I have comcast cable and I have the Motorola DCT6200 (maybe 6212?) HDTV box. When I tune to some HDTV channels I get the message "One Moment Please, This channel should be available shortly." However, the channel does not become available. Some HDTV stations seem to come and go. Other HDTV channels and all the SD channels tune in fine all the time.

My house is about 75 - 100ft from the pedestal. The STB is another 50 - 70ft from the cable entry into the house. There are three splitters and one surge protector before the STB. VOD is hit or miss, mostly miss.

After calling Comcast CSR, she had me remove power from the box for a few minutes to "reset" the box. She also said she was able to communicate with my box. When resetting the box did not solve the problem, she wanted to send out a technician.

If I run new cable inside the house, I can eliminate 2 of the splitters.

Could an amplifier at the cable entry point fix this problem?

What does the message really mean? That the station is authorized but the box is not receiving a signal? Is it waiting for something? If the signal level is too low, how does the box respond? Sorry for the long post.

The cable signal level was adjusted to be the minimum signal level that would do the job, before you split it repeatedly. Now the signal levels may be too low.

In this case I simply picked up a 25db Channel Master amplifier at a local hardwafre store and used that. The cable channel frequencies are between VHF and UHF broadcast frequencies - it worked fine for me, why not just try it and see if your cable box problems cease.

There are three splitters:: If I run new cable inside the house, I can eliminate 2 of the splitters.

Why do you have 3 splitters in line?
From your second statement It sounds like you don't need 2 of them!
If this is the case pick up a few f type female barrels and put them in place of the splitters that you don't need and see if this helps, if so I would replace the old cable with a new one! (or you could just leave the barrels in place)!

Don't forget that two-way services, like ordering VOD via a set top box, and lately even tuning a channel that is sent via SDV, require good signal levels both dowstream and upstream (return). Each split halves the power (around 3.5 dB drop) in both directions, so if your signal from the street is on the lower side of the acceptable range, the data sent by the STB toward the headend may not be robust enough to make it reliably back through several cascaded splitters.

In most systems, the CATV provider should make you whole by upping the level from the pedestal, replacing the drop cable to the home, replacing poor quality splitters, and even providing a drop amp if needed. I would schedule a service call and press the tech for that kind of solution first before buying one on your own.

Ask him/her for the low and high channel level at the "demarc" (usually the ground block where cable enters your home). It ought to be in the teens, e.g. +10 to +15dBmV for the low end and ideally close to that for the high end. A +12 or better level at the demarc usually will give you enough level to passively split at least 4 ways, possibly 6 or 8 if the in-house wiring is short and good quality.

The tech may take the position that his responsibility ends at the demarc, but a good one will work with you to ensure good levels at all the in-house locations. If in the end you decide to install your own local drop amp, make sure it has a return path spec, which should be low loss, if not provide an amplified return path.

If you want to know your signal level, tune the channel, turn off the DVR (DCT-6412) and enter diagnostics (generally starting from the box being in an "on state" press power then select" in rapid progression). Look at the Current Channel Status. I have seen cases where you could get this from over-driving the signal... though it could just as easily be a bad cable/connector or too much loss.

Multiple splitters in a row isn't necessarily bad... for instance, if it is 3 levels deep of two-way splitters instead of a single 8-way splitter. the difference in loss is fairly nominal... however, the potential for improperly made cables increases significantly. If the signal level says "fair" or "good", I would start checking the cables themselves... then think about changing out the splitters.