Cannot watch TV with running model A

[bikemaniac]

Hi,

My neighbors told me, that when I start my model A engine, they cannot watch TV anymore. They use a digital TV antenna. As soon as I turn off the engine, everything is OK (or when I drive away of course). Their house is located 20 yards from my Model A. Have you experienced the same?

Lucas

[colin1928]

Try different spark plugs and see if that helps

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

A '32 type dist. cap & RESISTOR plug wires "might" help. In addition to my stock cap, I have a'32 type cap & will put it on, with resistor wire, just because 6 buddies say a Model A WON'T EVEN RUN WITH resistor wires!!! Bets are on, I'll be RICH!
Bill W.

[Mitch//pa]

And this just started happening?
Tell them to get FIOS or a DISH

[FrankWest]

I was told that
Champion Plug Type 3X (429) Copper
Plus Spark Plug, Pack of 1
by Champion
is radio noise reducing
"The product description reads...
Durable: Champion copper plus spark plugs are built to ISO and SAE standards for proven performance; Champion's patented SAC-9 semi-conductor resistor provides maximum EMI and RFI suppression
I purchased because I plan to install an original radio in my car.
Don't know if it is true?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o01_s00

[Keith True]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I have the same thing where I am.I had an old Bobcat with a Wisconsin engine.that would put lines on the TV when it ran.I used that one for over 25 years,then I went to a diesel machine.All my A's do it,my small compressor with an international engine does it,and the pony engine on my big Cat powered air compressor does it.They do have to be fairly close to the house for it to happen.Years ago I looked into different options,they wanted a bunch of money to run cable out to me though.The dish people can't find a clear shot to the sky on my property,and Fios television is not available here.With what little TV we watch here we just do something else when the TV acts up.

[C26Pinelake]

Instead of you changing plugs possibly he can purchase an electronic filter for his system. Wayne

[marc hildebrant]

The Model A was designed before the advent of TV and wide spread Radio. As such, the ignition system produces a large amount of RFI (Radio Frequency Interference).

Radio Amateurs in the ARRL handbooks have extensive sections on how to reduce the ignition noise in cars. You need to do much more than just change spark plugs.

Today's electronic devices are not as tolerant of RFI as they should be, so if it was my situation, I would just not worry.

If you want to "fix" the problem, then you need to study the methods in the ARRL Handbook and be prepared to spend money and time.

Me...it's not my problem. Its your neighbors problem and they need to install better equipment.

Marc

[Henry1953]

Marc +1

It's their problem, not yours.

[bikemaniac]

Of course it is their problem and I will not do anything about it. I was just curious on whether you had same experiences and the causes for that phenomenon :-).

Lucas

[burner31]

I had a similar problem, (neighbors being to close) We moved to the country, now we can barely see our neighbors houses.
Problem solved<<<<

[Henry1953]

Not trying to be a smart a$$. I am a ham operator and RFI can be a problem to deal with. Your problem is just plain old ignition noise. Your neighbors can use filters if necessary.

[mhsprecher]

You should not be watching television while driving your Model A. ;-)

[mshmodela]

I cannot speak what the laws are in your native Denmark with regards to producing RF noise but I cannot imagine any fault can be placed upon you.

[burner31]

Originally Posted by mhsprecher

You should not be watching television while driving your Model A. ;-)

Bur he was watching "My Mother the car"

[burner31]

1928 Porter touring car
September 14, 1965 and April 5, 1966. A total of 30 episodes were produced
Damn, I'm dating myself here.

[burner31]

The 1928 Porter used in My Mother the Car was not a production car. Real Porter cars had existed. The first was a steam automobile (Boston, Massachusetts, 1900–1901). The second car was a powerful luxury car made (Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1919–1922) made from parts left over from production of Finley R Porter’s FRP. By the 1960s, no examples of either remained.

For the TV show, assistant prop man Kaye Trapp leased the producers a 1924 Ford T-tub hot rod he recently bought from his friend and its builder, Norm Grabowski. Both Grabowski and the car had earlier appeared in the B movie comedy Sex Kittens Go to College (1960).

The 1928 Porter touring car sported diamond-tufted naugahyde upholstery, oversized white tonneau cover, plush black carpeting, chrome windshield braces and half-moon hubcaps. Trapp and studio special effects man Norm Breedlove (father of land-speed-record-setter Craig Breedlove) modified the car to give it an elongated engine compartment, palladian-style brass radiator with “Porter” script, a spare tire mounted on the running board, outboard fuel tank and antique cane-clad trunk. (It was later fitted, as needed, with special effects hardware, such as an oil tank drip to simulate a smoking engine and "tear ducts" in the headlamp bezels.) Off-camera operation of electrics was by umbilical cable. The signature features gave it an anachronistic look, resembling cars of earlier eras.

The power train was the rod-grade 283 cu in V8 (Chevrolet small-block) engine mated with Powerglide automatic transmission. The "Porter" was registered (as a modified Ford) in 1964 with the contemporary yellow-on-black California license plates PZR 317 evident throughout the show's run. Though it bore a few design similarities with the FRP Porter, which may have suggested the television car's moniker, it is rumored that the car was named after the show’s production manager, W. A. Porter.

When series production was approved, the Grabowski rod was retained as the "hero" car, and a second — "stunt", or special effects — car was commissioned and built by celebrated car customizer George Barris, whose Barris Kustom Industries licensed it to AMT for model kit production (an inaccurate rendering) and also toured it after series wrap with other of his creations. The stunt car, not conventionally driveable, was ingeniously equipped with apparatus to let Mother "drive herself" via a system of levers and mirrors operated by a short human driver concealed on a tractor seat below the removed rear floorboards. It also had other special mechanical features, such as gimbaled headlamps.

Both cars had the dashboard-mounted radio head with flashing dial light through which Mother "talked" (though only to her son). These scenes were filmed with a stand-in; actress Ann Sothern’s voice was dubbed to the soundtrack in post-production. Generally, the hero car was used for driving shots and close-ups, and the stunt car for long shots and special effects sequences. Either was available as a stand-in in case of mechanical breakdown on set. Though made to represent one car, they can be distinguished by minor details, and actually appeared together in one episode.

Additionally, a third car was used in filming, representing both the dilapidated car-lot Porter of the pilot and, in another episode, a “1932 Porter”. This car may not have been complete, and its existence and whereabouts are unknown.

The hero car is currently[when?] located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The stunt car was once owned by casino giant William Harrah, who had one of the largest special-interest and antique auto collections of all time in Reno, Nevada. After Harrah's death in 1984, the auction catalogue advertised the lot as having a carnation red body with white top and created from parts of a Ford Model T, a Maxwell, a Hudson and a Chevrolet. Following ownership by Rear View Mirror Museum (Nags Head, North Carolina) and later Herbie's Antique & Classic Car Museum (Mount Pleasant, South Carolina), the stunt Porter is currently[when?] on display in Star Cars Museum (Gatlinburg, Tennessee).

[burner31]

Sorry, got off on a tangent.

I now return you to your regularly broadcast program.

[burner31]

Ok, just one more little thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kz3hfJweE0

[Big hammer]

When i am watching tv and I hear a model a running I run to the door or window to see the model a! What's the problem with that? ;-)