Cable Reception Problem

[Drbuzzo]

I have something of a cable reception problem. Actually it's a rather bad problem. I have a digital cable box in one of the rooms of my home which receives the digital channels all fine, but the analog channels range from terrible to very clear.

Background: The box is in the attic of my home. I really can't move it from there, without completely changing the layout of the house. The box is connected to a cable line which comes to the attic and feeds the box and a cable modem. (I can't really move the cable modem, because the attic is the only good place to put it so that the house gets good coverage from the wireless signal).

I know it's an issue of the signal not being strong enough. My home has about 5 runs of cable which are fed off one incoming line. (comcast will charge a lot to put in another and won't even burry the damn thing).

When the cable comes in it splits in two. One leg of the split feeds the other 4 runs in the house through a 4-way distribution amplifier. The other one goes to a dedicated 2-way amplifier. I got the best I could find and it did improve the results over the cheaper one I used to have.

The amplified signal then goes to the attic through rg-6 cable, a rather long run as the house is 2 stories. The cable was put in by the builder, and it cannot easily be accessed or replaced, but it is good cable and is well crimped on each end.

Despite the good cable and the amplifier (a $80 Motorola model) the VHF channels still have unacceptable static. Generally I like analog cable picture, as it is not compressed like digital... that is if it's clear and interference free.

I've tried adding amplification on the upper end of the run, by putting a small amplifier between the jack and the cable box. It didn't seem to help


Any advice....at all?

[Arvy]

I had similar problems with CBS, NBS, and ABC. Sometimes they persist. CourtTv's audio fades in and out, as well. TWC said the channel signal isn't stron enough and there's nothing they can do but speak to the channel operators. Not that this helps a bunch ...

[Drbuzzo]

Originally Posted by Arvy

I had similar problems with CBS, NBS, and ABC. Sometimes they persist. CourtTv's audio fades in and out, as well. TWC said the channel signal isn't stron enough and there's nothing they can do but speak to the channel operators. Not that this helps a bunch ...

Um....right. So in other words, they're saying that the channel, as they pull it off of the satellite downlink is crap? And that they're rebroadcasting that crappy picture and sound onto their own system?


Yeah...I have a very hard time believing that.

[HDTVFanAtic]

Originally Posted by Drbuzzo

I have something of a cable reception problem. Actually it's a rather bad problem. I have a digital cable box in one of the rooms of my home which receives the digital channels all fine, but the analog channels range from terrible to very clear.

Background: The box is in the attic of my home. I really can't move it from there, without completely changing the layout of the house. The box is connected to a cable line which comes to the attic and feeds the box and a cable modem. (I can't really move the cable modem, because the attic is the only good place to put it so that the house gets good coverage from the wireless signal).

I know it's an issue of the signal not being strong enough. My home has about 5 runs of cable which are fed off one incoming line. (comcast will charge a lot to put in another and won't even burry the damn thing).

When the cable comes in it splits in two. One leg of the split feeds the other 4 runs in the house through a 4-way distribution amplifier. The other one goes to a dedicated 2-way amplifier. I got the best I could find and it did improve the results over the cheaper one I used to have.

The amplified signal then goes to the attic through rg-6 cable, a rather long run as the house is 2 stories. The cable was put in by the builder, and it cannot easily be accessed or replaced, but it is good cable and is well crimped on each end.

Despite the good cable and the amplifier (a $80 Motorola model) the VHF channels still have unacceptable static. Generally I like analog cable picture, as it is not compressed like digital... that is if it's clear and interference free.

I've tried adding amplification on the upper end of the run, by putting a small amplifier between the jack and the cable box. It didn't seem to help


Any advice....at all?

Move.