AM Radio Station over home phone after HR20-100 install

[jasonh]

Hey, I'm obviously new to the forum. I just got my HR20-100 this week and the first thing I noticed after the installer left was that I can now hear an AM radio station on my home phone during conversations while the HR20-100 is plugged into my home phone as well. I have DSL and there is a line filter on the line going into the DVR. When the phone line is unplugged the AM station is no longer present in the phone. My home is new and prewired with all CAT-5 cables to all rooms for phone and internet.

This was not an issue with my R10 that was hooked up the same way ON THE SAME DISH. Has anyone experienced this problem? Any fixes? For now I have the phone unplugged from the DVR, but the caller ID was a nice feature to have.

The only abnormal thing about the install I have noticed is that the installer did not ground the dish to my copper plumbing but is was that way with the R10 as well without any problems. The fuse box is about 80 feet away on the other side of the house so that was out of the question for grounding. I assumed he did not ground it because it's only about 8 feet up the side of the house and not likely to get a lighting strike. An installer is coming out on Friday to troubleshoot, should I ask him to ground the dish?

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks, Jason

[armophob]

this is a common trouble with phone lines that are aerial in nature. The box via the dish may have added to this trouble. You need a line filter that is designed to block these frequency. It could affect your dsl if placed outside of the house, so I would ask the phone installer/repair to put it after the computer.

[litzdog911]

You don't really need a phone connection with your HR20. You'll only lose Caller ID display and ordering PPV movies with your remote (use DirecTV's web site instead).

[paulman182]

But filters are available for your phone system. I think Radio Shack has them.

[Richard L Bray]

I don't have DSL; but I did hear a local AM station on my phone after connecting the HR20-100. Had same problem with the HR10-250.

Problem solved with Radio Shack Telephone Interference Filter (cat. no. 43-150). I'm sure it cost less than $10 and you plug one side into the HR20 and the other side "accepts" the phone line.

[armophob]

But filters are available for your phone system. I think Radio Shack has them.

It is my experience that the only thing Radio Shack carries these days are cell phones, batteries and remote control cars.

[Earl Bonovich]

This happens to me... even on VoIP....
I get some AM radio in the background.

And it occurs with just one phone connected to it...

[jlancaster]

Its a talk radio conspiracy.

[veryoldschool]

try using a shorter phone cord.

[armophob]

The fm/am frequencies are present on a great majority of the phone lines out there. Just when you go off hook and get the talk battery, it drowns it out. Some signals are so strong they continue to be heard. It all goes back to our proper grounding issue threads. Not much the end user can do but get a r/c filter attached to the line.

I had one guy that could listen to his favorite station on his fax machine speaker phone when he wasn't using it.

[n3ntj]

Hey, I'm obviously new to the forum. I just got my HR20-100 this week and the first thing I noticed after the installer left was that I can now hear an AM radio station on my home phone during conversations while the HR20-100 is plugged into my home phone as well. I have DSL and there is a line filter on the line going into the DVR. When the phone line is unplugged the AM station is no longer present in the phone. My home is new and prewired with all CAT-5 cables to all rooms for phone and internet.

This was not an issue with my R10 that was hooked up the same way ON THE SAME DISH. Has anyone experienced this problem? Any fixes? For now I have the phone unplugged from the DVR, but the caller ID was a nice feature to have.

The only abnormal thing about the install I have noticed is that the installer did not ground the dish to my copper plumbing but is was that way with the R10 as well without any problems. The fuse box is about 80 feet away on the other side of the house so that was out of the question for grounding. I assumed he did not ground it because it's only about 8 feet up the side of the house and not likely to get a lighting strike. An installer is coming out on Friday to troubleshoot, should I ask him to ground the dish?

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks, Jason

What freq is the radon station on? How close is the station's transmitter to your location? It appears the wiring in your system may be acting as an antenna.

[Chuck584]

Hey, I'm obviously new to the forum. I just got my HR20-100 this week and the first thing I noticed after the installer left was that I can now hear an AM radio station on my home phone during conversations while the HR20-100 is plugged into my home phone as well. I have DSL and there is a line filter on the line going into the DVR. When the phone line is unplugged the AM station is no longer present in the phone. My home is new and prewired with all CAT-5 cables to all rooms for phone and internet.

This was not an issue with my R10 that was hooked up the same way ON THE SAME DISH. Has anyone experienced this problem? Any fixes? For now I have the phone unplugged from the DVR, but the caller ID was a nice feature to have.

The only abnormal thing about the install I have noticed is that the installer did not ground the dish to my copper plumbing but is was that way with the R10 as well without any problems. The fuse box is about 80 feet away on the other side of the house so that was out of the question for grounding. I assumed he did not ground it because it's only about 8 feet up the side of the house and not likely to get a lighting strike. An installer is coming out on Friday to troubleshoot, should I ask him to ground the dish?

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks, Jason

Head down to Radio Shack. They have two different kinds of chokes available:
273-104 Snap-Together Toroid Choke Core-2-Pack
273-105 Snap-Together Ferrite Choke Core

The 104 is good for use with phone lines
The 105 can be snapped over other cable

Grounding is important, even if the dish isn't the highest point around the house. A nearby strike can cause damage.

I also strongly urge my friends to invest in an UPS for the DVR. With DVRs I use "Automatic Voltage Regulating" models, which almost always include RF filtering on all three wires of the AC mains.

If that's too much money, a good surge protecter with "three mode" protection (all three circuit branches protected). Some models also include "RF filtering".

If none of the above works well, do you have any friends who are ham (amateur) radio operators? If you know a ham, (s)he may be able to help or point you in the direction of another ham who has experience stomping out this sort of problem.

If you don't know any hams, PM me and I'll contact the techincal services person in your area. They may be able to help or know someone who can.