TV Ch2 Interference

[nascarfan999]

I know this may be slightly off topic, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas or information about a problem I'm having. Around the same time every day, my TV channel 2 starts to act up pretty bad. I will usually see horizontal lines breaking up the picture and the sound cutting in and out. This is usually gone by 6:30 PM CDT or so, but occasionally will last up to and past 7PM. I do not know when this regularly starts because no one is home during the day, but I did watch it today and am noticing the same problems, except it is even worse. My only other clue was during a commercial w/ a black background, I was able to see a ghosted image that appeared to be advertising "Daytona Toyota". A quick search gave me WESH, Ch2 in the Orlando - Daytona Beach, FL area. Is it possible that this is what I am seeing (I am located near St. Louis, MO), and if that is what is causing my interference, what can I do to correct the problem?

 

[Joseph11]

There's been very strong skip recently. It's entirely possible that you are receiving Ch. 2 from Orlando. If your regular Ch. 2 is in a different direction, you can try a directional antenna. If it's very strong, you can try an attenuator.

 

[nascarfan999]

Unfortunately, my local ch2 is east, south east which is roughly the same direction as Florida from me. So, if it is in fact the Orlando station, I can't do much direction wise.

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi Fan and all,

Just to set the record straight, an attenuator won't do a thing about skip interference strong enough to ride in with a local signal, it'll only degrade reception overall. A TV antenna usually is a log periodic array or some modified design so gain and directivity improves as the frequency goes up. The up side is the higher gain is needed on the upper channels because they don't travel well but the down side is it's nearly omni directional on channel 2.

Now when you see the interference switch to a low band (2-6) channel not in local use and enjoy the TV DX. BTW, you may also find DX stations all through VHF and UHF especially during intense tropo scatter so go channel surfing and see what you can find. Now do I have to tell you it's a good time to put your scanner on low band VHF search mode? Nah, go for it guy!

 

[Don_Burke]

You could try stacking TV antennas to make the main lobe tighter in the vertical axis.

That will help with some of the skip, although you still will be had when it is coming in at a low angle.

 

[KR4BD]

KPRC-TV Channel 2 in Houston has been seen here regularly lately. We have had a lot of sporatic-E skip in the 50-100 mHz spectrum of late. I watch Channels 2 and 3 on my TV as an indicator to alert me when the 6 meter ham band opens (50-54 mHz). By the way, Channel 2 on the TV occupies 54-60 mHz in North America, so whens the TV skip is rolling in, I know 6 meters will be active, too.

 

[nascarfan999]

Hi Fan and all,

Just to set the record straight, an attenuator won't do a thing about skip interference strong enough to ride in with a local signal, it'll only degrade reception overall. A TV antenna usually is a log periodic array or some modified design so gain and directivity improves as the frequency goes up. The up side is the higher gain is needed on the upper channels because they don't travel well but the down side is it's nearly omni directional on channel 2.

Now when you see the interference switch to a low band (2-6) channel not in local use and enjoy the TV DX. BTW, you may also find DX stations all through VHF and UHF especially during intense tropo scatter so go channel surfing and see what you can find.

I have checked numerous channels, and haven't found any other irregularities. One problem with that could be that I also have local channel on 4 and 5 thus making it hard to check the lower channels for skip.

Now do I have to tell you it's a good time to put your scanner on low band VHF search mode? Nah, go for it guy!

The rest of the low VHF has been performing pretty well for me. I've come across several frequencies throughout the 40's and upper 30's. As much as I enjoy seeing what distant stations I can pull in, I don't like missing my local FOX station


Edit: If it helps and/or changes anything, I was able to record two short clips with the interference. However, when I went back to watch it on my VCR (I know I'm stuck in the dinosaur age), the picture was much worse than it was live, but I had sound on the VCR when I didn't have sound watching it live. In the near future, I'm going to try to get a screenshot of it posted to see if it helps any.

 

[sjcscanner]

whats a skip?

 

[nd5y]

whats a skip?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_propagation#Ionospheric_Modes_.28Sky-Wave.29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywave
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-skip#Sporadic_E_propagation_.28E-skip.29

 

[sjcscanner]

thanks