TV Static

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

timjet

Guru
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Messages
1,920
Although not totally boat related but this could happen on a boat; My TV has static displayed on the screen when I turn on my tread mill. When the tread mill is off, the static disappears. I guess it's the motor causing this. Is there a filter I can install to stop the static?

Thanks guys.
 
Yes. Get a Ferrite Choke from Radio Shack (or anywhere else) and put it on the TV power cord. That should clear it up.

If it fails to then a more drastic approach is plugging the TV into a quality Uninterruptable power supply; although I'd sure this is easier said than done when talking about a boat.


All this assumes the shielding on your treadmill meets FCC guideline for EM emissions.

Try the choke first. They're cheap. :D
 
Last edited:
Get rid of the treadmill. Problem solved.

The simplest solutions are always the best.

I got a choke ferrite at Radio Shack which appears to be two magnets formed to fit around a cord. I attached it to the power plug of the TV and then to the coaxial cable going into the TV and it was no help at either position. I then put it on the power plug of the treadmill and again no help.
I have a room air conditioner unit, 120v that does not affect the TV when on.

Any other ideas?
 
Why bother ? there hasn't been anything worth watching since the Nixon/Kennedy dabate :)

True, I generally watch the military channel and most of their programing is WWII stuff.

But I did get a kick out of the Benson/Quail debate.
"Mr Quail you are no Jack Kennedy"
 
Last edited:
"Mr Quail you are no Jack Kennedy" __________________

YES he never got to team tag Marlyn Monroe with his brother!
 
There are filters that can be attached. Look up AC inline noise filters. You may want to try a serious electronics store for a filter or someone like Newark Electronics. Maybe even Grainger or McMaster Carr although less likely.
There are inline filters that place small capacitors and inductors [small coils] across the two ac lines which will kill/reduce powerline carried noise.

Radio Shack , that I've seen, is no longer a good electronics parts supplier.

The problem may be the motor on the treadmill itself. Likely it is a brush type motor or universal type. They can often be noisy. It's the brushes and the arcing, even though minor, which radiates radio interference directly rather than through the AC lines.
An inline filter will not be able to get rid of directly radiated noise but will still kill the line noise.
The ferrite choke may help though if you get a couple more and install one on each piece of equipment rather than moving one around. It may not help but may be worth the try for the $. On the tv I would think the ferrite should be as close to the tv as possible, same on the treadmill. Otherwise the cable may still be picking up the radiation.

You might also carefully check out the grounding between the motor and treadmill frame, the treadmill frame and the grounding [green] wire to the wall plug. Poor grounds can fail to suppress rfi that otherwise would have been reduced.

Your air conditioning motor will be a different type of motor and is likely buried in metal more so the much lower rate of noise generation is killed better.

And of course I could be all wet.
 
The other possibility is to increase the TV signal from the antenna.

The RV folks have 12V antenna boosters for about $50-$60 bucks.
 
What's the source of video you are watching? I would normally associate static with analog video and there shouldn't much of that left around.

Tom
 
Thanks C lectric for that explanation. It does clear up some things. I will check the ground on the TV and Treadmill both.

Tom; the video feed for the TV in question comes from the composite video out of my DirecTV box. From their it goes to a RF modulator that converts the signal to an analog signal carried to the TV by a coaxial cable.

The TV is located about 75 ft from the Sat Box and I don't really want to pay for that length of HDMI cable for a TV I watch 30 minutes 3 times a week.
 
Tim,

I think the issue is the 75 feet of coax and RF modulator. If that is one of the modulators that DirecTV gives away, it is not very good and can be interfered with easily. If you install a second run of coax from the DirecTV receiver to the TV, you can then run the composite signal on one and one channel of audio on the other. You should be able to find an F to RCA adapter that will allow you to connect the connector on the coax to the composite input/output. With a better picture you can then spend 5 days a week on the treadmill.

Tom
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom