Dog shutting off the tv with magical dog powers? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

How certain are you that the dog didn't eat a TV remote?

 

[Parker Clack]

Have you tried covering the IR window on the TV with something like black tape, have the dog walk in front of the TV and see if it turns off/on?

 

[KeithAP]

I had a similarly odd problem with my dog. Whenever I was watching a DVD and the dog walked by the TV, the movie would freeze. It was weird. After a little detective work I discovered the problem. The dog was stepping on paws. http://instantrimshot.com/

-KeithP

 

[Jay H]

Originally Posted by Keith Plucker http://instantrimshot.com/

-KeithP

HAHAHAHAHA good one!

 

[Cees Alons]

Perhaps it's the other way around. Those plasmas apparently have problems, given what you found on the 'net. Perhaps just before they are going to shut off, they're emitting some sort of high frequency sound, making her dog restless and approaching the TV.


Cees

 

[Marianne]

Something like this?

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Cees Alons

Perhaps it's the other way around. Those plasmas apparently have problems, given what you found on the 'net. Perhaps just before they are going to shut off, they're emitting some sort of high frequency sound, making her dog restless and approaching the TV.

"Next on 60 Minutes: Malfunctioning TVs calling dogs to 'come.'"

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Keith Plucker It took me a while to get that!

Cees, I think you're on to something. If we are ever overrun by dogs and need to create a dog zapper, we can build it around a defective plasma TV.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I have lived by the interstate my entire life. When I was a kid, we would occasionally experience the tv turning off or on and changing channels. I'm guessing it was cb radio interference causing it.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Maybe Tim's dog has had one of those ID chips inserted under it's skin which interferes with the IR receptor on the TV.

Or, maybe it's got a ham radio system set up in the basement...

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Maybe Tim's dog has had one of those ID chips inserted under it's skin which interferes with the IR receptor on the TV.

The pet chips don't use IR, they use radio frequency. And they don't broadcast, having no power source. Pet RFID chips are passive - they don't do anything until a scanner is in close enough proximity to them to induce a current. They don't "broacast" until powered by the scanner and then only over very short distances, really just enough to be picked up by the scanner itself.

When I was a kid, we would occasionally experience the tv turning off or on and changing channels. I'm guessing it was cb radio interference causing it.

Yeah, early TV remotes used RF and were prone to interference from things like police and truck radios. (The first commercial TV remotes were actually sonic. They worked mechanically by a hammer striking a kind of "tuning fork" bar and emitting an ultrasonic pulse when you pressed a button. There was one bar for each of the four or five functions the remote could handle. I've seen TVs that used those remotes turn off or change channels because someone in the room whistled, tapped a crystal glass with a fingernail or dropped a metal tray on the floor. So I could see a dog playing all sorts of havoc with one of those. )


Regards,

Joe

 

[Mike Frezon]

Yup. I didn't really think an ID chip would really impact the TV, Joe. And I doubt the dog has a ham radio set-up in the basement...although anything's possible...

 

[Greg_S_H]

Maybe the dog ate some of your sister's fruitcake.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Greg_S_H /forum/thread/297693/dog-shutting-off-the-tv-with-magical-dog-powers/30#post_3658350

 

[BrettV]

Is she in an apartment? Or, are their any neighbors really close by? Perhaps someone close has the same tv and you're suffering from the Mr. Rogers phenomenon, as made popular by Poltergeist.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

So is the fluffy dog, static electricity theory done and gone?

 

[Tim Kline]

Hey folks. We did some testing this weekend and have both concluded that this problem isn't caused by a magical dog, but it is caused by static.

The dog is a big puff ball of static and when she walks by the TV, it powers off and back on again. Sometimes the image on the tv will just flicker a bit looking like snow on an old tv. Most of the time it shuts off and on. My girlfriend was standing in front of her TV folding a blanket that was very staticy, and the same thing happened. It just seems like any kind of static electricity near the TV will do it. We haven't tried covering up the IR thingy on the TV but I don't think she'll want to do that because it might leave a mark

We haven't tested it with the dvd player on, but it happens when watching TV. it's a Comcast DVR cable box. It does it when we're watching a DVRed program or a current broadcast, but for some reason when the DVR is paused, we can't get the tv to shut off, only when something is playing. It will flicker when paused, but not shut off and on.

Could it be something that's not IR related at all but maybe a bad power cable or something, and the static effects the electric current coming from the wall? Also when I was researching building my HT a while back I read it's bad to have power cables near video cables in the walls because of interference. Is that true? could that be adding to the problem? The cables are all just laying around on the floor behind the tv.

 

[Bryan X]

Dip the dog in Silica. Silica absorbs static electricity.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Maybe an anti-static mat in front of the TV then and your problems will be solved.