Cable tv people Help.

[jcarson]

I know this is not the right forum for this, but I see a lot of cable TV people are on here. Here is my problem, when it’s windy & dry
I have a lot of sparkles on my lower channels. I think it might have something to do with the great 60 cycle hum.
Have any of you providers had this problem, know where to or what to look for? Again I’m sorry for posting this on this forum
I don’t know where else to go.
J.

[Kip Patterson]

Likely due to a cable plant problem Aluminum is not the nicest material for electrical connections because it oxidizes easily, and the oxide is very hard and does not conduct electricity. Ask any of the 10,000 or so folks that had their houses burn up because of aluminum wiring. So, there's probably a bad connection out there blowing in the wind.

Kip

[ace]

Have you called your cable co. and let them know about your situation? If not then do so. You could have a line that is just to old or even a squirrel chewed through it. I have personally seen squirrels chew through the actual hard line itself. Crazy little bastards should stick to nuts..:D

But other than that it's really hard to say since it could be a number of things.

[MtCableman]

Is it on all of the lower channels or just some of them? Sometimes the cable companies use an antenna to pick up the local broadcasts to rebroadcast them on the cable system. Doing this can rebroadcast the atmospheric problems of over the air signals. See if it is the local channels only. If not it could be corrosion on fittings that are causing the problems.

[mikemean]

ok, how about this...MtCableman... my HBO channel 17 is very fuzzy. I can watch and see everything but, I have faint lines and fuzz. Any ideas?

[Kip Patterson]

Noise/interference on specific channels can be a sign of infiltration of broadcast signals.

The cable folks call it ingress. One thing every person who answers the phone at your cable company will know is what channels show interference from ingress. Call them up and see what they are for your system.

Kip

[MtCableman]

Originally posted by mikemean
ok, how about this...MtCableman... my HBO channel 17 is very fuzzy. I can watch and see everything but, I have faint lines and fuzz. Any ideas?

Your channel 17 is "fuzzy" could be do to the degradation of signal in the way HBO is "encoded" and "decoded". If it is really bad call the cable company for a service call.

[andrewe77]

Maybe you should go ahead and pay for HBO instead of trying to see past the lines and fuzz like the rest of us!

[mikemean]

Originally posted by andrewe77
Maybe you should go ahead and pay for HBO instead of trying to see past the lines and fuzz like the rest of us!

I do pay for it.