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HardwareGeek
join:2003-11-15
Brooklyn, NY

HardwareGeek to rs1990

Member

to rs1990

Re: [iO] ESPN HD Pixelation

Well it is back again, the chick wanted me to unplug my box from the TV to make sure the connectors were right and for shits and giggles I did it and it did not fix it. So she is sending a tech to check it out. And the tech will say oh your signals are fine (like they did last time) and he will escalate it to an engineer and 6 months will go by with nothing done.

rs1990
Rick
Premium Member
join:2004-05-02
Poughkeepsie, NY

rs1990

Premium Member

Well, I don't think that it is just you. Mine is totally unwatchable and I am very angry. The single most important regualr season game in college basketball is on tonight and I need to DVR it. I guess I will have to DVR it from regular ESPN just to be sure that it works.
rs1990

2 edits

rs1990 to HardwareGeek

Premium Member

to HardwareGeek
I rebooted my cable box just for fun to see if it changed anything, but it didn't. I don't actually know what else to try. I guess I will search for those posts on how to check my signal levels to see if they are ok.

OK...I think that they are fine from what I can tell from other posts...however, these are the signal levels from my modem.

Modem Signal Levels:
Signal to Noise: 38dB
Down Power Level: 3dBmV
Upstream Power Level: 40dBmV

Cable Box Signal Levels:
RF Parameters:
Tuner1: 639.000 MHz --> -4dBmv: 9654/Sec (avg)

I think that this is the problem, but I don't know what it means exactly. All my other channels have these errors at something around 6/Sec, but ESPN HD is really high. According to the FAQ pages, this is:

RF Parameters -
* Tuner shows the frequency of the in-band tuner. If it is tuned to an analog channel, it will indicate as such. If it is tuned to a QAM channel, it will have the current approximate signal level and the average errors per second since the QAM channel has been locked in.
* FDC shows the frequency that the Forward Data Channel (out-of-band) receiver is currently tuned to, it's current approximate signal level, and the average errors per second since the FDC receiver has been locked in.
* RDC shows the frequency that the Reverse Data Channel transmitter is currently set to and it's output level.
* Delay indicates the round-trip delay between the set-top and the QPSK modem at the headend or hub.

whattolookfor
@optonline.net

whattolookfor

Anon

If you know your neighbors, see if they are having the same problems you are. You are most likely getting some sort of ingress in your cable systtem that is causing the pixelation. If it is only you, then somewhere in your house there is the leak. Check all of your fittings, make sure everything is tight. If you have any push on fittings, the kind without threads, or the twist on fittings you put on cable instead of crimped fittings, replace them. If you require a tech visit, ask the tech to check for INGRESS. Tell you, even if it is a white lie, that you had a problem in the past and that ingress was the problem. He will be able to certify your drop, from the tap to the house, and all of your lines in the house. Yes, he'll have to climb the pole. If you have a VCR connected to your cable box, try removing that and see if it works. Not sure how your house is built, maybe you have an old spiltter hidden in an attic, basement, ceiling, whtever that's causing the problem. When I was a tech, I've seen many problems like this. In one case, all it took was replacing a short push on jumper that came with a new VCR to solve the problem. Another thing I ran into was splitters buuilt by Regal. They would pass all tests, but for some reason, still cause tiling. Rreplacing them with Antronix or Viewsonics splitters (the kind CV uses) solved the problem. In my old house, there was one cable line that led direct from the first split to my HD box; that line was copper braided shielding, cheap wire, even though is was RG6 guage. That would tile occasionally, even though the signal levels were perfect. Couldn't change the wire, it was in an unaccessable wall. Now, for the really fun part. If every wire from your tap to your tv is good, no ingress, good fittings, splitters, signal, etc, and you still have tiling, your ingress is in the system. That is the one that is more difficult to find. MOre than likely, someone in your area is causing the ingress from their own house. Just as your modem and iO signals travel back through the cable system, so does noise. If someone's fauly equipment is injecting noise into the system, you can pick it up. That's where knowing if your neighbors have a problem helps. Finding the ingress is unfortunatly sometimes a long process. The plant techs have to identify the ingress, then track it down to it's source. They are able to track it to the exact address that is causing it, if they are looking for it. The problem would be if it only happens when that person is home for the night, turning on their tv or whatever, so try to keep a log of what times your tiling occurs. Is it only evening, or night? Most likely someone else causing the problem. Is it daytimes too? Then there is either ingress in your home, or if many people have the problem, the cable system outside. You may at some point have to ask for a supervisor to become involved, and not one from the call center, but from the field service. This is especially true if the first tech who visits your house does not check all your lines for ingress. Hoepfully this will help you oyut, and give everyone an idea of whqt is causing the problem. Many times, it is not CV's system, but a local interference problem.

bobd1950
Homer
Premium Member
join:2002-03-17
Pine Brook, NJ

bobd1950 to rs1990

Premium Member

to rs1990
Hopefully your team Won?..mine did...

SETON HALL..punched its ticket to BIGDANCE..FRI.night!

(so sorry PITT fans..SuperBowl was enuff!)

rs1990
Rick
Premium Member
join:2004-05-02
Poughkeepsie, NY

rs1990 to whattolookfor

Premium Member

to whattolookfor
Thanks a lot whattolookfor. I just got off the phone with CV and she had me do the usual reboots, send a signal to my box, etc. Didn't really help though, I am still seeing the pixelation. It did slow down a little just before I called them, but every few minutes it shows up again. Since she found nothing, she scheduled me an appointment next week...though that will be too late for the game.

I will go check with my neighbors to see what they are getting. Also, the house is brand new, we moved in last summer, so I would hope that they didn't use crappy cable or splitters (actually, this hookup has no splitters from me, it comes into my house in the basement and then right to the living room).

Just out of curiousity, all the things that you are talking about, would the show up just on one channel or would that be more pervassive? All other HD channels around this one are perfect...it is just ESPN HD and just in the last week.

Also, any info on what those erros per second that I am getting on this channel mean?

Thanks again, appreciate it.
rs1990

rs1990

Premium Member

Quick update...the pixelation is happening very badly on ESPN HD and also on IN-HD right now. I ran over to my neighbors house and it is perfect over there. The only real difference should be that I have the SA8300HD DVR box and he has the regular SA HD box. Would that make a difference at all?

As I mentioned earlier, I have CV coming out on Monday now, but they said that I would be charged if they find that it is my problem and not a CV problem. Anything else that it could be that I could check before they get here?