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Samsung LN46A860 random channel changes

post #1 of 44
8/2/09 at 6:33pm
Thread Starter 
LN46A860 purchased in March 2009.

It's hooked to analog cable but they do give us the digital channels on local stations.

Every so often while tuned to 32-1 it will randomly change to 5. (Both happen to be local stations.) I've only noticed it on this station but that doesn't mean it might not happen on others if left there long enough. But so far only this one.

It does not seem to be a spurious signal from the remote. And pressing the previous channel button while on 5 does not take me back to 32-1 but to the channel it was on before that.

Is this a known issue on some Sammies? Would a firmware update--if there is one--help? Otherwise the set is great--beautiful picture.
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post #2 of 44
8/3/09 at 3:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by filmteknik View Post

LN46A860 purchased in March 2009.

It's hooked to analog cable but they do give us the digital channels on local stations.

Every so often while tuned to 32-1 it will randomly change to 5. (Both happen to be local stations.) I've only noticed it on this station but that doesn't mean it might not happen on others if left there long enough. But so far only this one.

It does not seem to be a spurious signal from the remote. And pressing the previous channel button while on 5 does not take me back to 32-1 but to the channel it was on before that.

Is this a known issue on some Sammies? Would a firmware update--if there is one--help? Otherwise the set is great--beautiful picture.

Sometimes on OTA channels are duplicated...I know on my Mits if I change to say 88-5 it will go to channel 5 because this is also the same channel...try rescanning...
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post #3 of 44
9/16/09 at 12:58pm
Thread Starter 
It's not about duplicate channels. The TV randomly changes to a completely different station.

Previously I'd not been looking at the screen when its happened but now I have: I'll be on 32-1 and suddenly "5" will appear on the on-screen channel display as it would appear when you key the remote and then a moment later it flips to 5. Thus far I've only seen it do it with these channels. When it does it it can be counted on to do it again maybe a half hour later. It does not appear to be a spurious signal from the remote (and if it was then pressing the Previous Channel button would put it back but it doesn't.)

I guess I need to put in a service request.
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post #4 of 44
9/16/09 at 2:43pm
It could be a IR spurious signal from a CFL light bulb or a dimmer switch or some other device capable of emiting IR.
Try covering the IR receiver on the TV with something to prevent it from receiving any IR signal.
Also the cable company cable out of your wall has both analog and digitaal channels on it. It is the tuner you are using that determines what you receive.
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post #5 of 44
10/4/09 at 1:36pm
I am having the same problem with my samsung LN46A550 that I just recently purchased. I will have it on 32-1 and it will randomly swith to 5. It has happened to me on the previous 2 sundays while I was watching football. It has always happened when I was away from the tv and I come back and it is on a different channel. It doesnt seem to be some stray IR signal because when I press previous channel on the remote it wont change, (as if I had never been watching another channel).
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post #6 of 44
10/4/09 at 4:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtackler76 View Post

............
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It doesnt seem to be some stray IR signal because when I press previous channel on the remote it wont change, (as if I had never been watching another channel).

This is crucial bit of information. It means that IR receiver WAS NOT triggered by anything.... anyone. The trigger arrived thru PCB tracks as a result of interference - design flaw. If someone could post the circuit diagram - I'll be able to tell (much) more.

Boky
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post #7 of 44
10/5/09 at 10:47am
I contacted samsung and just got a standard respose to auto program my channels. I dont believe this will fix my problem as I also believe it is a design flaw of some kind that is causing the issues. I am going to continue to bug samsung about this issue.
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post #8 of 44
10/5/09 at 11:11am
omg, my samsung 46a530 is doing the exact same thing. last 2 sundays during the bears game it randomly switches from 32-1 to channel 5. it also happens multiple times during the game for me. this drives me absolutely crazy-if i try to go back to 32-1 sometimes it takes a few minutes, its like the station has disappeared completely. of course my tv is now out of warranty-wonderful to see i am not the only one with this problem.
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post #9 of 44
10/5/09 at 5:06pm
This also happened to me durring the bears game. It only happened to me 2 times this weekend. I do not watch 32-1 much other than for football, have you ever had this happen to you any other times or with any other channels?
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post #10 of 44
10/6/09 at 4:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by labnpei View Post

omg, my samsung 46b530 is doing the exact same thing. last 2 sundays during the bears game it randomly switches from 32-1 to channel 5. it also happens multiple times during the game for me. this drives me absolutely crazy-if i try to go back to 32-1 sometimes it takes a few minutes, its like the station has disappeared completely. of course my tv is now out of warranty-wonderful to see i am not the only one with this problem.

If these Samsungs always switch to same channel - channel 5, it seems that this is default channel after tanner memory is erased... in other words, there must be something wrong with the PCB - tuner and AV processor board. Once again, if someone can share the circuit diagram I may be able to point-out the chip / possible causes

This is 4th...5th time I saw people reported this same problem and I bet Samsung knows about the problem, but will never admit the problem is related to bad design / circuit layout

Boky
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post #11 of 44
10/6/09 at 6:25am
so far it only happened during the bears games but i also don't watch much fox tv.
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post #12 of 44
10/6/09 at 6:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Extreme_Boky View Post

If these Samsungs always switch to same channel - channel 5, it seems that this is default channel after tanner memory is erased... in other words, there must be something wrong with the PCB - tuner and AV processor board. Once again, if someone can share the circuit diagram I may be able to point-out the chip / possible causes

This is 4th...5th time I saw people reported this same problem and I bet Samsung knows about the problem, but will never admit the problem is related to bad design / circuit layout

Boky

i have no idea how to share the circuit diagram with you-not that techie-sorry. i did email samsung about the problem and will see what, if anything they say. i also was wrong on my model-it is the 46a530 not b530.
this is pretty frustrating as i am babying a samsung 46" dlp that randomly shuts off and now this tv is acting up-no more samsungs i guess for me!
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post #13 of 44
10/26/09 at 4:22am
ok, my samsung did it again during yesterdays steelers vikings game-only did it once but i only was home to watch the 1st half.
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post #14 of 44
10/26/09 at 6:36am
It may help to see if the problem can be localized since if it can something in the content may be causing the problem.
For each of you with the problem:
Did the problem occure while watching a game in HD from Fox or from another program?
What is you program souce, OTA, Cable, or Satellite?
What city are you located in?
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post #15 of 44
10/26/09 at 9:24am
i was watching the game on fox-digital cable-comcast. i am located in chicago suburbs
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post #16 of 44
10/26/09 at 11:40am
What model digital STB do you have from Comcast. Unless your cable line is also hooked to the analog tuner input on your TV it is the STB that is switching to analog channel 5 and not the TV.
I saw a simliar problem reported with CBS football games this past weekend
I have a hunch that the satellite tranmission from the stadiums to the networks is momentarily being dropped and that then causes the signal gets to be dropped to your STB. This is turn causes the PVR to switch to its default channel.
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post #17 of 44
10/26/09 at 11:57am
not using a stb on that tv-jut direct from the wall to the tv
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post #18 of 44
10/26/09 at 1:09pm
Well that destroys my PVR hunch.
So the common thread appears to be a football game being recieved over clear QAM to a Samsung TV
And so far we know it occurs for one user with Comcast near Chicago. We don't know provider and location of the other users.
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post #19 of 44
10/28/09 at 8:10am
I have noticed this problem with my LN46A850 since I bought this television last January. It is driving me insane and it seems to be such a ridiculous problem to have. I too live in a suburb of Chicago and have Comcast cable.

The television is hooked directly to the wall, no cable box.

Only Fox HD channel 32-1 will switch to NBC HD channel 5-1 (both are local HD stations) and only in this manner. The other channels are fine.

I am very certain that the switch happens during commercials 90% of the time. I'll quickly grab a snack or use the bathroom during commercial break only to discover the TV changed the channel on me. Before I noticed this problem, I would return and wonder wtf am I watching?

In addition, both 32-1 and 5-1 were set as Favorites on my Samsung and when this crazy channel flip happens, both channels (and sometimes more channels on my Favorites list) are removed from the Favorites list. It's totally annoying because now I have to reenter the missing channels.

Before my warranty expires, Samsung will be hearing from me concerning this issue. I am glad to hear that I am not the only one experiencing this problem.
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post #20 of 44
10/28/09 at 9:44am
It appears that there is something in the Chicago Comcast Fox-HD Content that is causing the problem to occure.
I suggest that you check the local Chicago AVS-Forum to see if others are reporting the pproblem and if not I suggest you start a thread there about this problem. Probably Comcast and Samsung engineers will have to work together to resolve it.
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post #21 of 44
11/29/09 at 4:48pm
For what it's worth, same thing thing with this Samsung TV. Southwest suburbs of Chicago, Comcast cable. While watching the the Bears on 32-1 the TV will change to channel 5. Hit Pre-Chan still leaves it at 5. Probably not watching 32-1 much other than Sunday afternoon. I do have it pinned down to happening at 10 minutes before the hour everytime, and it is during commercials so it is not always evident at first. Grab a sandwich and wonder why they heck they have figure skating on during half-time...
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post #22 of 44
11/30/09 at 6:53pm
The same thing is happening on my Samsung DLP. 32-1 becomes 5-1 randomly. For me, it isn't pinned down to a particular time - seems to happen randomly (happened 3x in the past 30 minutes).
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post #23 of 44
2/13/10 at 5:55pm
Thread Starter 
I'm the original poster and I too am in the Chicago suburbs and on Comcast. I wonder if there is a connection. Still, the TVs shouldn't be doing it no matter what Comcast sends down the pipe but it's VERY interesting all the same.
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post #24 of 44
2/14/10 at 6:32am
If Comcast changes the actual channel being broadcast over a particular QAM RF Channel the TV has no way of knowing this. I wonder if this problem has anything to do with the possible use of SDV(Switched Video).
Are you using a Comcast supplied digital tuner or are you using a ClearQAM tuner in your TV?
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post #25 of 44
2/14/10 at 7:59am
Thread Starter 
No Comcast box. Just ordinary extended basic cable. They give you HD versions of the broadcast channels but otherwise just SD at this service level.

The analog version of Fox 32 is found on analog cable channel 12. Analog Ch. 32 is Cartoon Network but 32-1 is Fox 32 in HD.

Digital versions of standard def cable channels are also available such as (to give a few examples)

HIST (40 analog) on 86-11
CN (32 analog) on 83-102
CNN (55 analog) on 84-207
TVL (30 analog) on 85-8

...and so on. Found them just by letting the Samsung scan. They seem murkier than they need to be. I'm curious if these are downconverted from the HD feed by the Comcast head end and they intentionally keep the bit rates low to create a lousy picture and encourage people to spring for their HD service. But that's another discussion.
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post #26 of 44
2/14/10 at 10:31am
Comcast has only one version of their analog and digital signals on the cable coming from the wall oiutlet. So the 32 analog channel via QAM or the HD 32-1 you get with the QAM tuner on your TV is exactly the same 32-1 signal that their own digital tuners receive and for which you have to pay extra for "so called digital service".
filmtechnik, what ZIP code are you located in?
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post #27 of 44
2/14/10 at 10:33am
Analog channels looks horrendous on an HDTV lol, full of noise and grain, HD is beautiful aswell as DIGITAL
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post #28 of 44
2/24/10 at 10:43am
I live in the Twins Cities. I connect to cable directly from the wall. For me, Fox (chanel 9-1) will change to ABC (5-1) during commercial breaks. It is not just during football games, but even last night while my girlfriend was watching American Idol. It does not seem to matter what program is on either. Also, it will only switch from Fox to ABC, but not back to FOX. No other stations do this.
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post #29 of 44
2/28/10 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 
Original poster here. I am in zip code 60466.
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post #30 of 44
2/28/10 at 6:19pm
Thread Starter 
Okay...it just did it right now at about 8:18 pm (Sunday evening). Anyone else?

And again 3 minutes later.

And 8:30 pm.
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