I have Charter cable tv. I use the direct analog input to my Sony KV-27V36.
I use the analog signal because I like to be able to use the pip function on
my tv. Over the past few weeks I have noticed that the left channel audio is
very low and distorted, guessing about -30dB as compared to the right
channel, but only while tuned into the local Fox station. To make a very
long story short, the Charter tech comes to my house to tell me that some
tv's don't pick up the stereo signal properly and I should switch my tv to
mono. Huh??? His suggested fix? Use the cable box. I told him I don't want
to use the cable box. I'm happy with less cables, wires, and boxes going
through my system. At some point the tech tells me that all the analog
channels are being broadcast mono but are converted by Charter to a dual
mono signal so both speakers operate. However he says that they (Charter)
are in the process of upgrading the Fox station and are using one of the
stereo channels (supposedly the one that is down 30dB and distorted) to use
for other purposes. Again, huh? I've requested a call back from one of the
people in the Charter office that can give me a more logical technical
explanation. I'm not holding my breath. It's been a week since the tech's
visit here and after many phone calls to Charter and talking to their
friendly support staff, nobody has called me back from their technical
department.

By the way, I did call the local Fox station to see if they were having
transmission problems and I was able to talk to their chief engineer within
5 MINUTES. He told me their signal was fine and that it was Charter's
responsibility to take their 5.1 signal, decode it properly, then pass it on
to their subscribers.

So, I thought I'd ask the only place left on earth where you can get a
straight answer. That of course is s.e.r. Fellow techs, what the heck is
going on here?

Thanks for your reply.
--

David Farber
Los Osos, CA