Nothing technical in this national newspaper article, anyone been there
before ? poor/absent Hamming codes ? mains wiring interference, not IR ?
(hallway lamp ref in the full article)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010...tbulbs-virgin-
media

The strange case of the energy-saving lightbulbs and Virgin Media

Got a Virgin set-top box with a mind of its own? And energy-saving
lightbulbs? Then you might find there is a surprising connection


o Graham Snowdon
o The Guardian, Saturday 10 April 2010


Emma Clements was advised to switch bulbs when her TV kept changing
channels.
If your television or cable equipment seems to have a life of its own, why
not get rid of your lightbulbs? It might sound like a joke, but that's the
advice Virgin Media gave to Emma and Alistair Clements when their cable TV
receiver started behaving oddly.

.... continued ...


--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://diverse.4mg.com/index.htm

Had a similar problem with a dish network box about 2-3 years ago. The CFL
was in a floor lamp line-of-sight about eight feet in front of the box.
Pressing a key on the remote would yield unexpected results. After several
days we correlated the problems with the light (which wasn't used all the
time). I suspect the CFL emitted significant IR which confused the receiver
in the box.

Ca****cher

"N_Cook" wrote in message
...
Nothing technical in this national newspaper article, anyone been there
before ? poor/absent Hamming codes ? mains wiring interference, not IR ?
(hallway lamp ref in the full article)

On Apr 10, 8:45*am, "Ca****cher" wrote:
Had a similar problem with a dish network box about 2-3 years ago. *The CFL
was in a floor lamp line-of-sight about eight feet in front of the box.
Pressing a key on the remote would yield unexpected results. *After several
days we correlated the problems with the light (which wasn't used all the
time). *I suspect the CFL emitted significant IR which confused the receiver
in the box.

Ca****cher

"N_Cook" wrote in message

...



Nothing technical in this national newspaper article, anyone been there
before ? poor/absent Hamming codes ? mains wiring interference, not IR ?
(hallway lamp ref in the full article)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

it is a well known problem ( to some of us anyway ) that CFLs produce
massive amounts of IR radiation interference and will create havoc on
some remote controls. For some reason not all remotes are affected.
This is one of the prices we pay for cheaper lamps.

It is well-known that CFLs produce
massive amounts of IR radiation..

Many fluorescent lamps do.

I had this problem some years ago with a Sony 8mm VCR.

The reason this problem isn't common is because remote-control receivers
recognize /specific/ pulse sequences, unique for each manufacturer and
product. The probability that a particular fluorescent lamp will emit random
IR bursts that match a particular code is small.

"Ca****cher"

Had a similar problem with a dish network box about 2-3 years ago. The
CFL was in a floor lamp line-of-sight about eight feet in front of the
box. Pressing a key on the remote would yield unexpected results. After
several days we correlated the problems with the light (which wasn't used
all the time). I suspect the CFL emitted significant IR which confused
the receiver in the box.


** Ordinary incandescent lamps emit lots of infra-red energy and have no
such effect - cos the IR is not modulated like the light coming from the
LED in a remote.

So, what is different about CFLs ?

Well, the internal inverter circuit operates at around 40kHz, so that must
be the culprit.

But I see no way a CFL can generate MODULATED infra-red light - certainly
the tiny filaments will not do it and the phosphors have little IR output
and enough persistence to eliminate light modulation at such a high
frequency.

However, the high voltage, high frequency drive to the fluoro tubes IS
radiated for several metres and can be picked up by sensitive electronic
devices. Just wave a scope probe near one and you will see what I mean.

The photodiode amplifier circuit in an IR receiver is very sensitive,
operating down to the microvolt level, so it must be possible for a CFL
radiating the same operating frequency to interfere with them.



..... Phil

On 4/10/2010 10:23 PM Phil Allison spake thus:

"Ca****cher"

Had a similar problem with a dish network box about 2-3 years ago. The
CFL was in a floor lamp line-of-sight about eight feet in front of the
box. Pressing a key on the remote would yield unexpected results. After
several days we correlated the problems with the light (which wasn't used
all the time). I suspect the CFL emitted significant IR which confused
the receiver in the box.

** Ordinary incandescent lamps emit lots of infra-red energy and have no
such effect - cos the IR is not modulated like the light coming from the
LED in a remote.

So, what is different about CFLs ?

Well, the internal inverter circuit operates at around 40kHz, so that must
be the culprit.

But I see no way a CFL can generate MODULATED infra-red light - certainly
the tiny filaments will not do it and the phosphors have little IR output
and enough persistence to eliminate light modulation at such a high
frequency.

However, the high voltage, high frequency drive to the fluoro tubes IS
radiated for several metres and can be picked up by sensitive electronic
devices. Just wave a scope probe near one and you will see what I mean.

The photodiode amplifier circuit in an IR receiver is very sensitive,
operating down to the microvolt level, so it must be possible for a CFL
radiating the same operating frequency to interfere with them.

Yes.

Apparently, when you're on your meds it's hard to disagree with you.


--
The fashion in killing has an insouciant, flirty style this spring,
with the flaunting of well-defined muscle, wrapped in flags.

- Comment from an article on Antiwar.com (http://antiwar.com)

David Nebenzahl wrote in message
.com...
On 4/10/2010 10:23 PM Phil Allison spake thus:

"Ca****cher"

Had a similar problem with a dish network box about 2-3 years ago. The
CFL was in a floor lamp line-of-sight about eight feet in front of the
box. Pressing a key on the remote would yield unexpected results.
After
several days we correlated the problems with the light (which wasn't
used
all the time). I suspect the CFL emitted significant IR which confused
the receiver in the box.

** Ordinary incandescent lamps emit lots of infra-red energy and have
no
such effect - cos the IR is not modulated like the light coming from
the
LED in a remote.

So, what is different about CFLs ?

Well, the internal inverter circuit operates at around 40kHz, so that
must
be the culprit.

But I see no way a CFL can generate MODULATED infra-red light -
certainly
the tiny filaments will not do it and the phosphors have little IR
output
and enough persistence to eliminate light modulation at such a high
frequency.

However, the high voltage, high frequency drive to the fluoro tubes IS
radiated for several metres and can be picked up by sensitive electronic
devices. Just wave a scope probe near one and you will see what I mean.

The photodiode amplifier circuit in an IR receiver is very sensitive,
operating down to the microvolt level, so it must be possible for a CFL
radiating the same operating frequency to interfere with them.

Yes.

Apparently, when you're on your meds it's hard to disagree with you.


--
The fashion in killing has an insouciant, flirty style this spring,
with the flaunting of well-defined muscle, wrapped in flags.

- Comment from an article on Antiwar.com (http://antiwar.com)


Next time I'm faced with some kit with missing IR R/C and the "universal"
ones don't work I will have to try a CFL near it and see what happens.
Monitoring the "datastream " with a scope if there is any effect.
It would seem no one in the thread has tried shielding CFL with IR blocking
plastic and trying , then grounded metal can around the CFL, to establish IR
interference, airborne RFI or mains wiring RFI

--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://diverse.4mg.com/index.htm

"Nutcase Kook"


It would seem no one in the thread has tried shielding CFL with IR
blocking
plastic and trying , then grounded metal can around the CFL, to establish
IR
interference, airborne RFI or mains wiring RFI


** Cos the effect is so rare it is like cases of Man Bites Dog.

One only reads of alleged examples and hears anecdotes on the topic.



..... Phil

I saw this effect once with a conventional fluorescent lamp and a VCR.

My bedroom lamp is a CFL, and it has no effect whatever on the TV or DVD
player.

This is random event.

William Sommerwerck wrote in message
...
I saw this effect once with a conventional fluorescent lamp and a VCR.

My bedroom lamp is a CFL, and it has no effect whatever on the TV or DVD
player.

This is random event.




I've only seen it once with CFL and late 1970s Akai cassette player with IR
remote , so probably very simple coding in those early days

N_Cook wrote in message
...
William Sommerwerck wrote in message
...
I saw this effect once with a conventional fluorescent lamp and a VCR.

My bedroom lamp is a CFL, and it has no effect whatever on the TV or DVD
player.

This is random event.




I've only seen it once with CFL and late 1970s Akai cassette player with
IR
remote , so probably very simple coding in those early days




Aiwa AD 6900, not Akai

sparky wrote:
On Apr 10, 8:45?am, "Ca****cher" wrote:
Had a similar problem with a dish network box about 2-3 years ago. ?The CFL
was in a floor lamp line-of-sight about eight feet in front of the box.
Pressing a key on the remote would yield unexpected results. ?After several
days we correlated the problems with the light (which wasn't used all the
time). ?I suspect the CFL emitted significant IR which confused the receiver
in the box.

Ca****cher

"N_Cook" wrote in message

...



Nothing technical in this national newspaper article, anyone been there
before ? poor/absent Hamming codes ? mains wiring interference, not IR ?
(hallway lamp ref in the full article)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

it is a well known problem ( to some of us anyway ) that CFLs produce
massive amounts of IR radiation interference and will create havoc on
some remote controls. For some reason not all remotes are affected.
This is one of the prices we pay for cheaper lamps.

I was told by a Xerox repair tech that electronic ballast bulbs in offices
can interfere with the sensors along the paper path causing jams
for no apparent reason.