New York, NY - OTA - Page 524

Thanks guys for all the helpful info and suggestions. I just emailed Charlie Rhodes. I also emailed Malibu Lighting again. I will also put something together to the FCC this week.

Giacomo.....I wish the FCC would help but I think even if I contact them I can not expect any immediate relief. It is all in my court to find a solution if I can in the short term.

Are there other factories that make these light bulbs? Can you try a different brand or maybe buy your neighbors some CFL light bulbs as replacements?

Yeah, don't expect too much from the FCC. Viewers who complain get told that they are unimportant, and only licensed broadcasters can make interference complaints.

- Trip

You're welcome, Len. I can empathize with your predicament, and I understand how frustrating this must be for you.

I enjoy receiving OTA Television and TV/Radio DXing when the weather patterns are right. I am frustrated by my lower elevation which cheats me out of many low-power and even some full-power TV stations I'm sure I could get if only I were on higher ground.

Just to be clear: I don't expect the fcc to send out paratroopers to clear away these pathway lights. But any complaint is written documentation and another blow to the efforts of those pretend engineer attorneys who would like to shove UHF TV stations into the VHF band, despite the recent legislation which prohibits them from doing so.

Trip brings up a valid point. Perhaps the next step should be to e-mail a letter to the engineers at WABC-TV, WPIX, and WNET. And any other VHF station whose signal is interrupted by these lights. Mention the brand and model number of the LED lights in your communication. I will admit I didn't think of that, and you just might realize better results.

Just FYI: Charlie has already responded to my note to him and asked for more info which I supplied.

Malibu Lighting has not yet responded to my note. I'm not sure they will want to keep in touch at this point.

Solid Signal has shipped the VHF hi/Lo splitter. I called them MOnday to see if I could add a terminator to my order before it shipped. The salesman said it was too late and that he thought the device would have a terminator with it.

It is actually not just a bulb that can be pulled out and replaced. It is all wired together with what would appear to be a mini transformer.

Not sure buying replacements at about $30 or more a pop without knowing if they too have an issue would be financially justified.

I would wait for his response before spending too many $$. He's got a good lab and an audience. If he takes it on, the FCC will take notice to.
If you have a spectrum analyzer, scan the FM and Hi VHF bands (relative power). That will help him focus on whether the noise is 2nd order and/or harmonic FM.

He got back to me and he suspects the transformer. I am not going to argue with an expert. However the transformer in question is not new and was the same one used with non LED lights which I think were 4 watt bulbs. I think the new LEDS are 1 watt. They are not just bulbs though. They are a unit which I think include the bulb and a transformer or some electical gizmo with them. Here is just an excerpt of what he sent me:

LED lamps require low voltage Direct Current. As you wrote, the transformer steps down the 120 volt AC power to a very low AC voltage. Inside the transformer case there are Silicon Diodes that rectify this low AC power converting it to DC power. These diodes are generating electrical noise which is jamming your DTV receiver.

My guess is that the manufacturer, probably in far off Asia, did not provide capacitors across each diode to prevent those diodes from generating electrical noise.

This is standard practice in consumer electronics because it eliminates such RF noise, but these capacitors, cost money and so they may not be left out for that reason.

THE PROBLEM IS NOT WITH THE led LIGHTS, BUT WITH THIS TRANSFORMER.

I remembered I did do an FM radio test a number of months back and it sort of proved the transformer was fine and it was the lights where the FM radio picked up RF interference.

I just sent this info on to the expert.

Also Malibu sort of acknowledged there was a problem with RF interference when they sent me NEW lights and insisted these lights had changes to the components even if the boxes/packaging were exactly the same.

So I'm not sure the expert has it right.

Just received a quick response from Malibu Lighting. Seeing as I only sent the note yesterday and I was my ever pesimistic self.... getting a response so soon, even getting a response, and what the response said was rather surpising in a very good way. The brief message I received follows:

"Len,



I am sorry to hear that the issue is still ongoing. I have notified my engineer and he has contacted our factory to have these shipped to him. He will personally install the low noise filters on them and send them directly to you. "

I don't know how long this will take but it seems that something is in the works here.

Thanks for perervering. This LED issue is a new man-made noise source that affects DTV--not just yours. We need to identify it, control it and taking it into account our link budget because LED are expected to be in widespread use in homes in the future

Just curious. How many lights does your neighbor have? I recently found a website that said a 5 watt bulb or device that is on 24/7 ( we know your neighbors is not on 24/7) uses about $5 a year. If electric company charges $.10 per kilowatt/hour. So lets say he has 6 light bulbs. He has them on 8 hours a day. Lets even say 12 hours a day. 6 bulbs times 3 watts each savings. That is 18 watts savings. Just a guess, but he is savings anywhere from $5 to $9 per year. Pay your neighbor $10 a year and have him switch back to the old bulbs. Seems A MUCH work for $.41 to $.75 a month savings.
Plus $10 per year for free TV is well worth it.

I would say that is your fastest way out of this problem. Unless Malibu fixes the issue.

I did try some LEDs for my bathroom vanity light. It turned out to be a BLUE/GREEN ugly light that was emitted. I returned them.
It is a shame.

There are a number of LED light bulbs on the market that produce decent color temperature and CRI, but they'll set you back $25 and up for 800 lumens (60-watt incandescent equivalent). Have a look at the Philips BC12A19 and the Ecosmart (Lighting Science) ECS 19 V2 WW, both at Home Depot. They generate quite a bit of RF noise (easy to hear on an AM radio, especially the Ecosmart), but so far haven't affected my OTA reception; but then my antennas are in the attic above any of the bulbs.

Keyboard,

My neighbor has 5 of them and they cost around $30-35 each. Yes each. These are not just bulbs that you can pop in and out like the regular walkway lights have. It's an integrated unit. My neighbor has the lights on at a bare minimum right now due to the problem it's causing me. I'm sure they would like to have them on much longer than they currently do.

LenL -

75 ohm Terminators:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103064

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...&storeId=10051

http://www.lowes.com/pd_251861-12704...ductId=3178853

I had already ordered 4 from Solid Signal when I read your post.

Never say never... I've seen the FCC act when ham radio operators make complaints against other entities, for example electric utilities. Often the utilities get enforcement letters and some are even fined for interference they cause.

In NJ you can get LED bulbs (philips) for as low as $10. 60w equiv will run you $15. This is at the home improvement stores (the orange one).

I have three of them, one on the back deck and two out on the front porch. I use mostly CFL in the house but I use LEDs outside where I can switch them on to almost full brightness from cold.

True, but they are older models; the ones with the nice color temperature are still in the $25 category - the older ones are generally way too blue and have a bad CRI (i.e. their phosphors are not broad spectrum).

Ham radio operators are licensed.

- Trip

Nope that's not the reason.

They also deal with complaints of interference by illegal 11m sets or simply illegal sales such as truck stops selling them.

If the complaint is serious enough or enough people complain they will act.

No these are the newer yellow philips ambientLED freakish looking remote phosphor ones (409904 a19 type). The light they give off looks exactly like an incandescent (5200k). This price is only in NJ though. I believe the state gives a clean energy rebate. Other states like MA may have them cheap.

Wow, I'll have to smuggle some light bulbs across the NJ-PA border

N.B.: The Philips BC12A19 is 409906, so the 409904 must be a special NJ-only edition. And that color temp is 2700K (they're very nice bulbs.)

I believe that 2700K is the color of most incandescent bulbs we are used to.

Getting back to OTA reception, I've noticed that the last few nights (except last night)
that Channel 44 on my two sets goes dark at approximately 11 p.m. Could it be that the station is working on its new facility on the ESB Antenna Mast?

YOu're correct. 5200k is daylight (anyway the point was these bulbs are close to incandescents).

The FCC will respond if all else fails. Right now it looks as if the manufacturer of the lights is doing their best.

Looking at the FCC web page complaints from licensed amateurs appear to hold a little more credibility than the average Joe. This makes sense. Radio geeks should know a few things.

http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/Amateur...s/Welcome.html

Yeah, of course hams would have some credibility (despite some of the uhhh more "hamsexy" folks within the ranks).

I think it was either Riley or Laura Smith who said that the Amateur service provides the FCC a good amount of value or something of the sort so they are more than happy to help us.




Agreed. My point was that I don't think the FCC will just blow off the average Joe because they don't have a license...

I've actually complained to the FCC before. "Blown off" is a very good description. I couldn't tell where my interference was coming from, but it was obliterating half the TV band. The FCC told me, in no uncertain terms, that I had to get the station being interfered with to complain, and that complaints from viewers would not be taken.

- Trip

What you described seems rather unusual. I know of people who were on the receiving end of letters from the FCC regarding TV interference complaints. The complainer wasn't licensed.

On March 28, 2012, WMBQ-CD New York, UHF Channel 46, has began actual transmissions for the first time under its new ownership, Prime Time Partners LLC.

Presently, the primary channel 46-1 known as WMBQ 1 is carrying an Hispanic station which has been airing infomercials in English and Spanish. Two PSAs and Station ID airs at the top of each half hour.

As of the time of this posting, this editor is uncertain whether this is an Hispanic TV network or independent programming. It can be confirmed that this is not Azteca America or Estrella TV.

Subchannels 46-2, 46-3, and 46-4 are each airing an EBR Test Pattern without Audio. A horizontal solid black bar runs through the middle of the screen. White dot-matrix style text sits inside the bar which reads "WMBQ-CD NEW YORK"

WMBQ-CD first came on the air for about a day in either November or December 2011 in a testing phase. During that incarnation, only one stream was transmitted over Channel 46-1. It was an SMPTE Test Pattern without audio. A thicker horizontal solid black bar ran through the middle of the screen. White dot-matrix style text sat inside that bar which read "WMBQ-CD NEW YORK". The aspect ratio was dynamic yet the program was shown in Stretch-o-Vision (Squeeze would return the image to a conventional 3:4 aspect ratio). No channel name information was available.

This editor experienced considerable reception difficulties during this initial testing phase. Conversely, reception is presently significantly better, albeit not without occasional dropouts.

Technical Specs:

WMBQ-CD New York presently transmits four subchannels. Each of them are SD with a 3:4 static aspect-ratio. Language is English. PSIP TVCT displays the channel name as WMBQ # (The # corresponds to each subchannel; eg. "WMBQ 1"). Time is accurate. Program guide information is non-specific.

See other WMBQ-CD related topics:

WMBQ-CA New York Sold for $5,250,000