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Hi newbie here with older C4 system


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I bought a house with C4, some glitches, as somehow the tech cannot assign the control box to my name due to old software etc, but in general, it works as it should and well enough for us.

However, I have one TV, the one we use the most, that if there is a power fluctuation, light switch, lightning, microwave or TV, the TV stays on, but the feed goes black for a moment.  I think it is related to the IR sensor, comes back quickly each time.

I swapped the IR to CAT 5 adapter from another one in the house, no difference at all.  I can literally flip a light switch on or off, and the TV goes black and comes right back.  TV stays on at all times, seems to be the feed.

Any recommendations?  Thanks in advance

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If the power to the TV is staying on, it sounds like electrical interference to some section of the low voltage wiring. What kind of source is connected to the TV (satellite, apple tv, etc) and where is it located in relation to the tv (av closet, or at the tv)? 

Are there other sources connected to the TV that react the same way?

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The source is generally Roku, through the C4 system, butwe also have an Apple TV source and a central DVD,  but I haven't tried it to see.  I'd be surprised if it was the box as the other rooms don't blank out ever, and this one is concistent with every switch or bag of popcorn in the microwave.  There are no other sources hooked to the TV

I'll go try now and see if it does it on other C4 sources

 

 

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Follow up, tried the Roku, Apple TV, and even the DVD, all go black with a light switch flick and come back in a second or so.  Power remains on for the TV, just seems to be interface to the TV itself.

Just to be clear, I am not very knowledgeable but catch up quick.  Looks to be that the house has Cat 5 cable, feeding each TV from the C4 system, at each TV, there is a box that converts the signal to HDMI and has an IR sensor that seems to enable the C4 remote.

That CAT 5 to HDMI with IR, is what I swapped from TV to TV with no change.  I have also adjusted sensitivity on that adapter.  Not really sure what to do next, doesn't seem to be related to the circuit I switch either, can be when microwave goes on, light switches, etc.  all on different circuits

Thanks in advance for any advice

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Sounds like it could be an issue with interference on the cat5 cable feeding that particular extender. Do you have an extra cat5 cable terminated behind the TV that you can connect the box to (and connect the other matching end of that cable where your c4 gear is)?

You could also try swapping the HDMI cable from the extender to the TV and the HDMI cable on the far end just to eliminate those as potential issues but this sounds more like an issue with the specific cat5 cable feeding that tv's extender. 

 

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I am not sure of this is helpful, but I had a issue recently with my control4 devices acting up: scenes not turning some lights on or off, some keypads not operating the lights at times (very inconsistent).  After a bunch of debugging with my dealer, turns out that it was wifi interference and we had to move the access point to a different room away from the controller.  That seems to have helped.  Is there a wifi router or AP close to that TV?

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Sounds like an electrical issue to me too.  If the HDMI receiver doesn't have a power supply connected to it, it should be receiving power from the rack mounted matrix/equipment.  I would then start looking at the TV power plug.  Try running a long extension cord to another room (not your kitchen, as that seems to be on same phase) and plug your TV back up.  See if the light switch trick gets the TV to blank out again.

If it does blank out, try another outlet in another room.

What this would test is if there's a grounding differential between the electrical phases.  Some older HDBT equipment had a lot of issues with this.

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2 hours ago, RAV said:

Please site a reference.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5faa9c7461fe3e4213e73b4a/t/5fc38a9d2dd96f59185ba1c9/1606650574234/RevA3_HEX70CS-KIT_User_Manual.pdf << if you check the Blustream Manual for instance, they recommend B. 

 

 I used to think it didn't matter, but technically, because of the different rates of twists on the cable, it technically means some pairs are theoretically longer than the others. In my experience, it does make a difference in some cases  

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19 hours ago, RAV said:

Please site a reference.

Real life for one. Many times.

As quoted by Andrew above, same for the LU switches at the time, every single Atlona even predating hdbaset had B as recommended if not required and SNAP/Binary has it in their best practices - avqailable with a simple google search.

 

In RL, it seems to mainly matter with PoC types - we've retro'd "regular" ones in the past just fine, now we simply re-terminate to B ALWAYS for video f

 

Whether it's interference of the power feed, or some other specific attenuation I can't say - but it sure is an easy enough thing to check when you're having issues, if nothing else.

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20 hours ago, Andrew luecke said:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5faa9c7461fe3e4213e73b4a/t/5fc38a9d2dd96f59185ba1c9/1606650574234/RevA3_HEX70CS-KIT_User_Manual.pdf << if you check the Blustream Manual for instance, they recommend B. 

 

 I used to think it didn't matter, but technically, because of the different rates of twists on the cable, it technically means some pairs are theoretically longer than the others. In my experience, it does make a difference in some cases  

By the way, I should mention that this is a theory of why the cable type can affect the signal. Definitely interested to find out if it's the correct reason

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HDBT chips rely on a particular twist rate on the cables (aka skew).  The chips are all tested using 568B termination.  At least this is what I was told.

Ive tried running HDBT over no-skew CAT5E cable that was used for older VGA distribution.  In this type of cable, all pairs have the same twist rate. Although power and link lights were operable/correct, we were never able to get video to show up.  Hence my dive into the why. 

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4 hours ago, lippavisual said:

HDBT chips rely on a particular twist rate on the cables (aka skew).

I've heard that theory as well, problem is that the twist rates on cat5 and 6 are different - nor is there really a 'standard' on the twist rate as such. So it falls a little short in my book.

 

Reality is, "B" has on several occasions worked when "A" didn't - no matter how well the cable/termination tested (and we're true pro testing equipment here, not basic testers). In the end, I'll just do what works 😄

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16 hours ago, SpencerT said:

Here is a white paper (and controlled test) that Panduit put together on cabling for HDBaseT. Covers a lot of what is discussed in this thread.

https://www.panduit.com/content/dam/panduit/en/solutions/solution-pdf/NI-ENT-Cabling_HDBTApplications_CPAT80-WW-ENG.pdf

Nice. Thanks.

TLDR
Skew and EMI greatly affect HDbaseT as frequency, bandwidth and distance each increase.
Foil Twisted Pair is better than single foil.
While shielded 5e does well, it's limited in frequency (thus bandwidth and distance), and is already maximized.
Cat6 is only marginally better than 5e.
Recommendation 6a U/FTP

They do not specifically address 568A vs 568B, but as skew is a major factor, B seems a better choice, although cable brands choose their own twist rates so it could vary.
(Skew is signal delay between pairs, some pairs being more tightly twisted, thus a longer length than another pair)

 

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