Devices to reverse hack to TV sound frequency

[jsr1978]

Hi, hopefully forumers can help. Firstly, a brief introduction. I'm a 45 year disabled man that lives in Faringdon, Oxfordshire. The disabilities are severe sensory PTSD, agoraphobia and psychogenic hyperventilation.

Since 25/2/23 the Smart TV has been hacked by someone with an anti-disability vendetta. It's necessitated the replacement of 17 TVs under warranty but still it continues. The perpetrator lives in Watford, 70 miles from me and uses some kind of radio frequency/other device to adjust the sound frequency remotely. The vocals become tinny, hollow, distorted and excruciating most of the time. It compounds and activates symptoms of the disabilities: inability to draw deep breath, laboured breath, crying, nausea, tremor, tightening chest and invasive thoughts. It's been reported to police and cyber crime/action fraud many times but no action is taken and it continues. There's little difference when the sound bar is connected as the base sound frequency is being adjusted.

Can you suggest any short/longer range device I can use to readjust the sound frequency back to the level it should be at? Alternatively is anyone amenable to building me something that can do it for a mutually agreed cost? I've seen several computer and recording studio based solutions but they can't be used on TVs. Can they be modified to do so for instance? Purchasing a separate graphic equaliser deck is one option. The concern is that it wouldn't be able to adjust the equaliser by enough to make a difference.

The hacking most definitely is happening and is possible. A non smart TV was bought as an alternative so there was no internet connection but the perpetrator modified the sound on that too.

Yours sincerely,

Josh Ross

 

[BigBoss]

A Smart TV can normally not be controlled by distance. If the TV is connected to internet, there should be a router with firewall feature that prohibits to access to internal IP addresses. If this happens, you have to change your router with firewall feature. A skillful technicien may help you to prevent undesired accesses.

 

[D.A.(Tony)Stewart]

If you can record some examples and attach them here, that would be necessary a short video near the speaker so that the recording sounds authentic to you.

I see no possible way that anyone could remotely interfere with your TV audio on every channel. Most likely the signal is digital so interference would be all or nothing and not partial distortion but then also affect video.

So I believe you have a local analog distortion problem. Please list the make/model and if you have a hearing aid.

I cannot help with your health issues but have sympathy. The web says breathing through the nose with meditation helps.

 

[barry]

I’m not a doctor, and I strongly encourage you to talk to one, but I think you identified your problem yourself in the third sentence. If you have severe sensory PTSD, don’t you think that might be the source of your perceived audio distortion?

I assure you, there is no one in Watford controlling the audio on your tv.

 

[vfone]

A non smart TV was bought as an alternative so there was no internet connection but the perpetrator modified the sound on that too.

I think that this is impossible...

 

[jsr1978]

Thank you for all the responses. It isn't imagined or exaggerated, is happening and is possible. Please, please do not gaslight (undermine the reality). The disabilities don't make me more susceptible to an over-sensitive response or misperceiving audio.

The recordings taken are about one minute so I'll take a shorter one and try to post. You may not be able to discern how bad it is from a recording. In person it often sounds terrible.

It has been happening since 25/2/23. I've reached out here for practical help so a device can be purchased or built to stop it.

Please be constructive. I don't technically know the perpetrator is doing it but they most certainly are and they're located in Watford.

I don't use hearing aids and don't have hearing problems. The hack has been done to 17 TVs, each replaced under warranty as the problem continues regardless of make and model. They also hacked the non smart TV as soon as it was connected.

Medical support won't help as I return every night and weekend to a TV that's having the sound frequency manipulated. Coping strategies like meditation can work but they merely ease the acute pain; they don't eliminate it.

Are there any experts here that can help? I.e. advise of radio frequency devices or alternatives that can reverse the problems or be adapted to do. And remember it would only need to work from a short range i.e. the living room.

What is a local analogue distortion issue? The sound issues occur all platforms like netflix and amazon, terrestrial TV and on a non smart, analogue TV.

Yours sincerely and thanks,

Josh

 

[barry]

You have asked for expert help, and you have gotten it. We are engineers, physicists, technologists, etc., and we have all told you there is no way someone in Watford can control the audio of your 18 TVs. I suppose it’s possible that there’s something locally that’s disrupting your audio, but i doubt it. Do any of your neighbors have similar problems? Do you have some electrical device in your home that could cause this interference?

It’s time for you to accept the fact that you are most likely having mental issues, not technology issues. I sincerely hope you get the help you need, but you first need to accept the fact that you need help, and that that help is not going to come from this forum.

Sorry for the tough love, but I’m not sure how else to direct you to resolving your problem.

 

[BradtheRad]

These possibilities can be mentioned although they're unlikely:

* Ham radio owners must be careful that their transmitter oscillator contains no distortion, lest neighbors pick up 'splatter' frequencies in their television. This can cause odd noises or visual patterns. As a solution there are wave traps which can be installed to filter out unwanted frequencies. The problem is less well known because there are fewer Ham radio enthusiasts than used to be.

* Our AM radio reception can pick up noise from certain types of appliances operating in the neighborhood. Light dimmers, power tools, vehicles with substandard ignition wiring. Noise can come through house wiring, or as radio frequency interference RFI).The electrical noise travels only half a block maybe.

* Our consumer equipment must receive power which is adequate voltage. If house voltage is too low we tend to notice all our appliances operating abnormally.

* Someone working for our cable tv provider might have access to the distribution equipment for your community. I imagine they have a room with thousands of circuit boards sending out digital signals to customers. If he can determine which is the exact board which serves your household then he might tamper with it somehow. But such specific knowledge is needed that only a few people could have that degree of expertise. A mischief maker would have an easier time simply disconnecting your board.

The above causes are conceivable but very unlikely.

 

[wwfeldman]

i do not really understand your issue, but my daughter had some issues, that eventually were diagnosed.
she has learned how best to deal with it. in the process, we did a lot of grasping at straws.

if you will allow me, i'm going to grasp at straws

you exchanged the tv for a new one 17 times.
if i ran the store, i would have gone out to look at your situation after the 3rd(?) 5th(?) exchange,
as it is unlikely that so many tvs were successfully hacked, even by a malevolent individual.

does anything happen to the picture? (smart tv, dumb tv, analog tv?)

is there a sudden, unexplained loud sound or bright light, (or some other trigger?) just before the sound goes bad?

does the sound from a radio, or a computer, also go bad?

how loud is the volume on your tv?

how is the lighting in the room you watch tv?

 

[betwixt]

Another possibility although a remote one is something is falsely operating the infra-red sensor on the TVs, that would account for all TVs, including 'dumb' ones being affected. My neighbor had a problem with the volume of their TV constantly changing and it turned out to be the communication link on their under-floor heating controller! As the thermostat operated, it sent out something through an IR emitter that clashed with one of the TV remote control commands. Problem fixed with some black insulating tape as the heating link wasn't needed in their installation.

Q. You claim someone 70 miles away is doing this, how do you know where they are?

Brian.