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Motorhead-54 · 10-05-2020, 12:04 PM

My wife and I occasionally like to tune in the local over the air channels with the roof mounted antenna to see what is happening locally where we are camping. I’ve been chasing an anomaly with my 2012 Aspire in which there are times I can only tune in just a couple of channels but at a different time of the day, from the same location and same weather conditions, I pick up 15-20 channels reliably. I recently replaced the roof mounted Winegard antenna because it was “mechanically tired” and had hoped that would improve my number of channels inconsistency. Although the mechanical mechanism works much better than the old 2012 copy it replaced, channel reception was still very inconsistent. Next I ran a new cable line loose from the antenna directly to the box of many buttons, no improvement. Next I replaced the box of many buttons with a new one (carries the 12v power for the antenna)...no improvement. This really had me scratching my head.

So, last night I start searching the internet and discover some guy on YouTube claiming to be the OTA TV reception guru. Something that immediately got my attention was his discussion on LED light bulbs and their impact on RFI. To test his idea I went to the RV and with all of the interior LED lights off, when I scan I received 13 channels. Turning on the master light switch for the interior lights and I rescan, this time barely pulling in four channels. I repeated this experiment twice and got same results each time! EUREKA! Next I rescanned with lights off, went to one of the 13 good channels and hit the light master switch. Guess what happened? The channel faded away and signal lost.

Maybe this is old info/knowledge already known by many but to me it was news! Guess I either need to remove all the LED bulbs in the ceiling, watch TV in the dark or select a few lights to return to original non LED bulbs.

jwprosser · 10-05-2020, 12:43 PM

Just learned something new... Thank you. I have always wondered why I don't get a lot of channels.

brobox · 10-05-2020, 12:52 PM

I have heard of that theory, but first time I have seen a personal report. Thank you. Another thing on the new models is the antenna sitting below the roof air and the awning. Winegard is proud of the bracket to raise it up. $89. plus crazy shipping. https://winegard.com/industry/recrea...zar-auto-mount

Motorhead-54 · 10-05-2020, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwprosser

Just learned something new... Thank you. I have always wondered why I don't get a lot of channels.

I can't say whether this will make a difference for others but in my case it was a very distinct and very repeatable improvement when LED overhead lights were not on. I am assuming it is RFI affecting the cable run through the ceiling but not sure. My 2012 did not originally have LED bulbs in the overhead lights. Perhaps later models are better shielded?

brobox · 10-05-2020, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motorhead-54

I can't say whether this will make a difference for others but in my case it was a very distinct and very repeatable improvement when LED overhead lights were not on. I am assuming it is RFI affecting the cable run through the ceiling but not sure. My 2012 did not originally have LED bulbs in the overhead lights. Perhaps later models are better shielded?

I am going to try turning the LED light off they next time we are in a marginal reception area. We are on antenna even for our home networks. DISH is always at war with one of the network locals in our area, so we dropped local channels a few years ago as one was always "not available". We use antenna locals when we travel too.

Rocky Larson · 10-05-2020, 02:07 PM

Sitting on the couch, under the OTA antenna, will knock out a third or more of previously tuned channels. Move to the dining table and the channels all return.

Motorhead-54 · 10-05-2020, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocky Larson

Sitting on the couch, under the OTA antenna, will knock out a third or more of previously tuned channels. Move to the dining table and the channels all return.

OK...that is weird!

KanzKran · 10-05-2020, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motorhead-54

OK...that is weird!

Probably multi-path problems. What used to cause ghosting and vertical hold issues in the old days now confuses the tuner to where it can't lock onto just one clean signal - so you get nothing.