HDMI extender picture/signal issue

[Philip Coles]

Hi all, for several years I have used an hdmi extender/splitter to play recordings in another room over cat6. This has worked really well until recently when having the extender unit switched on instantly causes the signal to drop in and out and the picture to break up. Turning the extender unit off restores the picture quality.
Thinking it was due to a faulty extender unit I tried swapping that but the issue remains the same with the new unit.
Any ideas? Many thanks in advance.
PC

 

[Luke]

I've had similar happen. It was resolved by making sure that CAT cables were always at least an inch a way from any RF cables for their entire lengths.

 

[prpr]

the signal

Which signal?

Guessing, I expect you might have one of those crappy aerial fly-leads made of white string with plastic ends.

 

[Philip Coles]

Which signal?

Guessing, I expect you might have one of those crappy aerial fly-leads made of white string with plastic ends.

I've had similar happen. It was resolved by making sure that CAT cables were always at least an inch a way from any RF cables for their entire lengths.

Thanks, both, for your replies. Yes, the aerial socket is next to the network point (see attached photo). When I remove the cat6 cable from the extender the picture/signal is fine, but as soon as I plug it back in the picture breaks up and freezes again.
Is there any solution?

 

[MartinLiddle]

Is there any solution?

Two thoughts:
Perhaps try a better screened aerial cable eg https://www.aerialsandtv.com/product/coax-2m-quality-fly-lead
Looking at the picture there appears to be a blanking plate in the left hand position of the faceplate; is it feasible to rearrange things to switch the aerial socket and blanking plate to increase separation.

 

[Black Hole]

That aerial patch lead looks very thin, but in general combining outlets in this way (so that there is little separation between a source of interference and an ultra-low voltage signal) is asking for trouble. Domestic RF reception installation materials were never designed for having industrial networking right next to them.

 

[Philip Coles]

Two thoughts:
Perhaps try a better screened aerial cable eg https://www.aerialsandtv.com/product/coax-2m-quality-fly-lead
Looking at the picture there appears to be a blanking plate in the left hand position of the faceplate; is it feasible to rearrange things to switch the aerial socket and blanking plate to increase separation.

Thanks Martin - I’ll see if I can swap those faceplates. And will also try a better screened cable as suggested.

 

[prpr]

Domestic RF reception installation materials were never designed for having industrial networking right next to them.

It's fine if you use proper quality cable and have a decent signal level to start with (if not, then you need to fix that first).
Mine is a huge intermix of various bits and bobs and I never have any problems because I use the right stuff.
Black string with plastic ends is just as bad as the white string.

 

[Black Hole]

It's fine if you use proper quality cable and have a decent signal level to start with

As it happens, yes – if you do it right, preferably from the outset. Your typical pre-DSO domestic installation won't be using RG6 though!

 

[prpr]

I only use WF100 (or equivalent).

 

[MikeSh]

I have a couple of feet of plastic trunking from the shelf with all the boxes and stuff to the TV, with power, cat5 and 4 HDMI cables in it.
The TV has never had a problem with it AFAIK.

 

[Philip Coles]

Thanks Martin - I’ll see if I can swap those faceplates. And will also try a better screened cable as suggested.

So I popped out the blank plate and moved the aerial socket across - sadly made no difference.
Next I tried actually pulling the aerial socket and cable out of the faceplate (the electrician luckily had left some slack - and the whole thing is hidden in a cupboard anyway). That appears to have done the trick - picture and sound is stable with the extender turned on . (I’ve also ordered a better aerial cable as well - belt and braces).
So thanks everyone for your advice.
What I don’t understand is why this has only recently started happening, after several years of pain-free use .

 

[MartinLiddle]

So I popped out the blank plate and moved the aerial socket across - sadly made no difference.
Next I tried actually pulling the aerial socket and cable out of the faceplate (the electrician luckily had left some slack - and the whole thing is hidden in a cupboard anyway). That appears to have done the trick - picture and sound is stable with the extender turned on . (I’ve also ordered a better aerial cable as well - belt and braces).

Good.

What I don’t understand is why this has only recently started happening, after several years of pain-free use .

Sounds like a bad joint or kinked cable somewhere; I am always very suspicious of cabling.

 

[Black Hole]

Sounds like a bad joint or kinked cable somewhere

Agreed.

What I don’t understand is why this has only recently started happening, after several years of pain-free use

Something under stress finally let go. Eg oxidation or other corrosion occurs, particularly in cable exposed to weather.

 

[prpr]

pulling the aerial socket and cable out of the faceplate (the electrician luckily had left some slack

Electricians treat RF cable the same way they treat mains cable. They don't care about kinks or bends (minimum bend radius etc.), nor about terminating the ends properly.
They have also been known to wire up distributions systems either in a star (and not using a DA, but just by connecting all the inners and outers together somewhere) or in a ring-main daisy-chain style arrangement. Needless to say, neither will work properly.
God knows what horror they've inflicted on you.

 

[Philip Coles]

Electricians treat RF cable the same way they treat mains cable. They don't care about kinks or bends (minimum bend radius etc.), nor about terminating the ends properly.
They have also been known to wire up distributions systems either in a star (and not using a DA, but just by connecting all the inners and outers together somewhere) or in a ring-main daisy-chain style arrangement. Needless to say, neither will work properly.
God knows what horror they've inflicted on you.

 

[EEPhil]

They don't care about kinks or bends (minimum bend radius etc.), nor about terminating the ends properly.
They have also been known to wire up distributions systems either in a star (and not using a DA, but just by connecting all the inners and outers together somewhere) or in a ring-main daisy-chain style arrangement.

What a recipe for disaster. Dodgy terminations and fudged connections - don't fancy doing the maths to find the frequency response of the system! I wouldn't let anyone allegedly competent with the IET wiring regs anywhere near aerial distributions.