Well, I've been trying all week to get TWC on the phone and finally did last night after calling and simply putting the phone down, coming back and checking once in a while to see if some tech picked up.

So I speak with them and tell'em my hd dvr box...SA8300 HDC or something like that...their self proclaimed "newest" box - has stopped working correctly. I can only get a few channels and the only HD channels I can get are Food and HGTV and some other sorry ones.

They ask - how is it hooked up? - and I knew what not to say, but I told them anyway....I told 'em....HDMI. Well, like on another thread in the HDMI reception, I might have well been speaking jibberish from then on because "it has to be your cable because we show your box working perfectly". Well, after going round and round and trying to get the lady to schedule me a service, I finally hung up. She said, "I guarantee you if you hook up your components, it'll work fine.....besides, component and HDMI are the exact same, just one cord instead of 5 for HDMI (DUH!)

So, I figured I'd try the components and see.....nothing different. I was PO'd since I called back, and the wait time was like 60 minutes.

Tried again today from work in the middle of the day and at home...can't get through.

I also told the lady, I was pulling 3 dedicated cable lines from my new Home Theater in the 3rd floor and she said they'd hook them up for 18.95 a line....screw the screw for 20 bucks a pop. I called BS and she finally said what I do to my cable lines inside my house is my own business....

SO, I go outside and pull the cover off the box that comes into my house..........keep in mind, when we moved in 7 years ago "your cable is so bad, we need to run a new line" so they, TWC pulled a new line from the street to the house...and trenched the yard in the process.....

I can not believe the cluster in that box...for one, the MAIN LINE in was split right off the bat. NO it wasn't split for the "dedicated" line they ran for the cable modem/VOIP a couple of years ago, but just split to some random connection into the house.

The the other leg of the split went into an amp....an amp not plugged in mind you....so it's basically a four way split.


After all that, my question is this...can I get one of the Electroline FT08100s to replace that amp TWC put out there because I need to have more outlets there to run and work my new dedicated lines to the theater....three up there for 1)cable modem 2) cable outlet for HDDVR box on the credenza and 3) cable outlet in AVR cabinet in case I put the cable box in with all the other components....

Will TWC bring me a bigger amp for this or can I just simply get my own and it work better perhaps? I can get ZERO help on the phone.....

Well, I've been trying all week to get TWC on the phone and finally did last night after calling and simply putting the phone down, coming back and checking once in a while to see if some tech picked up.

So I speak with them and tell'em my hd dvr box...SA8300 HDC or something like that...their self proclaimed "newest" box - has stopped working correctly. I can only get a few channels and the only HD channels I can get are Food and HGTV and some other sorry ones.

They ask - how is it hooked up? - and I knew what not to say, but I told them anyway....I told 'em....HDMI. Well, like on another thread in the HDMI reception, I might have well been speaking jibberish from then on because "it has to be your cable because we show your box working perfectly". Well, after going round and round and trying to get the lady to schedule me a service, I finally hung up. She said, "I guarantee you if you hook up your components, it'll work fine.....besides, component and HDMI are the exact same, just one cord instead of 5 for HDMI (DUH!)

So, I figured I'd try the components and see.....nothing different. I was PO'd since I called back, and the wait time was like 60 minutes.

Tried again today from work in the middle of the day and at home...can't get through.

I also told the lady, I was pulling 3 dedicated cable lines from my new Home Theater in the 3rd floor and she said they'd hook them up for 18.95 a line....screw the screw for 20 bucks a pop. I called BS and she finally said what I do to my cable lines inside my house is my own business....

SO, I go outside and pull the cover off the box that comes into my house..........keep in mind, when we moved in 7 years ago "your cable is so bad, we need to run a new line" so they, TWC pulled a new line from the street to the house...and trenched the yard in the process.....

I can not believe the cluster in that box...for one, the MAIN LINE in was split right off the bat. NO it wasn't split for the "dedicated" line they ran for the cable modem/VOIP a couple of years ago, but just split to some random connection into the house.

The the other leg of the split went into an amp....an amp not plugged in mind you....so it's basically a four way split.


After all that, my question is this...can I get one of the Electroline FT08100s to replace that amp TWC put out there because I need to have more outlets there to run and work my new dedicated lines to the theater....three up there for 1)cable modem 2) cable outlet for HDDVR box on the credenza and 3) cable outlet in AVR cabinet in case I put the cable box in with all the other components....

Will TWC bring me a bigger amp for this or can I just simply get my own and it work better perhaps? I can get ZERO help on the phone.....

Their help desk admittedly is horrible, I have had many techs tell me who've come out, 'when you call just for service just schedule a repair as the help desk is reading off queue cards and are inept'...
So for you, I'd suggest calling and asking for their 'line department' and go over what you asked about in your email with someone from that dep't...

For one thing, the OCAP boxes are alot more picky when it comes to signal levels in order to work correctly. Unlike the SA8300/HD (which requires signals of 35-55 and -10 to +10 on the RDC and FDC) , the OCAP boxes need to be pulling signal in the 35-55 RDC like normal, but -5 to +5 on the FDC
RDC = Return Data Carrier
FDC = Forward Data Carrier

Now, you SHOULD be able to pull your own signals by going to channel 998 in San Diego, or 888 in Desert Cities (while NOT in the guide) and wait for the diagnostic screen to come up. Sometimes it takes a while.
(This is assuming your in the San Diego/Desert Cities Area)

You might also have to reboot the box by pressing Vol+, Vol-, and Info on the "FRONT" of the box, NOT the remote. When pressed, you should see either "Boot" or a funny squigly line that looks like --U-N--. Yes, these boxes take forever to reboot. But you said it would work for a little bit, so as soon as it comes up, try the diagnostic channel and write down the FDC/RDC power it gives you. If it out of range, your going to have to call TW and get a tech to come out.

Here is another tip: If they send out a tech for the Same/Related issue 3 times in a 3 month period, the 4th time they have to escalate the call and get either a senior tech out there to fix it, or a Sup.

**And remember, be nice to the Tech Support Rep, right after your call, they get 1.5 seconds to shake off being yelled at by the previous person, to get yelled at again by someone else**