We live in a two story three year old house. About a week ago, strange things started happening electrically. When we walk in certain areas of the house, the TV in the kitchen gets all static and the radio station in the stereo in the livingroom gets louder and softer depending on where we walk. These two rooms are connected to each other, but on the second floor the same problem is happening to a radio that we have in a bathroom. When you walk toward it, the sound gets louder, but as you walk away in dims. Are we just magnetic people or can anyone out there explain what's happened to our home? I am hoping there is an easy fix before I call an electrician and fork out alot of money. Thanks

IF your tv is getting channels from UHF or VHF instead of from a cable line, AND your music is coming from radio stations, then that might explain it.

the reason that it may have started happening recently could be because of something constructed nearby your home that is blocking the signals, so the signal strength may be affected, and you walking by the tv or radio, further degrades the signal, making it weaker, and the sound softer, or the waves bounce off of you and make the signal stronger, and louder.

Sookee: I think Bibc14 is on the right path here. A person can indeed effect reception of radio and TV broadcast signal. You mention that you have lived in this house for a while and this has just started happening. Something has changed around you, that is to say someone has either built a structure or the station(s) may have reoriented their broadcast antennae. Both radio and TV signal is line of sight, meaning that the signal travels in a straight line until it contacts something like a building or terrain. At this point the signal will bounce creating a secondary signal that will follow the primary signal by a millisecond or two. This is what causes ghosting on a TV screen. Something else you may try. Cruise around your neighborhood and see if you see any houses with an amateur radio antenna sticking from the roof. HAM radio operators can cause all kinds of reception problems with nearby houses. Another consideration, check the voltage supply in your house. You, or perhaps an electrician, check and make certain the line voltage is a good steady 120 volts. Low voltage can cause performance problems in TV and radio.
Don't fret about your house per se, I really don't think there is anything wrong with the house itself, rather something nearby.

sookee:

I have to agree with Bibc14 and sae501 that it's probably not your house.

On the off chance there's a problem with the house, try the following.

Plug a low wattage table lamp (Maybe around 50 watt) into the receptical where the radio that was giving you problems was plugged in.

Now plug a high amp draw appliance (like a clothing iron) into the same receptical.

Now turn on the light & note the brillience, next turn on the iron
and note if the light gets much dimmer. If it gets real dim
let us know, as this indicates a problem somewhere in the house wiring.

Regards
Byter

I guess I should have been a little more specific. Our TV is on Satellite. I don't know if this makes a difference or not.

Sookie:

(1). Your interference on the radio is obviously happening because you have something in the
line-of-sight interfering with the radio reception. Also reflections from different objects will cause this.

(2) In regards to the Satelite signal, the only thing that would interfere with this signal is trees blocking the direct line-of sight. Also any new building that has been built recently and is tall enough might interfere with the direct line of sight of the satelite signal. Highly unlikely, but possible.

(3) What Byter is trying to tell you is that you may have a lower than normal voltage feeding the house due to any number of reasons, Reduced voltage will cause all sorts of problems, one of them being signal reduction, due to low amplification.

[This message was edited by donaldekliros on 08-06-02 at 06:07 PM.]