TV interference - Any suggestions?

From what the experts have said before almost certain to be one of your digital box cables and not the layout. try swapping the one your are in (What are you doing in a digital box ?) with the other one, if the interference moves then you know its a cable.

Cheers, Simon

Get rid of the TV and Play Trains

>

digital box cables and not the layout. try swapping the one your are in with the other one, if the interference moves then you know its a cable.

I agree !

The R911 controller is, I understand, just a plastic box with no shielding. The cables themselves have no shielding either and the track acts like one huge aerial for any interference.

Get yourself some good quality shielded coax cables ( I understand Maplins have a sale with 20% off theirs ) and also get a better quality TV picture with or without the 'kids' playing with the train set.

It is very unlikely that the controller is the source of the interference, I am fairly sure that the R911 has no 'electronics' in it and is just a variable resistor.

The interference will undoubtedly be coming from the motors and the wheel to track contacts and pickups. Try running with the lights out, all the little sparks that you see are causing the interference.

Are both of the digi boxes running from the same aerial? if they are and one is OK, look at the coax cable to the offending box. Make sure that the outer braid is securely fastened in the connector and the inner is making good contact with the centre pin. The fact that one box is OK seem to indicate that either the signal is low to one of the boxes or there is more pick-up into the other cable. Does the cable to the offending box run close to the layout?

There are several possible solutions, firstly reduce the interference at source (the best solution). So make sure that all of the motors have their suppression capacitors in place. Some motors also have little ferrite beads on the wires close to the motor. Next you can add capacitors across the track at various places. Try something like 0.01 and/or 0.1 micro Farad. This should be ok with the type of controller that you are using, but may play havoc with track cleaners of DCC.

Secondly use the menus on the 2 digi boxes to look at the signal strengths and compare them, if the offending one shows up much weaker then you must have a look at the cable and or the way the signal is split between the 2 sets. You might have to replace the coax with a good quality one if the run to the offending set is much longer than the other, or may be invest in a preamp with 2 or more outputs close to the aerial, but beware of pre-amps as they can also amplify the interference if it is getting in via the aerial rather than by pickup on the coax.

Good luck Jeff

Check whether the interference is present when there is not a loco on the track. This will determine the general source. It is unlikely to travel via the mains cables or to penetrate any real walls. Most locos carry a small capacitor across the motor terminals for spark (noise) suppresion and they are often not soldered and can be making poor or no contact. You could of course try swapping the digi boxes over and that (if it moves with the box) support simon's suggestion. Don't forget that any track sparking through bad joints can have the same effect on electronic receiving equipment.

Hi, It is almost certainly down to the quality of your Aerial downlead. There is such a thing as transient interference which would be created by car ignition systems, and model trains arcing merrily from their wheels and brushgear.

This does tend to create problems for Digital television; less so for Ananlogue.

The downlead to go for is the CT100 grade. Take it from me, I get Freeview from Winter Hill near Huddersfield, from Kerry in mid Wales (Yes I know the Tramway. I was thinking of doing a 4mm job of it) over a distance of 83 miles. The downlead made all the difference. This give great immunity to the transient events I mentioned. Much less leakage too.

Just going slightly off topic, of you are in a fringe region, and are unsure what TX to go for, then

would be worth a visit. Then visit for geographical details of your local transmitter. Use to convert the co-ordinates from your postcode, and then you will get a good idea of the terrain profile between your postcode and that of the candidate transmitter. That's how I got freeview from where I am.

Cheers,

Rob.

Peter Abraham wrote: