EMI Shielding film for Hauppauge DVB-T tuners

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › EMI Shielding film for Hauppauge DVB-T tuners

KiwiTim

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#119415 31-May-2013 10:04

I own a HVR-3000 and a WinTV Nova TD 500. Both seem to suffer from electromagnetic interference within my HTPC case ( a cheap and nasty case with a cheap and nasty Foxconn mATX board) . In a larger standard PC case they both work fine. I would like to make an EMI shield for both of them, but the DIY jobs that I've seen on YouTube, usually made from some combination of aluminum foil, plastic and cardboard, look like they would seriously interfere with heat flow and dissipation.

Does anybody know of a source of EMI shielding film that would be suitable for my application above?

Many thanks,

Tim
Kapiti

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#828893 31-May-2013 16:42

What exactly are the symptoms?
Are you using shielded cable ?
Maybe you could try a torroidal Tx

KiwiTim

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#829117 1-Jun-2013 09:12

The symptoms are transient pixelation on certain channels. This is nothing to do with the aerial orientation. I have tested this extensively. If I remove the tuners from my media centre case and install them on a different computer the pixelation disappears. I'm using RG6 cable, which works perfectly with the TV and other PC tuners. I am fairly certain it is EMI causing the problem. The issue is nothing to do with codecs, graphics card, or lack of CPU power. After extensive testing I know the issue is definitely electromagnetic interference. A lot of people with Hauppauge DVB-T tuners have had the same problem.

It seems it does not pay to cram them into a small micro ATX board, in a small case. They do much better with plenty of space between themselves and other components, hence them working perfectly well in my ATX PC, which had considerably inferior graphics and CPU. On that PC they were connected to the same aerial using the same RG6 cable, but had no pixelation.

KiwiTim

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#829120 1-Jun-2013 09:19

By the way, what is a toroidal tx. I actually have a toroidal satellite dish, which is something else entirely. Googling did not clarify the mystery. Can you post a link to what you mean by a toroidal tx.

Thanks,
Tim

dickytim

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#829172 1-Jun-2013 13:35

I am interested in this thread as I get interference when my wireless card is on.

Brunzy

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#829536 2-Jun-2013 10:44

They are more of a filter for RFI , which you can pass your input / mains cable through to try & eliminate
said interference , but if you are certain that it is internally generated then may not be what you are looking for

Nety

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#829591 2-Jun-2013 12:35

Do you have the option to move the cards around? I did have issues similar to this but found that by moving the cards around I could minimise the issue.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

richms

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#829595 2-Jun-2013 12:44

How are you certain its coupling over to the card and not just crap on the power coming from the motherboard?

Richard rich.ms

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KiwiTim

376 posts

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#829613 2-Jun-2013 13:15

Moving a card to a different slot in the motherboard will change the EMI received by the card, so I guess that is why it works for you.

I only have 2 PCI slots, and the EMI affects a TVB-T tuner in either slot.

They are firmly seated in the slots, so I don't think that is a problem. Pretty sure it is EMI produced within the computer case (by other components) that is causing the problem.

Thanks,
Tim

Nety

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#829927 3-Jun-2013 08:42

could you test a different power supply? I could see issues like this being caused by a dodgy power supply and should be reasonably easy to test if you can get your hands on another one to test with.

KiwiTim

376 posts

Ultimate Geek

#830303 4-Jun-2013 08:43

Yes, I should try a new power supply. Trouble is my HTPC case only takes a SFX power supply, the largest you can get in NZ is 450W and those are expensive. I'll have to save for a new HTPC case that will take an ATX sized power supply.

gbwelly

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#830474 4-Jun-2013 13:15

Might be cheaper to just buy a couple of different cards, lots of bargains on trademe. I have ended up using pinnacle, avermedia, asus tiger, hd homerun. I have a HVR-2200, HVR-1700 and TD-500 cards sitting in the drawer.
I wont buy Hauppauge again, I used to recommend them based on past glory like the PVR-150. They just can't build a DVB-T card which works with anything less than a perfect signal. The pinnacle and asus tiger will work with even the most flakey signal.

KiwiTim

376 posts

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#830802 5-Jun-2013 08:38

Can you tell me where you purchased your Asus Tiger and what the model number is?

I can concur with Hauppauge. I'll never buy that brand again. Their support is terrible; their forum do not respond to postings; their official support team do not respond to email requests in any detail other than the most generic responses like " get Windows Updates, then reinstall our latest software", which is what anybody with half a brain would have tried in the first place.

I would like a dual DVB-T tuner if I can get one, either PCI or USB.

Tim

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#831153 5-Jun-2013 17:36

thin cd case stuffed with aluminium foil :)

however different gpu's + codecs handle the pixel corruption better, so it may be that the larger PC is using different codecs or a different gpu.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

KiwiTim

376 posts

Ultimate Geek

#831159 5-Jun-2013 17:50

Using same codecs in DVBViewer, with a considerably inferior GPU in other case. HTPC should way outperform other PC, and it normally does, except with this particular DVB-T device.

I like your DVD Case stuffed with tin foil idea!

kiwijunglist

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#831160 5-Jun-2013 17:53

Yeah just put one on each side of the card right up against it, I don't think you need to worry about tv cards overheating much. Different GPU = different GPU drivers, I know first hand that different GPU drivers can have a huge effect on how signal corruption appear on the screen.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

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