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As part of my job here at school, I had to troubleshoot some cable tv stuff today. We have a former restaurant turned general use space in the student union. I would say there are at least 10 tv's hooked up. Previously we had a poor signal which we traced to a bad splitter feeding the room. This was replaced with a barrel connection and the signal was OK. I went to check today as the Superbowl is approaching and they wanted to make sure the tv signals were OK. Well, I checked and they were awful. Snow and poor reception...so I first checked the feed (plugged a TV into the coax) coming into the room from the floor below, and the signal was fine. Then I checked the other end of this run where it terminated and it was fine. The line runs to a distribution box and then an amplifier. I checked each connection, and as it went along from feed, to distribution box, and finally to an amp, it got progressively worse. Keep in mind I was testing in the equipment room and not using the TV's in the actual room. So I deduced that the amp is not good. I have no idea why, but we have to call the TV people in from the school to figure it out. All in a day's work
Jeff Moss Moss Communications Computer Repair-Networking-Cabling MBSWWYPBX, JGAE
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At a residential job in Malibu, reconnecting an old (and I mean old) amp, turned some snowy screens into crystal clear ones. I know that doesn't help you, but the amplifiers are critical when you have that many TVs. I will be installing three at different jobs in the coming weeks. I hope we don't have problems. They are going to be connected to Time Warner and Charter cable systems, and they all need bi-directional because of pay-per-view and video-on-demand.
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And remember with amplifiers, if they get crud in they just spew amplified crud out.
Luckily you can use one way amps for what you're doing, doesn't sound like you have any two way devices being used.
Check all the fittings, they do go bad, and if it's one feeding the splitter, it'd trash all the downline TV's. I look at it this way, if you don't have the proper signal meter, connectors and splitters are a cheap and quick troubleshooting method. If you replace them and there are still a lot of problems, start bypassing wiring with a temporary run one by one till you find the bad sections.
-Robert F
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Are you sure the circuit supplying power to the amp was working Jeff?
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I was just checking out the signal with a TV. If anyone repairs this, it would be the TV guys on campus, not me.
Jeff Moss Moss Communications Computer Repair-Networking-Cabling MBSWWYPBX, JGAE
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Do you have any legs off the amp that aren't being used or don't have TV's connected? Try loading unused connections - I had similar problems aboard ship in my Navy days. Try terming unused connections with a 75 ohm load.
Sometimes the thoughts in my head get so bored, they go for a stroll through my mouth. This is rarely a good thing.
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Sounds like you don't have a good enough signal coming into the amplifier. I'd keep checking up stream connections. As some have stated, hard to tell what you're doing without the proper test equipment.
I ran alot of mainline cable and did house hookups a lifetime ago, boy I don't miss that at all.
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The signal coming to the amp is OK. Leaving the amp it gets bad...I think it's time for TV services or the cable company to figure it out
Jeff Moss Moss Communications Computer Repair-Networking-Cabling MBSWWYPBX, JGAE
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The signal coming to the amp is OK. Leaving the amp it gets bad That's why I was asking if the amp is getting power or not. If the amp has lost power it actually makes the signal worse. I'm always amazed at how many think that if the amp is unplugged, it just bypasses or is a straight through signal. Very few amps out there have power indicators (other than the Electroline brand, which IMO are the best) so you will have to check the receptacle.
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Typical computer guy. :bang:
They actually do make test equipment such as a signal level meter for this you know. You are just wasting your time by using a TV.
If it is your job and your school want's you to do this then they need to get you the proper equipment AND you need to learn how to use it! Might even be a good idea to incorporate it into the curriculum instead of all that computer stuff. You might even learn something useful.
-Hal
CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65 WARNING: Some comments made by me are known to the State of California to cause irreversible brain damage and serious mental disorders leading to confinement.
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