good quality RG-57 coax; twinlead was notorious for picking up stray RF. You may need to get a couple of 75 to 300 ohm transformers as well if the old setup used twinlead. Good Luck !

 

[Cable Guy]

Id use rg6, I've never heard of rg57, but she may have some rg59 existing, which is much better than twin-lead.

 

[BC Coyote]

I've never heard of rg57, but she may have some rg59 existing

Sorry, brain fart ! RG 59 is what I meant.........

 

[Greg T]

Same antenna I use and have no issues.
View attachment 67225

I think you're pissing into the wind with another antenna. I think it's more likely a bad F connector or lost shield in the coax. Her cable has a leak somewhere.

 

[BC Coyote]

There's another possibility too that nobody has mentioned......... Although I agree the antenna or cable is the likely culprit...... The interfering RF could also be coming in on the powerline, especially if your house and hers are on the same or adjacent transformers........
A couple of snap on chokes on the AC line coming into the TV would let you know if that is where the issue is.........

 

[loosecannon]

yes the feedline and its associated components are very likely the cause of this problem.
the fact that the antenna is not being used for its intended purpose is also a problem.

if her coax is over 10 years old, and im guessing in this situation that its more like 30+ years old then it's been beaten within an inch of its life by the elements.

heck it might not even be making a good connection to the antenna and she is just benefiting from the fact that its no longer acting like coaxial cable LOL!

if you do find that the coax coming down from the antenna is ok, (sounds like you are indeed planning on helping her) then the next likely culprit is going to be whatever splitter its running in to. that should be replaced as well.

after that its the individual coax jacks on the walls inside the house.
those need to be terminated with one of these:


all those cables running throughout the house are acting like antennas.

LC

 

[Johnny Mullet]

Thanks for the input guys. The new antenna comes with new coax. If this doesn't work I will try some ferrite beads on her power to the TV.

 

[Xracerx13]

When the wind rotates it and she loses reception then what? Don't say I didn't warn you

 

[edfiero]

..... All those extra radials designed to pick up frequencies for an old tube TV, its no wonder she has an issue. Those antennas are not designed for DTV although they do work. Its the UHF V section that mainly works for the digital channels. A new DTV antenna should be the fix.

Its a little more complicated than that. TV stations can be VHF Lo, VHF Hi, or UHF.
The type of TV (old tube) doesn't have anything to do with the frequency. A few years ago most TV stations moved to the UHF band. When you see someone selling a 'Digital' Antenna, it is almost surely only going to pick up the UHF frequencies. This may or may not be OK depending where you live. In Philadelphia area where I am, some stations continue to broadcast on VHF low, so you still need one of those older style antenna to pick up all the stations.

 

[Staybolt]

I feel ya. I bothered my neighbor even when I was talking on an old 2 watt lafayette he 15 from 1961! Come to find out he was using old junk coax to run digital satellite to his also very old flat screen TV. I think he ended up buying a new TV and cable as I haven't heard a thing from him.

 

[Johnny Mullet]

UPDATE! I got the new antenna mounted on top of her old antenna and ran the new coax through the basement to her living room. Had a little trouble pulling the siding back to get to the hole and ended up cracking it. She then said "I am gonna have to get somebody over here to look at that."

Oh, boy! Here we go. I did not disturb her old antenna or the coax just in case it did not work for her. Took my shoes off every time I went into the house. I was very careful and polite and apologized for the small crack in the old vinyl siding. I even used white duct tape on the inside of the siding and when it went back together you can't even see the crack.

I tied rags to my ladder so I would not damage the side of the roof next to the antenna. I could tell she was still upset about the crack.

Regardless, we went into the house and she re-scanned her TV. Reception went from 28 channels to 43 channels. She now gets Erie, Cleveland, and Youngstown stations and turning the rotor brings in even more. I gave her my President Randy hand held and went across the street to my radio. I told her to put the TV on the channel she normally watches and tested AM mode and SSB mode from my Quad 6 and she said there was no problems. I turned the power knob all the way up (normally run half power) and no problem. I even tested on FM mode and all is good.

After all said and done she was happy with the TV. She even offered to pay for the antenna. I told her to have her siding looked at and we will go from there. I actually think she is fine with it now, but we will see. I broke it, I will pay for it if it comes down to it.

 

[L2]

I went through this about 10 yrs back with my old next door neighbor. I installed an old Bencher YA-1 low pass filter. I also knocked on his door and offered to install a high-pass pass filter in his TV antenna coax. I explained I had installed the "newest latest and greatest" filter I could find ... He took the high-pass filter from my hand...said HE would install it.. shut the door. That was the end of that problem.

I use one too. Great low pass filter.