What Causes Interference With Digital TV Reception?

What Causes Interference With Digital TV Reception?

Unlike the old days of Analogue TV, Digital TV relies on data to produce a clear crisp picture on your TV set. Sometimes the signal that carries the Data can be weak or distorted which leads to break up of your picture or sound. This problem can be very annoying, especially when you sit down to watch your favourite program, and the picture decides to break up. There are varied reasons as to why this happens, and here are the most common causes.

1/ Using an Analogue Antenna

A big issue we find is your Antenna has not been upgraded since Analogue TV was turned off. A Digital Antenna is very different in construction to an Analogue Antenna, although they may appear the same to the untrained eye. If you do not have a Digital Antenna, your old Analogue antenna can allow interference to drift into the signal and corrupt the Data causing break up.

2/Incorrect Antenna for your area.

In Australia we have many Transmission Sites to get your favourite tv programs out to you. Some are on VHF, whilst others are on UHF. In certain areas you may have different towers with your stations on Different Frequencies. It is very important to have an Antenna that will pick up your Local Transmitter. All for these issues will require a specific type of Digital Antenna. With Australia being so vast in area and terrain, there is no such thing as one Digital Antenna that will do everything in every place.

3/ Trees, Hills and Large Buildings.

Trees, Hills and Buildings are another cause of interference. When a signal leaves the transmitter, it finds the best direct path to your Antenna. If you have an obstruction between the Antenna and the Transmitter, i.e. Trees, Hills or Buildings, this will cause the signal to bounce or reflect. When this happens, your signal becomes distorted and weak. This will affect the signal quality and may cause break up. Another issue with trees is that if a signal is going through a tree, it will weaken, and as the tree is blown by the wind, it will affect the amount of distortion and strength. This can affect your picture. By selection of the correct type of Antenna and location, your signal distortion will be greatly reduced.

4/ 4G interference

You may ask why we had to re-tune all our TV’s shortly after the Digital Change over. This is because the demand for fast internet has increased. To accommodate for this, TV had to condense the allocated Frequency bands to allow for further 4G frequencies. These new 4G frequencies are within the range of older Antennas and Amplifiers that have been installed over the years. If you have an older system that has no filters to take these new 4G frequencies out, they will cause issues with your Digital TV signal. This is because the 4G maybe stronger than your TV signal and may over drive your amplifier causing it to distort your signal. If you don’t have an Amplifier, the 4G signal may be overpowering the Digital TV Signal and will push over the TV signal and cause corruption. This becomes more obvious when a Telco turns on a new tower up the road, and you suddenly have TV issues. 

5/ Weak Signal

If you live a long distance from your Transmitter, or you are in an area effected by Hills, Trees or Large Buildings, your signal may be weak. If this is the case, by relocating your Antenna, or installing an Amplifier, your signal may be increased.

5/ Cabling

The type of Coax cable used is very important in maintaining a good clean Digital TV signal. Older Coax Cable used for Analogue TV doesn’t have the screening quality of new Digital cables. Also, the size maybe smaller. Screening of older cable will allow electrical interference to induce into the cable and corrupt the Digital TV signal. All TV Coaxial cables should be well clear of any Electrical Cables to prevent this issue. Also, older cabling can cause a drop in signal strength due to its size. This will cause loss of signal to your TV and cause break up. The other issue is the longer the cable run, the more the losses, so if you have a long run of cable, this will also cause issues.

These are the key issues our Antenna Technicians at Jim’s Antennas come across every day. All our Franchisee’s and Technicians are fully trained in these areas and are backed by professionals within the industry. All our work is covered by our Jim’s Antennas Warranty.  If you are having issues with your reception, please feel free to contact your local Jim’s Antennas Technician on 131 546 or book online 24/7