Hi all,

I have a virgin media box connected to the decorder scart at the back of the avant rf vcr.

when i play a dvd using my dvd1 (connected to AV scart) i can hear that current channel of the virgin box everso slightly, but its getting annoying. its very very low in volume but really bothers me. Can anyone advise what im going wrong? I bought the scarts from my b&o dealer.

 Tim

Tim,

When you play your DVD on the DVD1 is the Virgin Media box in Standby ?

Based on what you have said it sounds like pickup between SCART cables. Are you sure both SCART cables are the screened type ?

The fact that you purchased the SCART cables from your B&O dealer does not mean they are teh fully screened version.

Hi Keith,

The VM Box is on im afraid.

Ill email my dealer about the cables. They are really thick so i would expect that they isolate everything, should i asked if they are "screened"?

Why is the Virgin Media box on ? Is it because you don't have it controlled by the STB controller ?

I do...

The thing is that i can change any chanel etc etc etc... but it wont switch on when i press SAT on my remote and from the looks of it, wont switch off when i press DVD.

However, it will switch off when i press the power-off button (bottom-right).

A scart cable is a two way cable, so the sound you hear is properly send from the avant to DVD1. Because the cable at some time has bin bended to mush. First thing is to swish the cable between DVD and SAT and see if helps.

Thanks. i asked my dealer and he said that he sold me screened ones.

he said that its worth making sure that they are not close to each other, but thats impossible because they are very thick, and both from the b&o cabinet to the tv. what i did do is disconnect one cable from the avant and it stopped. also, if i switch off the dvd1 manually, after selecting DVD from the remote, i can still hear it.

i think it has somehting to do with the cables connectors being very close to each other at the back of the avant, but i cant understand why it does?!

 

As you have fully screened SCART cables that's good, however if the cables are very close, then that screen can act as an aerial because it is signal ground and not "earth" ground.

On way of proving this point is to get a piece of wire and connect one end to mains earth and connect the other end to the screen of the aerial plug which is electrically connected to the SCART screen, if the problem goes away then its pickup via the screens.

Thanks for your timeless help Keith.

Surely this is all very dramatic? Am I the only person that has expirienced this? I'm sure that this didnt happen with the older cables I had. 

With the latest STB-C is the VMbox supposed to switch off when i press DVD?

Tim

Tim,

You are certainly not the only person to get interference problems with cables, even screened cables.

The real problem in todays world when connecting different manufacturers products relates to standard of that product particularly where screening and earthing are concerned. The symptoms can be very different, but the causes are remarkable common. Believe it or not in some situations screening can actually be a problem particular where you have RF interference because the screen acts as an aerial unless connected to a real "Earth"

With regards to the STB-C, it does NOT switch off the VM box when you press DVD, it ONLY switches off when you press the off button of the Beo4.

I see. Ill try all the other scart cables i have and see if i still get this problem.

its funny how the best equipment can be let down by a cable!

Thanks again, wish me luck!

I have the same problem, only I don't have an external DVD player.

I can hear the voices from the sat (STB) when watching DVD if I don't turn the whole system off before starting the DVD player.

My dealer didn't have any knowledge about this.

It is like this in the Avant in the living room, as well as two link TVs.

In my case it can't be the scart cable?

Its not looking good is it...

My dealer has offered me to borrow a double-screened cables, which ill take up his offer. I can't believe this is happening really, its too elementary for the "best CRT in the world".

 

Clearly you should try the double screened version offered by your dealer, but I would also suggest doing my previous suggestion of putting a wire between the aerial input screen by just wrapping a wire around the outside casing of the aerial plug and mains earth.

I have heard of this before, it doesn't happen on my Avant but did on a freinds BV5.  It was explained to us that it was audio bleed through from (in his case) the Sky+ box he was using.

There were at the time 3 options, set the STB to switch off when not in use,remove the appropriate pins from the scart plug at the Sky box end (I can't remember which ones) or change the Sky box.  At the time he chose to switch the STB off but when he did change the Sky box many months later the problem dissapeared.

Why this would occur in some boxes and not others I have no idea but it seemed to be the route of the problem.

It could happen with some STB's and not others for many reasons, but one common one is all or part of the outer case is plastic rather than metal. From an electronics design engineers viewpoint it is one of the biggest headaches when designing a product.

A possible cause of this low level interference is the sound and/or picture being sent down the scart cable from the TV

Because some scart sockets are in/out they can still output picture and sound signals down a cable that you are using as an input only cable, for a dvd or stb( historically this was used for 2nd VCR's )  even though it actually goes nowwhere, and effectively "stops" at the player- but you are hearing/seeing cross talk.  Mainly an issue on long runs, but can occur on any cables, in our experience.

The (possible) solution is to locate the offending pins and remove them ( or snip the wires in the plug body ) - at the TV end - so they dont travel down the scart cable, parallel to the incoming signal that your using. 

Not got the info to hand - but scarts are industry standard configurations - you're looking for L&R audio out primarily - but snip any picture cables as well, whilst your at it - this will, in effect, give you a "one-way" cable. 

good luck.

 

Thanks to everyone for their support. Really hate to believe that its this drastic for top equipment...i could swear that other scart cables are ok... ill try them now and see!

Hi, just got the double-screend cables in and its the exact same problem.

Now, if i press TV, then press DVD, i can hear that TV. clearly theres something funny going on with the TV and/or its connectors.

My b&o dealer said that i might need to pay the difference for a new chassis.

Ill need to try keith's solution, keith, any cable in particular from the antenna to the earth (socket)?

If you take the cable out on the back of your TV is the sound there still? if not the TV is OK!

its ok... fewww :) its just when the cables are in. this is so confusing,

Any piece of cable will do for the wire link between the aerial plug screen and earth. At this stage we are just trying to prove the cause of the problem. If the problem goes away then the problem area will have been narrowed down.

Ok then take your old cable, and the plug at the TV end you cut the wire for pin 1 and 3 then your problem is solved.

so cut the cable or break the pins?

It's best to cut, open the plug there you also can see the pin numbers