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OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

Sound problem with channel #2 (analog cable)

Past 3 days I see (actually, hear) sound problem with channel #2 (analog cable). Audio is chopped to the point, that one can hear only about 50% of whole audio. At the same time sound on other channels is just fine.

The problem has started at Monday and it's going on right now (3rd day in a row). And it seems like no one care... The problem is not local to my house. Several blocks away, in office building, there is the same story...

What's going on and how to fix it?
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

analog cable is ending real soon on comcast.
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

The question is why only channel #2 has this choppy sound problem and how to fix it.

Is it content provider at fault here? (content and ads exhibit the same problem) Or, may be, it's a regional digital/analog converter?
danielr83
join:2007-05-25
Fresno, CA

danielr83

Member

Where are you located?
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

I'll send you IM

Ultibeam
join:2008-05-27
USA

Ultibeam to OZO

Member

to OZO
It does sound like it's your local content provider, which could be faulty analog equipment. Contact them to let them know to possibly work out a fix. But I would not count on them doing anything as digital is priority, analog will be gone soon.
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

Here is an interesting observation. It looks like the problem disappears at morning hours (yesterday and today), but always present after noon (including evening) time since Monday. I'll check it today evening and report, if it's still here.

The sound problem is a way too obvious (no one can watch that channel if it happens). So, I wonder how it's possible, that no one, who provides that service (and I pay for the service), has noticed it and make a move to fix it... Wow!

gar187er
I DID this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Seattle, WA

gar187er

Member

if analog sound is cutting in and out its a feed from that station....
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

It's 4th day in a row when sound begins to brake at every evening and it looks like it's on schedule or something...

For example, this morning - 5PM (the last time I've checked) - everything was just fine, no any problems with sound at all. But after 6:30PM - sound is badly chopped again.

Is it a joke, that someone plays for the whole area, making it impossible for people to watch channel #2 at evening time, when they're at home? Or is it a planned action from Comcast, based on some policy? What else could cause this weird effect?

What's going on?
The Q
join:2008-06-26
Collegeville, PA

The Q

Member

Are you sure it's not just an issue or interference at your house or general area that could be affecting that single channel? What is the cable or broadcast network on channel 2?
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

said by The Q:

Are you sure it's not just an issue or interference at your house or general area that could be affecting that single channel? What is the cable or broadcast network on channel 2?

As I mentioned in my first post:

The problem is not local to my house. Several blocks away, in office building, there is the same story...

Channel #2 is Comcast cable / KTVU / Fox.

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal

DocDrew

Premium Member

Have you contacted Comcast at all about this?
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

Yes, I did. They offered to send a technician to my house and check. Instead of trying to actually help to solve their problem, as usual, they offered a gamble - it'd be free of charge, if the problem is on our (Comcast) side, or you pay $35 for visit, if it's not. I took the bet - I'm confident that it's not my fault. Next day I've concluded, that at the time they've scheduled technician to arrive at my residence (working hours), the channel #2 will be working just fine, as it does last several days. It's on evenings, when it usually happens.... I canceled the appointment. And as I mentioned - I see the same story in several blocks away. So, it's definitely not on my side and technician would not help here, but as the best, rather will confirm what I see here and there... Comcast did nothing to fix it since then.

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal

1 edit

DocDrew

Premium Member

scheduled an appointment but cancelled it before the tech visited... So in effect nobody from Comcast looked at it or confirmed it.

Try using the comcast direct forum
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

Before scheduling appointment, I completely explained problem to Comcast reps. So, they do know about it at least from one customer. From the other side, if it happens in a big area, don't they get any signals from other customers too? And, BTW do they watch what they actually produce and offer to customers or not?

Orlando57
@comcast.net

Orlando57

Anon

You may have an ingress issue. You say you are watching Ch 2 analog. Is this going through a box? Or is it hooked up directly to your tv?
The reason I ask is the cable box when it tunes to Ch 2 it is not really on Ch 2 but a digital channel. That may be why a lot of customers are not complaining.
If you hook up the cable directly to your tv without a box there could still be a signal (outside) on Ch 2 and it gets in the cable and causes noise. Especially at night when the temperature goes down. It used to be ghosting and you could see a double image on the screen. Now since it is a digital signal off air it may cause audio issues.

I would set up a test on the tv in question and put a box on it and see it you get the issue through the box. If you don't it could be off air interference causing your issue.

One other thing is the outside signal may be getting into your tv directly. Is the tv with the issue an older tv? Sometimes off air signal providers can turn up their transmission power at night and that is why you see it more at night than during the day.
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

Orlando57, thank you for trying to help.

It hooked directly and there is no converter box in the middle (I don't have one). It's an old plain analog TV signal with Ch.2 coming on its own frequency. It's not a noise (only sound is completely chopped, on/off several times per second) and it's not an interference (no video or any other problems). TV set is out of question too, because I see it in office, which is several blocks away.

BTW, today morning sound on Ch.2 is problem-free again (as usual at this time). I'll report what I'll see this evening...

Orlando57
@comcast.net

Orlando57

Anon

Ozo,

The outside cable plant could be having an issue with ingress. What will happen in KTVU has an off air feed that used to be analog. That went away a couple of years ago with the digital conversion the government made everyone do.
So what may be happening now is someone is using that channel (off -air) that goes out in a digital signal. That signal and the analog signal Comcast is sending out gets mixed together. The digital signal interfers with the analog signal enough you get that choppy sound you are are talking about.

Again this is a complete guess, Comcast should supply you with a converter free (DTA) if you are paying for a video feed which I assume you are because you were thinking of getting a service call for it.

Ask for a box to trouble shoot the issue. If you don't get the interruption through the box then the signal for the analog is being screwed up somewhere. All the cable company does is they get the signal from the channel. They will convert that channel into an analog or digital feed depending how they recieve it.

If it works through the box and not the tv the problem is finding where which will be difficult for a tech because they are in a digital world now and they don't troubleshoot analog issues as much anymore becasue a majority have boxes on their tvs.

Good luck.
videonex
join:2001-07-22

videonex to OZO

Member

to OZO
Most of the time these days the main feed for all stations is digital from the main (regional) head end, and then in the local head end, the one that did everything in the old days, uses a set top box to receive the digital feed and then re-transmit out of the composite video and audio jacks into the old analog system for the immediate local area. Since they promote and convince more and more people to switch to digital, the number of people like yourself watching the analog feed keeps getting smaller and smaller. It takes someone like you being more pro-active in telling them about the issue to get someone to actually check it and fix it. Most of the time someone will check the channel on the digital box and when that's OK, it gets dropped. The local office where you can swap boxes etc, is where you want to go. They will have the ability to check the direct analog feed and see that the problem does exist and get the ball rolling. Customer service people on the phones are clueless about these things and all they can do is schedule a service call under the conditions you explained. Be explicit in explaining that the problem is with a direct cable connection with no box to an analog TV. It's probably either a digital box with an analog audio output gone bad, a connection issue into the analog modulator or the audio section of the modulator has gone bad. If you're lucky, the office will be located at the same place as the old head end and they can and will fix it while you wait!

Other alternative is call KTVU and tell them. It's amazing how fast these problems get cured when the station calls the cable company.
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

Thank you, guys for all of your good advises.
It looks like it's finally got somehow fixed. It's 8PM today and sound still work well (so far )...
Paul F
join:2009-05-15
Portland, OR

Paul F

Member

I had a similar problem. I mainly use the DTA to record few channels each day and one was bad. One day I tried a totally different channel and they were speaking Spanish. I had accidentally pushed the "LANG" button, I guess one channel puts out noisy audio when I select the alternate audio stream. You may have pushed it twice(long shot).