Muting the TV

Jeanne M. · 10-10-2005, 08:09 AM

We have an 05 Itasca Horizon with a Sony TV and surround sound.

We just got back from a 2 week trip (to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta). A few times I had muted the tv while my husband and were talking. During this time I was hearing a faint talking like an announcer or a newscaster. I thought it was from a nearby RV. Later in the day I muted the TV again and noticed the same noise. So I put my ear up to the speakers and sure enough it's coming from our speakers! Does anybody know what could be causing this? And more importantly, how to stop it?

Thanks

Jeanne M. · 10-10-2005, 08:09 AM

We have an 05 Itasca Horizon with a Sony TV and surround sound.

We just got back from a 2 week trip (to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta). A few times I had muted the tv while my husband and were talking. During this time I was hearing a faint talking like an announcer or a newscaster. I thought it was from a nearby RV. Later in the day I muted the TV again and noticed the same noise. So I put my ear up to the speakers and sure enough it's coming from our speakers! Does anybody know what could be causing this? And more importantly, how to stop it?

Thanks

John_Canfield · 10-10-2005, 10:09 AM

Is the sound that you faintly hear the current program or some other audio that has no relationship to the TV program?

If the faint sound is YOUR TV audio, than I would think that your TV is not completely muting the audio. If the faint sound is NOT your TV audio, then I would suspect you might be having radio frequency interference (RFI.) If you suspect the latter, then troubleshooting will take a little time - mostly trial and error. The RFI could be coming in at a number of places in the audio system. The speaker leads could be acting as an antenna in a strong RF field and an aberration in the speaker system could rectify the radio signal allowing it to be heard in the speakers. RF could be entering the input to the QSurround amp somewhere. The cure in these situations is to bypass the leads with a .01 mfd disc capacitor. The capacitor will act as a shunt or short to the RF, but not affect lower frequency aduio signals.

If your problem disappeared after you changed locations, I would strongly suspect RFI.

Jeanne M. · 10-11-2005, 11:02 AM

John...no, it's not what's being shown on the tv. I thought it might be that too. So I paid attention and the lip movement was not the same as what was being said...especially when it would be a woman talking and a mans voice I was hearing. It was some sort of announcer (sounded like a game being announced). I couldn't actually understand everything that was being said. I could just hear constant talking. I also turned on the radio to see if it was a bleed over into the speakers somehow. What was on the radio station at the time I turned it on was music. So...I'm stumped as to what station or where it would have been coming from.

Unfortunately I didn't think to try to duplicate this at other campgrounds we were in on our way home. I just might try it at home...see if it still does this.

Thanks for your thoughts tho.

tomsm · 10-11-2005, 02:01 PM

Jeanne,

There are a bunch of radio and TV antennas on Sandia Peak (just east of Fiesta Park). These are only a couple of air miles away from the fiesta grounds. I would try the mute in a few more locations before going to too much trouble fixing it. Technically, your unit should be able to handle all that RF energy, but it may have just been a very unique situation that you'll never encounter again.

Jeanne M. · 10-11-2005, 02:22 PM

Thanks Tom...that's very good to know. We won't labor too hard just yet until we see if it was just a fluke. But it was extremely annoying with all that constant talking I could hear! LOL I thought it was some pretty loud neighbors until I realized it was OUR speakers! We keep our TV on for the dog. She doesn't really bark much because we use a barking collar JUST so she won't bother any neighbors. We figure the TV is a constant noise so when she does hear somebody talking when walking by the RV she won't distinguish that from the TV. But the constant yakking with the mute on was annoying to US!

MrTransistor · 10-11-2005, 05:31 PM

Hi Jeanne M.,
770 AM Talk radio, 50,000 Watt clear channel. The antennas are right in the valley and can swamp many an amplifier. You probably weren't the only one at the Balloon Fiesta this year that got to listen to Jim Villanucci and the rest. There are other AM stations with their antennas close to the park but they are much lower power. Did you get to the Balloon Museum? We are based in Albuquerque, and live up on 9 mile hill.