[rothe]

One of the non-HDTV channels that I watch regularly -- CNBC -- has a recurring, intermittent problem where the left audio channel is substantially muted. The problem occurs through my HDTV's NTSC tuner, as well as through my digital set top box, and my ATI All in Wonder card, and my VCR, etc., whether playing through the home theater amplifier or the TV's audio system. Even the VCR's audio level LEDs show the imbalance. It seems apparent to me that the problem is well upstream from my system.


This problem is occurring right now, and based on past experience, I expect it to continue throughout the night.


So I called my cable company a few minutes ago, and to my astonishment, the young lady agreed with me that the problem is not local to my equipment. Unfortunately, she suggested that the problem is most likely with the broadcaster that supplies the signal to them. So she gave me a phone number and address for CNBC in Fort Lee, NJ. Uggghhhh!!!!


I *KNOW* that they're going to give me the same run-around that the cable company to gave me -- "it's not our fault; it's the other guys!"


So, before I call CNBC, I need to find out whether or not any others are having this problem with this one channel. If you would, please, flip over to CNBC, make note of whether or not the audio is heavily biased towards the right channel, and post your results here. Please also tell me your provider (cable or satellite company name) and the region of the country that you're in. For what it's worth, I'm on Comcast cable in Monmouth County, NJ.


Sorry for the somewhat off-topic question, but this is the most appropriate forum where I'd be able to ask such a question. And thanks for any answers you can provide.

 

[Ken H]

It's fine.

 

[Ray H]

Check your left audio cable coming off the cable box. It may be loose or defective. It may help to judiciously apply pressure on the grounding tabs of each connector to slightly bend them ever-so-slightly inwards. When you plug the cable's connectors back on, do so with a straight-in but twisting motion. If there's any micro-corrosion on either the male or female connectors, the extra tension and twist action will serve to scrape to bare metal.

 

[rothe]

and only one channel. All other channels are fine. It's consistent on all of my equipment. (Re-read the details above.) I even had a friend who has the same cable service, but lives five miles away, and he verified that he has the same problem, with just that one channel.


But thanks for replying.


The next thing that I have to do is figure out how to get the cable company to react to me. A second phone call to them, last night, got the young lady to check the channel on one of the monitors in her office. "It sounds fine," she said. It turns out that she's on the same cable network as I am, geographically between my home and my friend.


I have to consider that "it sounds fine" came from a woman in the same office as a person who told me to call CNBC. Could it be that they just don't care about signal quality?

 

[bfoster]

Where are you and who is your cable operator? I MAY be able to get you a technical contact number to someone who can check the modulator and/or satelite receiver in the headend.


Brian

 

[rothe]

Monmouth County, NJ


operator is Comcast of Eatontown, Eatontown, NJ.


Much obliged.

 

[rothe]

My local cable company has its offices, customer service center, and just about all of the downlink and distribution hardware in a building that's on my way home. Last night, I stopped in and asked to "speak with someone about a technical problem."


After explaining everything that I've described above, my new friend "Jason" was quick to give it a try on the home theater system that they have in the customer service office, and he heard exactly what my friend and I had heard. We got into a nice discussion about the effort that they've been putting into their HDTV rollout, and he offered that as a partial explaination for why they might not have been paying much attention to audio callibration of the non-HD channels during the past few months.


In any case, Jason told me that he was going to talk to one of his coworkers as soon as he parted with me, and they would, in all likelihood, fix the problem immediately. He also took my name and phone number and told me that he, himself, would call me to let me know what's going on, if they couldn't fix this promptly.


By the time that I got home, all was well on CNBC -- except that the DOW closed down 20 points. But I could hear the report out of both channels.


Cool.