Plasma monitor causing interference

[VA7CQ]

I have just installed a Plasma TV in a room adjacent to my Ham shack. To my horror, this Plasma TV when switched on, generates so much noise it virtually wipes out the 75/80 meter bands. What should I do?

[N8UZE]

Turn it off whenever you are operating. Or return it and get an LCD.

[n4bfd]

Take it back.

[N2RJ]

Quote[/b] (N8UZE @ July 29 2007,16:50)]Turn it off whenever you are operating. Or return it and get an LCD.
And make sure you TEST the LCD with a shortwave radio before buying...

I know this from experience!

(anyone want a used dell ultrasharp 19 inch LCD?)

[KI4NGN]

Ferrite bead the signal lines to the TV. I'd put a couple of clamp-on types on each end. Also the power line. This will eliminate any possibility of those lines being the radiator, and will narrow it down to the panel itself. If it is the panel itself, the TV is not meeting Part 15 requirements, and may in fact be defective.

(I mentioned the signal and power lines in case they are re-raditating signals generated by the TV.)

[ka5s]

Quote[/b] (VA7CQ @ July 29 2007,17:44)]I have just installed a Plasma TV in a room adjacent to my Ham shack. To my horror, this Plasma TV when switched on, generates so much noise it virtually wipes out the 75/80 meter bands. What should I do?
Each plasma pixel is driven by a cold-cathode emitter -- a corona discharge with wideband noise. For this reason plasma displays have earned a reputation for generating radio interference. Many of them cannot be filtered, since the tube is so large and the current so high that it radiates directly, rather than through cables and power lines.

I don't know what Industry Canada has to say about these things, but there's something called an implied warranty of suitability in our shared legal systems*, and this one isn't suitable. Take it back.

*I am not a lawyer.

Cortland
KA5S

[kj3n]

As others have said (and confirmed by a local ham who owns one), plasmas can't be "fixed".

Replace it with an LCD.

[VA7CQ]

My thanks for all your comments. I returned the Plasma TV to the store and replaced it with an LCD model as some of you suggested. Excellent advice.

[N8CPA]

Indeed, thanks for posting the problem. My wife keeps noising about a new TV. I'll tell her LCD only!

[AC0H]

The wife and I were just out shopping for the step-daughters wedding gift. We looked at both LCD's and Plasmas. The wife started thinking out loud about us getting a plasma. I said not while I'm sucking air! Of course the salesman had to pipe up about how great they were. Yada, yada, yada. I asked him if he was willing to bet this and all future sales from my house upon me walking past the screen with a cheap AM radio and not picking up any interference. Nope.

Ended up getting an 42" LCD for the kids.

Lets see what we've got for toobage in the house.
We've got a pair of 36" Sony Wega's. A 27" in my shack, 20 inchers in the bedrooms, and a 9" in the kitchen.

We don't need no more stinking TV's! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[N8UZE]

For those of you whose spouses may want a plasma, look up the costs to "repair" if the plasma screen breaks down. Just like a flourescent bulb, you are looking at total replacement as the most likely scenario and that is not going to be cheap. And their failure tends to be an all or nothing thing.

Contrast that to LCD. Cheaper initial purchase price. Most common failure mode of the screen is loss of individual pixels. Unless they are concentrated in a single area, you can loose a lot of pixels before becoming annoying. Even though you would eventually have to replace the whole thing when it gets too bad, replacement cost is well below that of the plasma screen repair/replacement.

[w3wn]

Quote[/b] (N2RJ @ July 29 2007,18:10)](anyone want a used dell ultrasharp 19 inch LCD?)
Sure. I'll find it a good home...

[W4DFW]

Quote[/b] (VA7CQ @ July 28 2007,17:44)]I have just installed a Plasma TV in a room adjacent to my Ham shack. To my horror, this Plasma TV when switched on, generates so much noise it virtually wipes out the 75/80 meter bands. What should I do?
Holy Toledo!! NOT GOOD!!

I just got a 50 inch Panasonic Plasma TV a couple of weeks ago. I haven't been doing a lot of hamming as I've also been upgrading my home theater. I finally installed some nice surround-sound speakers, did all the fine wiring, and tonight while I was watching some great HD TV I ventured into the shack and turned on the rig.

S9 RF Hash 80 through 10!! JESUS!!

I turned off the TV and quiet as a kitten! HOW can these Plasmas comply with FCC regs??

Tomorrow I'm on a mission to see if I can fix this problem, but if not this plasma has got to go!!

[wv6z]

VA7CQ and W4DFW, send them to me at my address here on the Zed, why heck send em freight collect if you wish....... I will put em to good use. Problems solved.