Yesterday I wired a relatives house for cable. The analog cable works fine, but when I plug in the digital cable box supplied by the cable company it doesn't work at all. Is there anything special about splitters for digital cable? I use Dish network, and I've really been out of the loop as far as cable TV stuff. This is not Comcast, but a small municipal cable company.
IIRC any splitters on digital must be "2 way". Most cheap splitters are one-way. IOW, the digital cable box needs to transmit info back to the head-end. Older analog cable boxes did not.
did you use RG6 or RG59, any screw on connectors?
you shouldnt use RG59 or screw ons for digital cable installs..
both are way too lossy, and this applies to satellite tv as well.
how many splits do you have? might need a distribution amplifier
The cable company does the wiring when you pay for it.
Call the cable company and tell them about the problems you are having.
The wiring from the street is RG59, probably about 20'. All my wiring is RG6, about 60'. One of the existing outlets has about 4' of RG59 from the splitter, but the outlet that I tried the digital box on was all RJ6, except the old RG59 from the street. I could change the outlet with the RG59 to RG6 if necessary, and I suppose I could also change the wiring from the street.
There are two splitters. The splitters I used are "
When the HDTV went through the set-up where it finds all the channels, without the box in place, it did find a bunch of "digital channels.
What I'm wondering (and can't find out until Monday) is if my relative actually has subscribed to digital cable, or did they just send the boxes in anticipation of their shutdown of analog cable.
Next I'll bring a small TV and try hooking up the digital box in the garage, directly to the incoming line.
First, you better have used RG-6 coax rather than RG-59. Second, you'll need splitters rated @ 1GHz bandpass. The cheap rat-shack ones you may have lying around won't cut it. Also- make sure you make proper fittings *use a proper crimp or compression fittings* do not use twist-on's, and do not try to cheat and use pliers as a "crimper" if you go with crimp fittings. Signal leak is BAD.
Hook the TV up to the incoming feed - that is, before all your stuff.
If the TV works, the problem is yours. If not, call the cable company for guidance.
RG59 cable is not your problem. You will never tell the diffference between RG59 and RG6 for short runs like you describe.
Don in Tracy, Calif.
Hi SMS,
I agree with Reed. For digital you usually need two way. We have Cablevision here. They have these channels for car shopping and house shopping. From the remote you can request new data. You can also request movies etc. This requires two way communication.
If you have multiple TV's, and have alot of cable runs then a amplifier that enables you to split off each feed may be useful. You need a amplifier which allows two way communication. I got mine from here
All the best, Mike.
Splitters are not one-way or two-way, they all will pass signals in either direction with the same predictable loss of 3.5db per split. Where the cheap splitters have problems is with shielding and bandwidth.
You shouldn't be using any splitters not rated for at least 1GHz bandwidth and 110db shielding on any cable system these days, and a few cable systems as well as satellite may require a higher bandwidth.
Also, older analog cable boxes did indeed sent return data to the head-end for things such as pay per view buys, things that far preceded "digital" cable where the A/V is transmitted digitally.
Another thing to keep in mind is that many of the digital cable boxes need to be plugged in and receiving data for quite some time before they will work properly.
Yes, they are combiners or splitters, it doesn't matter which way the signal goes.
I'm pretty sure now that there's one of two problems. They may have been distributing the digital boxes to all customers in advance of the disabling of analog cable, even if the customer didn't sign up for the more expensive digital service, or I didn't leave the box plugged in long enough (about 5 minutes).
it can be because too many splitters decrease signal strength fast, then add lossy cable 59 tends to be junk quality often dollar store stuff........
5 minutes probably wasn't long enough. The data channel used to update the box is pretty slow, and the longer the box has been offline the more updates it may need. I had a digital box here that sat disconnected for about a year, and when I hooked it back up it took sitting overnight before it started doing the digital channels properly. Presumably the updates include things like CODEC software which could take a while.
I hooked up the same type of box at another relative's house in the same city, and the digital cable worked right away. But I'll still have them try just leaving it plugged in. I do all this on the weekend, and it's a small municipal cable company with no one to call on the weekend for questions.
It's always possible that the cable box is bad, or that there is a problem in the cable plant itself, like the closest amp to the house that is preventing the return signal from going back to the head end. If the cable system just started doing interactive and digital that possibility is greater.
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