Video Related Question..Cable TV pixelisation

[Big Dan]

Maybe you can help out, it's been going on for a while my cable setup is like this:

Main Line --> 2 way splitter

2 Line Spliiter --> 1 TV and 3 Way Splitter

3 Way Splitter --> 2 TVs and a cable modem

I got digital cable a while back which includes a converter box, the converter box was placed behind the three way splitter. All the channels are crystal clear except 103-107 which happen to be Discovery networks (science channel, discovery health, etc) 103 - 107 is extremely pixelated often times the picture just freezes and the sound continues.

Natually I thought the cable box wasn't getting enough bandwith heck the signal is split 5 times, but my cable modem gets full speed and that's normally where a problem would rear it's head first.

I first ran a line directly from the main to the cable box with no splitters involved, same problem. Must of been a faulty box so I exchanged it for a brand spankin' new one, same problem.

I had the cable guy out here last week, he did level tests and says everything looks fine even with the splitters in place. The cable company even tested the box from the office.

Murphy's law: When he was here I couldn't replicate the problem. Long story short, I called the cable company, pissed and moaned their sending out a "senior tech" this Tuesday. I would bother but the Science channel is my absolute favorite (I'm know I'm lame )

I was kicking around ideas last night as I was cursing the cable company for messing up my favorite channel. I figured the cable company's satellite feed is fubar'd --(but no one else complains because who watches the science channel anyhow? )but.. the regular discovery channel (15) is crystal clear, I'd assume all the discovery channels come from the same satillite feed at the headend which kind of kills me theory

In short.. Is there anything I overlooked on my end in the troubleshooting process? :confused:If these mofo's don't fix it, I'm getting Satillite

[Travis B]

Dan Could you do me a favor? look and make a tree diagram of your splitters and show on every split how much signal loss there is... Just pulled one three way out of my desk. And it has 7db 7db and 3.5 db of loss. If you "main" tv is dropping out at higher stations to me that seems to be the culprit. Why you ask? TV stations operate at different frequencies through coaxial lines... lower stations such as 2,3,4 operate lower down the band while your 100+ channels are way up there. Try rewiring where you have the least DB loss such as 3.5 DB.

[Travis B]

Dan I did a re-read of your post.. I was hurying up to get a response since i had church in a few...

Depending on your cable provider... Me it's TimerWarner and i'm using their Road Runner Cable... You may be using Bright House (Florida Based) which is pretty much the same thing from what I can tell.

Indeed the Discover Channels and like channels come from the same network feed. IE History Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, HGTV?

Anyways. If it is a true HD signal it "may" be coming in from another satellight which would explain why it may or may not work.

Ask yourself the following questions... Are you running any devices at your house that could interfere with either (a) The Actual Signal line [ground loops can come into play possibly] (b) Radiowaves (including microwaves) (c) Suffiecient Device Power? Pull out your Multimeter 60hz? 120 volt? (d) Does it persist on different TV's?

Make sure your Senior Tech carefully reads his device, and ask him what the line level is... Also something you "might" be able to try if your using a surfboard cable modem by motorola, or in fact in "popular" brand. Is getting into the Web based diagnostic menu and reading the statistics. Typically when my cable modem was getting flirty i was going in there... typicall the address for that is http://192.168.100.1 (Notice this is different from your router) which is prob http://192.168.1.1 or similar address. If you access that menu check out the status see if anything looks shady, PM me the status as i'm not sure on your model but if any "revealing" information is sent it would be done so privately and this way you don't get hacked

[Big Dan]

Yup, I have RoadRunner. Their sister services, Brighthouse and Earthlink are more a less just branding options. Anyhow, I have a really old RCA DCM315 cable modem that I traded in RR's standard Toshiba for which constantly dropped my connection. It just works and gives me awesome speed.

Here is it's status (nothing is here that can get me hacked )

Forward Path: Return Path: Signal Acquired at 573.000 MHz Connection: Acquired SNR: 32.0 dB Frequency: 32.0 MHz Received Signal Strength: -14.5 dBmV Power Level: 61.0 dBmV Micro-Reflections: 34 dBc Channel ID: 4 Modulation: 256 QAM Modulation: 16 QAM
Data Service Details
Provisioned Address: Yes Provisioned Time: Yes Provisioned Configuration: Yes Registered: Yes BPI: Enabled

Everything looks normal to me :confused:

That diagram you asked for is on it's way.

[Big Dan]

Attached is my attempt at a hand drawn diagram. The first splitter lists losses the second one (three way) doesn't.

[Travis B]

Hmmm looks okay to me... prob a faulty box, try a different brand? I'm at wits end with this problem... Dang I could give you a comcast answer, but ones already provided

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufo9p1O9iAQ

[Big Dan]

Hmmm looks okay to me... prob a faulty box, try a different brand? I'm at wits end with this problem... Dang I could give you a comcast answer, but ones already provided

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufo9p1O9iAQ

Thats freakin' funny.

Thanks for your help, I'll let you know the what happens with the tech. It's an all day appointment. He can show up anywhere between 9 AM & 7 PM

he better not screw up my net connection, it's been dropping all day today.

[Travis B]

well i didn't know you had dropping problems... but from your wiring diagram and what "true" RR techs know (not the cable idiots) is that for the best signal quality and lowest drop outs, you have a direct tap from the coax that comes to your house, from there, go directly to your modem and have the other line go to your TVs, having the digital signal is paramount over your TV. What would you rather, dropping internet signals, or a little fuzzy TV.

BTW Make sure the guy pulls out his digital device and not like an analog multimeter.

[Big Dan]

Update

The tech came out.. Ran all sorts of test he says everything checks. He gave a new box and everything looks okay for now.

At least it's fixdid, until the next time. I think the problem is the cable co's redistrubuting old boxes.

[Travis B]

yeah i was kinda upset when we first got cable internet, time warner gave us an already used box, no problem there, but it had a smoke smell in it! The former user musta smoked in his house.

[Big Dan]

One cable modem I got was covered in soot, I guess the former owner either had a fire place or house fire.

Up here in NY, they seem to hand out Toshiba 2000+ series of modems which have never worked good for me. On the last exchange, I got a really old RCA DCM315 and I couldn't be happier, I surf just a little below the 5/384 cap.

Where you do your speed tests? I use Speakeasy.net DSL reports java app always screws around with my computer.. Linux does not like java.