Can i ground a indoor hdtc atenna?

Every time someone turns on off the lights the hdtv tuner says no single
for a second. will grounding the antenna fix this?

" wrote in news:LJ43i.703
:

Every time someone turns on off the lights the hdtv tuner says no single
for a second. will grounding the antenna fix this?

Not likely. The antenna is actually picking up a signal from the light
switch which has a sparking contact. If your lights are incandescent, you
might try having the switch replaced with a dimmer. If they are
flourescent, just get your electrician to replace the light switch with a
better one and to bypass its contacts with a modest value (say 200pf)
capacitor of 240v or more.

No guarantees, but it's easy to bypass switch contacts to ground inside the
switch box (if you're an electrician and have half a clue about RF
bypassing). Don't do this yourself unless you're a competent electrician.

--
Dave Oldridge+
ICQ 1800667

Dave Oldridge ) wrote:
: " wrote in news:LJ43i.703
: :

: Every time someone turns on off the lights the hdtv tuner says no single
: for a second. will grounding the antenna fix this?

: Not likely. The antenna is actually picking up a signal from the light
: switch which has a sparking contact. If your lights are incandescent, you
: might try having the switch replaced with a dimmer. If they are
: flourescent, just get your electrician to replace the light switch with a
: better one and to bypass its contacts with a modest value (say 200pf)
: capacitor of 240v or more.

: No guarantees, but it's easy to bypass switch contacts to ground inside the
: switch box (if you're an electrician and have half a clue about RF
: bypassing). Don't do this yourself unless you're a competent electrician.

: --
: Dave Oldridge+
: ICQ 1800667

I think that a dimmer will make interference worse as it generates its own
RF. You can try to ground the shield of the cable from antenna to TV. It
may help, it may not.
Cass

(Cass Lewart) wrote in
:

Dave Oldridge ) wrote:
: " wrote in
: news:LJ43i.703 :

: Every time someone turns on off the lights the hdtv tuner says no
: single for a second. will grounding the antenna fix this?

: Not likely. The antenna is actually picking up a signal from the
: light switch which has a sparking contact. If your lights are
: incandescent, you might try having the switch replaced with a dimmer.
: If they are flourescent, just get your electrician to replace the
: light switch with a better one and to bypass its contacts with a
: modest value (say 200pf) capacitor of 240v or more.

: No guarantees, but it's easy to bypass switch contacts to ground
: inside the switch box (if you're an electrician and have half a clue
: about RF bypassing). Don't do this yourself unless you're a
: competent electrician.

: --
: Dave Oldridge+
: ICQ 1800667

I think that a dimmer will make interference worse as it generates its
own RF. You can try to ground the shield of the cable from antenna to
TV. It may help, it may not.

Possibly, though it usually doesn't make much difference if the antenna
is a decent design. One thought might be to move the antenna as far from
the light switch as it's possible to get it in such a fashion that, when
pointed at the tower, it's side-on to the switch. Some antennas have
fairly sharp side rejection.



--
Dave Oldridge+
ICQ 1800667

Cass Lewart wrote:
Dave Oldridge ) wrote:
: " wrote in news:LJ43i.703
: :

: Every time someone turns on off the lights the hdtv tuner says no single
: for a second. will grounding the antenna fix this?

: Not likely. The antenna is actually picking up a signal from the light
: switch which has a sparking contact. If your lights are incandescent, you
: might try having the switch replaced with a dimmer. If they are
: flourescent, just get your electrician to replace the light switch with a
: better one and to bypass its contacts with a modest value (say 200pf)
: capacitor of 240v or more.

: No guarantees, but it's easy to bypass switch contacts to ground inside the
: switch box (if you're an electrician and have half a clue about RF
: bypassing). Don't do this yourself unless you're a competent electrician.

: --
: Dave Oldridge+
: ICQ 1800667

I think that a dimmer will make interference worse as it generates its own
RF. You can try to ground the shield of the cable from antenna to TV. It
may help, it may not.
Cass
I cant use a dimmer here anyway. All my lights are fluorescent. I live
in an condo in a valley. The only way i can get hdtv is to point the
antenna the wrong way. I guess its bouncing off the building next door.
I get all 14 channels in st. Louis this way.

In article " writes:
Cass Lewart wrote:
Dave Oldridge ) wrote:
: " wrote in news:LJ43i.703
: :

: Every time someone turns on off the lights the hdtv tuner says no single
: for a second. will grounding the antenna fix this?

: Not likely. The antenna is actually picking up a signal from the light
: switch which has a sparking contact. If your lights are incandescent, you
: might try having the switch replaced with a dimmer. If they are
: flourescent, just get your electrician to replace the light switch with a
: better one and to bypass its contacts with a modest value (say 200pf)
: capacitor of 240v or more.

: No guarantees, but it's easy to bypass switch contacts to ground inside the
: switch box (if you're an electrician and have half a clue about RF
: bypassing). Don't do this yourself unless you're a competent electrician.

: --
: Dave Oldridge+
: ICQ 1800667

I think that a dimmer will make interference worse as it generates its own
RF. You can try to ground the shield of the cable from antenna to TV. It
may help, it may not.
Cass
I cant use a dimmer here anyway. All my lights are fluorescent. I live
in an condo in a valley. The only way i can get hdtv is to point the
antenna the wrong way. I guess its bouncing off the building next door.
I get all 14 channels in st. Louis this way.

There are fluorescent fixtures that can be dimmed, but it takes special
fixtures and dimmers.

I would claim that the best bet is to get more signal to the antenna,
so that the static from the switch is swamped out by the desired signal.

To do this, you should probably put the antenna outsied, up and in
the clear. That way, it can capture much more signal. It will also
be farther from the switch and related wiring that way.

Alan

On Sun, 20 May 2007 03:19:43 +0000 (UTC),
(Alan) wrote:

In article " writes:
Cass Lewart wrote:
Dave Oldridge ) wrote:
: " wrote in news:LJ43i.703
: :

: Every time someone turns on off the lights the hdtv tuner says no single
: for a second. will grounding the antenna fix this?

: Not likely. The antenna is actually picking up a signal from the light
: switch which has a sparking contact. If your lights are incandescent, you
: might try having the switch replaced with a dimmer. If they are
: flourescent, just get your electrician to replace the light switch with a
: better one and to bypass its contacts with a modest value (say 200pf)
: capacitor of 240v or more.

: No guarantees, but it's easy to bypass switch contacts to ground inside the
: switch box (if you're an electrician and have half a clue about RF
: bypassing). Don't do this yourself unless you're a competent electrician.

: --
: Dave Oldridge+
: ICQ 1800667

I think that a dimmer will make interference worse as it generates its own
RF. You can try to ground the shield of the cable from antenna to TV. It
may help, it may not.
Cass
I cant use a dimmer here anyway. All my lights are fluorescent. I live
in an condo in a valley. The only way i can get hdtv is to point the
antenna the wrong way. I guess its bouncing off the building next door.
I get all 14 channels in st. Louis this way.

There are fluorescent fixtures that can be dimmed, but it takes special
fixtures and dimmers.

I would claim that the best bet is to get more signal to the antenna,
so that the static from the switch is swamped out by the desired signal.

To do this, you should probably put the antenna outsied, up and in
the clear. That way, it can capture much more signal. It will also
be farther from the switch and related wiring that way.

Alan

No!
You should remove all the dimmers from your house. They are
extremely noisy electrically and will interfere with tv, radio and
other electronics.

wrote:
Every time someone turns on off the lights the hdtv tuner says no single
for a second. will grounding the antenna fix this?

Is it one particular switch or any switch within some distance? If it is
the first, replace the switch. Old switches can have corrosion on the
contacts which increases the the likelihood of switch bounce. A bouncing
switch will be noisy longer than a switch that bounces less.

If is the second case, move the antenna outside, as has been suggested.

Matthew

--
I'm a consultant. If you want an opinion I'll sell you one.
Which one do you want?