OTA signal booster not working

stweed · 07-14-2015, 07:08 AM

Ok this is a little odd. I have Laredo 274RB travel trailer. I am having an intermittent problem with the OTA antenna signal booster. When I pulled into the camp site this week I set everything up and ran a channel scan and the digital channels programed in no problem. Later that day I turned on the TV and none of the channel would come in, I tried reprogramming, moving the antenna, nothing. Oh well I thought I'm not really here to watch TV anyway. So this morning I figure I would try it again, sure enough the channels showed up again. Great!, I thought, I can watch the news while I eat breakfast. So I sit down at the table and turn the light on over the table and TV picture freezes and I get a no signal message on the TV. SONUVA! well, I think, I'll look at it after breakfast so I finish breakfast, clean up, turn off the table light and boom the TV starts working again. HMMM I turned the light back on TV stops light off TV works. I tried it with all the lights in the trailer and found that if I turn on any of the LED lights the TV stops working but the incandescent lights ( I have a mix of both) don't affect it. I can't imagine its a power draw issue since the LEDs draw less power than the incandescents . Everything (I think) is on the 12 volt side of the system so it shouldn't be an inverter thing. The only thing I can think of is the transformer(s) for the LEDs are causing interference with he OTA signal booster. It's not a huge deal now that I know what the problem is I just won't turn on any of the LED lights when I want watch TV, but it's a weird one. I guess the moral of the story is if your having TV reception trouble try turn off your LED lights? LOL

**hankpage** · 07-14-2015, 07:30 AM

This is a wild guess but ... if it were me, I would pull the faceplate off the booster and check the polarity of the wiring to it with the light on and off especially to ground. The dc only diodes in the lamps may be causing the power to the booster to be lost.

....... That's all I can think of.

rjsurfer · 07-14-2015, 08:38 AM

Very common problem with LED's, depending on which style LED light I use my TV reception will be effected. Sometimes if I reprogram with the lights on the channels will work, program with the lights off and its a no-go.

Go figure.....

Ron

stweed · 07-14-2015, 08:52 AM

Yeah, go figure. Oh well it's not the end of the world but it sure threw me for a loop. I figured it was worth a forum post. I never would thought to solve a TV reception problem by turning off the lights LOL

Ken / Claudia · 07-14-2015, 07:12 PM

I have had LEDs and not. I get TV channels in mornings and not later, than around dark again. I have had same type of TV performance at the coast in the house where there are no LEDS. I found it is the weather, position of sun, high winds and rain etc. The signals from HD seen to be more prone to weather conditions causing problems than before.

B&T · 07-15-2015, 11:47 PM

Not a wierd problem. Leds using cheap switching power supplies emitting RFI are quite common.

ChuckS · 07-16-2015, 08:37 AM

Yep. See the same thing in our 2014 Alpine when any LED lite turned on

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RavensFan24 · 07-23-2015, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken / Claudia

I have had LEDs and not. I get TV channels in mornings and not later, than around dark again. I have had same type of TV performance at the coast in the house where there are no LEDS. I found it is the weather, position of sun, high winds and rain etc. The signals from HD seen to be more prone to weather conditions causing problems than before.

I would agree that it's more weather based. We have the same issue in our Premier. The radio and the TV will not get a signal if its too cloudy out sometimes.

Granted I haven't tested the LED on vs off to see if that makes a difference. Our old Springdale never had an issue with the digital channels. May be they make them crappier now to push you towards buying a dish.

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