Neighbor's Stereo System Interferes With CH2 TV Reception

[---Pete---]

Hi all,
I have a background as an electronic technician and this issue
has me puzzled. My neighbor lives in a house about 25 feet from
my home. He plays his stereo so loud with RAP music that the
windows on his home rattle. The bass comes thumping into my
home at a level of -4db on a sound level meter range of 70db.
That's just to give you a general idea how loud he plays it.

Here's the part that puzzles me..
When he really cranks it up I'm getting interference on my TV
on Ch2 only. It looks 2 or 3 wide white horizontal bars that pulse
with the bass.

I have an antenna on my roof and no cable TV. How can an audo
system interfere with a TV signal when the frequency ranges are
so far apart?

---pete---

 

[Bennett Price]

A guess - maybe it's mechanical interference - neighbor is causing
some component in TV to shake/vibrate. Can you lift TV off floor/
stand/furniture and cause interference to stop?

 

[ian field]

Hi all,
I have a background as an electronic technician and this issue
has me puzzled. My neighbor lives in a house about 25 feet from
my home. He plays his stereo so loud with RAP music that the
windows on his home rattle. The bass comes thumping into my
home at a level of -4db on a sound level meter range of 70db.
That's just to give you a general idea how loud he plays it.

Here's the part that puzzles me..
When he really cranks it up I'm getting interference on my TV
on Ch2 only. It looks 2 or 3 wide white horizontal bars that pulse
with the bass.

I have an antenna on my roof and no cable TV. How can an audo
system interfere with a TV signal when the frequency ranges are
so far apart?

---pete---

If your neighbour's signal source is FM radio, build a powerful 10.7MHz FM
transmitter to jam all FM reception. Years ago I did something similar for
the UK TV 6MHz sound intercarrier using an LS629 TTL VCO. The purpose was to
broadcast the racket made by the mental case in the flat above to every TV
in the street! For the 6MHz system the TTL VCO was run at 12MHz and divided
by a 74F flip-flop to produce 6MHz with equal M/S ratio, further 74F gates
were used as buffers to drive the bases of a push-pull pair of power
transistors and an RF toroid, the secondary was wired across the neutral &
earth to induce the RF in the mains wiring - it worked rather well, but
mains spikes killed the transistors quite often!

 

[Arfa Daily]

A guess - maybe it's mechanical interference - neighbor is causing
some component in TV to shake/vibrate. Can you lift TV off floor/
stand/furniture and cause interference to stop?

Some modern integrated stereos - notably Sonys, and most home cinema
systems, employ a switch mode power supply. Loaded very hard, with huge
bass, it's quite conceivable that such a supply might radiate excessive
crap, at a frequency which is closeby your TV channel. Surely there's some
department you can complain to on the noise grounds alone, let alone the RFI
?

Arfa

 

[---Pete---]

Some modern integrated stereos - notably Sonys, and most home cinema
systems, employ a switch mode power supply. Loaded very hard, with huge
bass, it's quite conceivable that such a supply might radiate excessive
crap, at a frequency which is closeby your TV channel.

------
Your explanation makes the most sense. We are in separate homes so
I know it's not vibrating my TV set. I figured it has to be something
in his home radiating RF and the switching power supply makes good
sense because, when it gets to that level where it interferes with my
TV, I can hear the distortion in the music. This guy has no ear for
music and seems to just like the loud thumping, even though it's all
distorted. I'm dealing with an large adult male who I suspect has the
mentality of a 12 year old. Add some alcohol, and you can imagine
what I have to contend with.

Surely there's some
department you can complain to on the noise grounds alone, let alone the RFI

------
Noise problems are very difficult to solve when the perpetrator
refuses to respect their neighbors and the authorities. I already had
the state police out here and the problem continues. I'm now gathering
info and data because it will most likely go to court to get any
meaningful action or fines imposed. If I can prove damages, I might
be able to get some monetary compensation too.

It's horrible to live next to such such rude and inconsiderate people.

---pete---

 

[---Pete---]

If your neighbour's signal source is FM radio, build a powerful 10.7MHz FM
transmitter to jam all FM reception.

 

[ian field]

----
I think he's playing CDs.
So jamming is not possible.

---pete--

That may not be exactly true - I remember some months ago my CD player
started going silent intermittently, I happened to look out my flat to find
the fuzz were raiding the bloke on the other side of the corridor, every
time they used their radio my CD muted!

 

[Arfa Daily]

------
Your explanation makes the most sense. We are in separate homes so
I know it's not vibrating my TV set. I figured it has to be something
in his home radiating RF and the switching power supply makes good
sense because, when it gets to that level where it interferes with my
TV, I can hear the distortion in the music. This guy has no ear for
music and seems to just like the loud thumping, even though it's all
distorted. I'm dealing with an large adult male who I suspect has the
mentality of a 12 year old. Add some alcohol, and you can imagine
what I have to contend with.

------
Noise problems are very difficult to solve when the perpetrator
refuses to respect their neighbors and the authorities. I already had
the state police out here and the problem continues. I'm now gathering
info and data because it will most likely go to court to get any
meaningful action or fines imposed. If I can prove damages, I might
be able to get some monetary compensation too.

It's horrible to live next to such such rude and inconsiderate people.

---pete---

I see your dilemma. We have such people here too, and it's getting worse.
Have you thought about playing the RFI angle with someone like the FCC ?
Over here, interfering signals are taken very seriously. Imagine if such a
signal popped up on an aircraft comms channel ...

Arfa

 

[JR North]

If your'e Reeeealy lucky, some of your neighbors friends will come over
to his house for a party; the guns will come out, and PoP, PoP, PoP- no
more neighbor or rap music.
JR

 

[Jim Land]

[email protected] (---Pete---) wrote in @news.verizon.net:

Hi all,
I have a background as an electronic technician and this issue
has me puzzled. My neighbor lives in a house about 25 feet from
my home. He plays his stereo so loud with RAP music that the
windows on his home rattle. The bass comes thumping into my
home at a level of -4db on a sound level meter range of 70db.
That's just to give you a general idea how loud he plays it.

Here's the part that puzzles me..
When he really cranks it up I'm getting interference on my TV
on Ch2 only. It looks 2 or 3 wide white horizontal bars that pulse
with the bass.

I have an antenna on my roof and no cable TV. How can an audo
system interfere with a TV signal when the frequency ranges are
so far apart?

First figure out where the interference is entering your tv. If you
short out the antenna terminals, does it go away?

If not, try putting a line-filter between the wall receptacle and your
TV's power cord.

If so, it's entering either at the antenna or the downlead. You might
consider moving the antenna to the area of your roof that's farthest from
the neighbor, and/or changing from twin-lead to shielded downlead from
your antenna.

The whole field of radio-frequency interference (RFI) of TVs is an
interesting one and books have been written about it. See, for example,
The ARRL RFI Book, http://www.arrl.org/catalog/6834/
It's for radio amateurs, but the underlying principles apply to your
case, and are completely understandable by a technician like yourself.
(For example, your neighbor might be radiating at a much lower frequency
than channel 2, but with a harmonic which is close to channel 2; this can
be cured by putting a low-frequency filter on your tv's antenna input.)

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] (---Pete---) wrote in @news.verizon.net:


First figure out where the interference is entering your tv. If you
short out the antenna terminals, does it go away?

If not, try putting a line-filter between the wall receptacle and your
TV's power cord.

If so, it's entering either at the antenna or the downlead. You might
consider moving the antenna to the area of your roof that's farthest from
the neighbor, and/or changing from twin-lead to shielded downlead from
your antenna.

The whole field of radio-frequency interference (RFI) of TVs is an
interesting one and books have been written about it. See, for example,
The ARRL RFI Book, http://www.arrl.org/catalog/6834/
It's for radio amateurs, but the underlying principles apply to your
case, and are completely understandable by a technician like yourself.
(For example, your neighbor might be radiating at a much lower frequency
than channel 2, but with a harmonic which is close to channel 2; this can
be cured by putting a low-frequency filter on your tv's antenna input.)

I think building a high-power transmitter and aiming it at your
neighbor's stereo in the hope of overloading the input stages of the
amplifier is the best thing to do, even if it is illegal. If the streo
dies every time he turns the volume up, he just might figure out to
keep the volume lower. OTOH, some people just don't get it no matter
what - hence the Darwin Awards.

H. R.,(Bob) Hofmann

 

[Arfa Daily]

[email protected] (---Pete---) wrote in @news.verizon.net:


First figure out where the interference is entering your tv. If you
short out the antenna terminals, does it go away?

If not, try putting a line-filter between the wall receptacle and your
TV's power cord.

If so, it's entering either at the antenna or the downlead. You might
consider moving the antenna to the area of your roof that's farthest from
the neighbor, and/or changing from twin-lead to shielded downlead from
your antenna.

The whole field of radio-frequency interference (RFI) of TVs is an
interesting one and books have been written about it. See, for example,
The ARRL RFI Book, http://www.arrl.org/catalog/6834/
It's for radio amateurs, but the underlying principles apply to your
case, and are completely understandable by a technician like yourself.
(For example, your neighbor might be radiating at a much lower frequency
than channel 2, but with a harmonic which is close to channel 2; this can
be cured by putting a low-frequency filter on your tv's antenna input.)

If the offending equipment is actually radiating the harmonic ( or indeed a
fundamental ) on a frequency which is affecting the specific channel, then
no amount of filtering at the antenna, will remove it, without removing the
wanted TV channel as well. On the other hand, if the interference is being
generated by a mix product in the front end of the TV, as a result of a high
field strength of interfering signal at a lower frequency, then the
filtering suggestion may produce a positive result. The only way to know
really is to jam a spectrum analyser on the feeder, and have a look just
what's coming in near the affected channel, when the problem is present.

Arfa

 

[---Pete---]

Have you thought about playing the RFI angle with someone like the FCC ?

 

[---Pete---]

First figure out where the interference is entering your tv. If you
short out the antenna terminals, does it go away?

----
Good suggestion!
All your suggestions were good. Thanks.
I can try a high pass filter to see it that helps.
I already have power line conditioning.

---pete--

 

[---Pete---]

If the offending equipment is actually radiating the harmonic ( or indeed a
fundamental ) on a frequency which is affecting the specific channel, then
no amount of filtering at the antenna, will remove it, without removing the
wanted TV channel as well.

-----
Yeah, I see what you are saying.
I'm not too concerned about solving the RF interference problem.
I just needed to understand it. When the noise level reaches that
level, I get bass audio levels coming through my walls at 66db.
My normal TV audio listening level is in the 60 to 66db level, so I
really can't watch any TV channel in comfort.

I'm hoping that if I do all the needed research and gather all my
evidence and facts, I'll be successful at using the proper authorites
and the courts to put an end to this.

Thanks for all the info and suggestions.
I guess what I need now is some authoritive source or article that
can explain how switching power supplies can radiate RF when
oveloaded.

---pete---

 

[ian field]

If your'e Reeeealy lucky, some of your neighbors friends will come over to
his house for a party; the guns will come out, and PoP, PoP, PoP- no more
neighbor or rap music.
JR

Why not help it along a bit? Rap music seems to have heavily armed factions,
so find out which faction your neighbour is and post party flyers to his
house for a rival faction.

 

[ian field]

I think building a high-power transmitter and aiming it at your
neighbor's stereo in the hope of overloading the input stages of the
amplifier is the best thing to do, even if it is illegal. If the streo
dies every time he turns the volume up, he just might figure out to
keep the volume lower. OTOH, some people just don't get it no matter
what - hence the Darwin Awards.

H. R.,(Bob) Hofmann

One of the easiest ways of obtaining a high power RF source is to saw the
oven compartment off a microwave oven leaving the end of the waveguide open
to air - it could overload the amplifiers input stages even when the amp is
switched off!

(hint - use a very long extension cord!)

 

[ian field]

I think building a high-power transmitter and aiming it at your
neighbour's stereo in the hope of overloading the input stages of the
amplifier is the best thing to do, even if it is illegal. If the streo
dies every time he turns the volume up, he just might figure out to
keep the volume lower. OTOH, some people just don't get it no matter
what - hence the Darwin Awards.

H. R.,(Bob) Hofmann

One of the easiest ways of obtaining a high power RF source is to saw the
oven compartment off a microwave oven leaving the end of the waveguide open
to air - it could overload the amplifiers input stages even when the amp is
switched off!

(hint - use a very long extension cord!)

 

[AZ Nomad]

One of the easiest ways of obtaining a high power RF source is to saw the
oven compartment off a microwave oven leaving the end of the waveguide open
to air - it could overload the amplifiers input stages even when the amp is
switched off!

(hint - use a very long extension cord!)

And, of course, you've tried this, right?

 

[ian field]

And, of course, you've tried this, right?

Only with a very long extension cord!