Re: Daily Frustrations when being a HTPC enthusiast

Josh,

You’ve got to isolate the issue. I’d start where Mikinho suggests and that is with your cabling as that is the most likely cause. Remove any unnecessary splits and terminate any unused splitter ports. Check all of your cabling. Make sure every coax connection is tight. Tug on each cable while holding the end to ensure the connectors are snug on the cable. Ensure that no center leads have been accidentiallyh smashed in such a way as to not make good contact. Check for RG-59 cable and replace with RG-6 cable. Quad-shielded RG-6 is best in general home use. RG-59 has too much signal attenuation.

Other signal related troubleshooting might include disabling any possible sources of interference like cell phones, wireless devices, routers, phones, etc. All of which while not necessarily in the sub-1MHz band, can generate signal harmonics that possibly could interfere with certain frequencies in the sub-1MHz cable domain.

If you’ve got a really long run of cable with a lot of splits, it might be necessary to use a signal amp. If so, get a good one and place it as close to the cable drop as feasible. Err on the side of not using any amps first though as they can also introduce problems and a lot of times are used unnecessarily.

Well, there’s your first homework assignment!