4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

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Janitor Tzap
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4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by Janitor Tzap »

If you just cut the cord too the Satellite/Cable Co.
And your setting up your house with a OTA Antenna for your TV's.
You should have a look at this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B87GMPdKZ5E


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haklesup
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by haklesup »

Cutting the cord but keeping internet usually includes a mix of OTA, streaming and app access. Its fine for a technically minded person but can really confuse a family and also result in multiple accounts for paid content that overlap. I don't think I can reasonably tack on cable reform to the recent protest trends though.
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by Janitor Tzap »

Haklesup,

Ah, did you even watch the 4:37 minute video? :???:

I'm talking about the Radio Interference that the Cell Phone Networks 4G LTE,
is causing to (O)ver (T)he (A)ir Television Signals.

I'm kinda "SCREWED".
Because I'm running an old Radio Shack powered Omni Directional Antenna.
Image
And the amplifier section is in the sealed part of the antenna, where I can't easily install a 4G LTE Filter. :x

Well, I'll start looking for another Powered Omni Directional Antenna that has the 4G LTE Filter built in,
or at least can be added without much hassle. :roll:


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Externet
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by Externet »

Hi Tzap. Never had cable TV service in my life. OTA and FTA and now receiving streaming often. Did see portions of the video, seems more like an advertisement for that filter. Interesting shrink on the TV band.

Is that like the marine Shakespeare omni antenna ? I have it but never fed power to it, and works like that somehow. Have a cell phone on the same room the TV is, and near the antenna but no interference at my location.
Give it a try with no power and clean/tighten the F connectors as 'maintenance'. Have you tried rotating the antenna body ? It does make a difference.
- Abolish the deciBel ! -
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Janitor Tzap
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by Janitor Tzap »

Externet wrote: Wed Jun 10, 2020 5:49 pm Hi Tzap. Never had cable TV service in my life. OTA and FTA and now receiving streaming often. Did see portions of the video, seems more like an advertisement for that filter. Interesting shrink on the TV band.
Yeah, The repacking of OTA frequencies, just so the Cell Phone Companies can do Live Streaming to your Phone really sucks.
As for the filter he is promoting{Channel Master LTE Filter CM-3201}.
Well, he's a Antenna Installer.
Thus, he is going with what he knows will work.
But you can probably pickup one off of Amazon for half the price. :wink:
Externet wrote: Wed Jun 10, 2020 5:49 pmIs that like the marine Shakespeare omni antenna ? I have it but never fed power to it, and works like that somehow. Have a cell phone on the same room the TV is, and near the antenna but no interference at my location.
Give it a try with no power and clean/tighten the F connectors as 'maintenance'. Have you tried rotating the antenna body ? It does make a difference.
This is my Radio Shack Omni Directional TV Antenna: Cat#16-1534
Image
Made by AntennaCraft for Radio Shack.
It is similar to the AntennaCraft 5MS921.
Here's the hook up info:
Image
Without the Preamp being powered, the signal from it is way to weak.
Here's the current Cabling setup.
ANT2.jpg

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haklesup
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by haklesup »

I haven't seen a 300 ohm antenna terminal in a long time or a radio shack for that matter.
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by dacflyer »

I quit grounding my antennas.. every time i've had one grounded, it'd usually get fried by nearby lightning,, and i've have 2 cb antennas blown apart.
But ever since i stopped grounding them, i have never had another one get fried in the last 20 yrs. I know grounding is supposed to safeguard things.
But have you ever noticed that commercial tv and radio stations don't have Grounded towers. The ones around here..the bases of the towers are on huge insulators. some are ceramic.. it blew my mind.. If the ground isn't way up in the air, than it isn't as close to the clouds,,
the higher the ground is,, the easier it will be to getting struck..

AND yes,, just because it says OMNI-DIRECTIONAL doesn't mean it is,, i still have to rotate my antenna for certain channels.
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by haklesup »

hard to say what was going on there, did you have more than one earth grounding point? you can get a lot of voltage drop per foot of ground with lightning flowing through it. In any case, the setup is supposed to protect you from a direct strike and not necessarily the equipment.

I was trying to figure out: Is the ground screw on a splitter equivalent to a lightning arrestor? Does the arrestor have a spark gap or direct connection to the coax shield. There were probably other solutions but if you are comfortable with that setup, just don't tell the insurance company.

We don't get much lightning here, I can't remember the last time.
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by dyarker »

A tower on insulators is the antenna. There will be a spark gap at the base. Guy cables will have in-line insulators so that cable section lengths won't resonate at operating frequency.
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by dacflyer »

i didn't think the guy wire insulators had any other effect than to isolate.
But the tower i mentioned...the insulator was at the base of the tower, not the base of the antenna..
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by dyarker »

But the tower i mentioned...the insulator was at the base of the tower, not the base of the antenna..
Yes, I got that the insulator was at the base of the tower.

That means the whole tower is the antenna. I thought bolding the word "is" in my previous would have been clear enough.
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by dacflyer »

ok,, i was just confused, didn't think you'd call a 2,000ft tower an antenna... I always thought the antenna is separate from the tower.
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by dyarker »

A 1/2 wave antenna for an AM broadcast station could more than 400 ft.

(is 2000ft an over estimate?)
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by haklesup »

Look up the towers near you on the internet. One near me is 600 feet and the mountain it is on is just under 2600 ft. It supports multiple stations in the VHF and UHF bands and has clusters of other Microwave and other monopole and dipoles it appears part way up. These are often more complex than they appear if they support multiple frequencies. The big tube up the middle is a waveguide which moves the signal to the feed point on the antenna which is not necessarily the bottom

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_ ... alifornia)
I used to be able to bicycle up there but I don't know if I could make it today

There are probably antenna enthusiasts websites but I don't find any links to long lists. I think you can look at any broadcaster website and figure out what antennas they use then look at those locations on google or Wikipedia. The FCC website probably has a lot (too much) of info too. I could not find much info online regarding the details of any of these large complex antennas, what I did find seemed out dated
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Re: 4G LTE Interference on OTA Antenna TV

Post by dyarker »

The tower you say is 600ft not 2000ft. It supports other antennas so is unlikely insulated at the base. The mountain it is on is not relevant.

The big tube likely is waveguide, or coax.
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