On Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:56:48 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:

The idiot manager of one system ordered the wrong midband modulator
that was right in the aircraft band. Rather than admit it, over 10,000
converters had to be modified to tune the new channel.

Ouch. However, the aircraft band is from 108 to 136Mhz. That covers
channels 98, 99, 14, 15, and 16 that have to be protected. Comcast is
using 14 and 15 locally, but I've noticed that the signal levels are
much lower than the adjacent channels.

It was used to
add 'The nashville Network' which had just been launched. The system was
in the Cincinnati area where people claimed that they didn't listen to
'**** kicking music'. I tested the mew modulator & c-band equipment for
less than 30 seconds, and after 2 am. We had over 100 phone calls
waiting the next morning, wanting to know when it would be back.

Chuckle. There's no accounting for taste. For the last year or so,
I've been erratically trying to convince DirecTV to carry UCTV:
http://www.uctv.tv
It's currently carried by Dish and Comcast locally, but not DirecTV.
So far, my efforts have been futile. So, I watch UCTV on the
computah.

Ummm... the OP is trying to troubleshoot his home installation, not
the trunk line (or cable drop). I think it's a safe bet that he can
unplug his spaghetti without difficulties.

Then it is very unlikely he will have access to a TDR, sniffer or any
other equipment. Even a field strength meter isn't likely.

If he can borrow an oscilloscope, a TDR is very easy to build. I've
built several similar to:
http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/tdr.html
If he knew the test frequency, a simple scanner with aircraft band
should work. Every cable operator seems to use a different frequency.
I usually find it by connecting my scanner to the cable, and scanning
the aircraft band for the obnoxious tones.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS