On 2/8/2012 3:12 PM, mike wrote:
On 2/8/2012 11:00 AM, amdx wrote:
Hi All,
I'm on a boat, about 170ft from the utility post.
Recently our cable company switched to the wonderful world of
Digital TV. I got the new digital converter and had no picture.
I took the box back and got a second box, still no picture. So now I
suspect a weak signal and confirm that it is the cable length. The cable
company came out and gave me a better cable than I had installed. At
this point I have a picture but it is intermittent. The signal at the
utility post has 3 outputs and had a four way splitter, I suggested the
cable guy put in two 2 way splitters and give me the stronger (first)
tap.
That got my signal to work almost all the time. I'd like to get the
signal to work 100% of the time.
I don't has access to electricity at the utility post, so an amp is out.
Although I could try an amp at the cable box end. Is that reasonable?
I would run two cables if there was a way to make it increase signal
strength.
Getting anymore from the cable company is not an option.
Any ideas to get a better signal?
Mikek


PS.

When the signal fails it seems channel 41 is ok and above 42 it breaks
up.
Curious to know if there is an unusual frequency jump between those two
digital channels.


Are you sure it's a signal strength problem?

Yes, it is the loss in the cable.

The cable guy should have been able to measure the signal at your cable
box.
Are the people using the other taps having problems?

No other problems, I'm just way down the dock from them.

If you're on a boat, you might be at the end of the cable run.
In that case, you might be able to get them to crank up the gain in their
distribution amp.

Next time they are around I'll ask.

Power at the pole is not a problem. You can get amps that are powered
through the signal cable to your cable box. Getting them to let you
install it
is another matter.
You can get MUCH better wire, for a price.

Signal strength is not the only problem with digital TV.
Reflections in the system can confuse the decoder. Are there
any unterminated cables on the other taps?


Yes that is possible, There are transients in and out so sometimes the
taps are used and sometimes not. I suppose I could make a bunch of 75
ohm terminations, and put on a new one every time it's needed.
However I never noticed a correlation between boats in and boats out.


I have OTA antenna digital TV. Plenty of signal, but reflections
cause significant drop outs on some channels. More signal won't fix
that. In fact, I have a variable attenuator to REDUCE signal strength.
I tweak the signal level for fewest dropouts.


Might be electrical noise coupled in thru the ground system.

Bottom line is that you pay the cable company for TV reception.
It's their responsibility to provide you with a watchable signal.
You shouldn't have to tell them what to do. They should just FIX it!!

Ya, but no. It's in a marina and the marina has a deal with the cable
company.
At this point there is talk about putting up an antenna.
The marina has ten cable boxes for transients that need to be plugged in
and connected (I guess keep them updated). So it has become a hassle for
the marina handle the boxes. I just want to lay low and not rock the boat.