Argh - Ran R-59 instead of R-6 Coax...
I recently (within the last 2 months) had a contractor run some coax cabling in my apartment while he was doing some other work. My digital cable (Time Warner in NYC) works, but about 30 channels do not work or work very sporatically. The TW technician told me that he thinks that I have R-59 cabling in the walls.
Before I pay to have the contractor come back out to price the costs of upgrading to R-6 cabling (plaster walls), i thought I'd check with you all to see if there is anything that I can do to improve the signal in my existing cabling.
My fault for doing some research beforehand. :(
Thank you in advance.
Still shouldn't be a cable (type) problem
How is the signal before you split it? If it's still funky, then it's a signal strength problem. I'm doing basically the same thing with three TV's, two VCR's and a cable modem w/o a booster and everything works fine. One TV and VCR is at the end of a 45' run...and all with 59.
IMNSHO, I don't think the cable company wants to owe up to it being their problem.
You've done the first step in isolating the problem.
Next step. How is the signal coming out of each side of the exposed splitter?
If it's good coming into the apartment and out of the first splitter, I would then check all the F connectors for a solid connection. If they aren't put on good, then signal will be lost. All it takes is one. Been there... done that.
Perhaps it is a signal problem but there are several things to be aware of with boosters. First off, they need a clean signal to start with. They will not improve a weak, dirty signal. It will only make it a strong, dirty signal.
Also, If some channels do come in fine now, when you add the booster and "tweak up" the bad channels, you run the risk of overboosting the now working channels to the point you overdrive the TV.
You say you've got a splitter buried IN the wall? Now, that scares me. There are three F connectors and a splitter you can never get to? ...could be a problem. Ever hear of Murphy's law?
With this stuff, the fewer breaks in the run, the better.
Most problems I've run into with 75 ohm cables has to do with the "F" connectors not being firmly secured to the ends. The cable itself was fine.
If you can manage it, RatShack sells pre-terminated 25' rolls of 75 ohm cable. To see if it's the cable type itself (which I strongly doubt), you might want to "borrow" a roll and run it directly from one side of the exposed splitter to one of the sites. It'll look like he!! but at least you can see if the problem lies in the walls or not.
I can't see any need for a filter. A filter removes stuff. What do they think you should filter?