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amn70
@optonline.net

amn70

Anon

Pixelization, freezing, black screen on certain channels

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Been having these issues 4 boxes. Been going on for 3 months. Optimum unable to find issue though they claimed they replaced something out on the pole. Problem still there. Problem occurs on TLC channel 28, Discovery channel 27, Certain higher channels most commonly Showtime channels. Certain other channels as well. Yet many channels never have issues. The last two days strangely I noticed it began to happen heavily around 10pm and then slowly improved and returned to normal by around 11pm. Again, same channels are affected. Whats strange is it did on our 2 SA8300HD boxes and our new Samsung HD box but not on our one SA4200 SD box. I included two screenshots of one of the SA8300DS's diagnostic screens while the problem was at its worst.
Not sure how to read them so hopefully someone can tell me if the numbers are good or if they indicate something is wrong.

Thanks in advance,
Adam
frdrizzt
join:2008-05-03
Ronkonkoma, NY

frdrizzt

Member

Receive power of 3dB, Transmit of 44 dB, and SNR of 36 dB are all great levels.

amn70
@optonline.net

amn70

Anon

said by frdrizzt:

Receive power of 3dB, Transmit of 44 dB, and SNR of 36 dB are all great levels.

With these numbers looking so good what could be the cause of these issues? And why would our one non HD box be working fine while the 3 HD boxes experience the problem if the problem isn't at the boxes as the diagnostic numbers seem to indicate? Would these numbers looking so good indicate that the problem is completely on Optimums end and not even related to our connections inside or outside of our house?

And can I then assume that every other Optimum customer in my immediate area is experiencing the exact same problems at the exact same times and the exact same channels? I want to know if I am beating a dead horse getting Optimum to resolve this them simply changing connectors or drops to the house. Oh and BTW they did replace our drop recently which didn't help at all.

Thanks,
Adam
frdrizzt
join:2008-05-03
Ronkonkoma, NY

frdrizzt

Member

Well, happening on all 3 HD boxes & not SD boxes could indicate one of the following (in no particular order):

1) Issue with HD feed for channels. Not necessarily impacting all regions, but maybe leaving your local head end.
2) Issue on the particular frequency/frequencies that the channels are transmitted in. HD & SD would not travel at the same frequency so noise or bad levels on those individual frequencies (and not just on 603 MHz, which the box locks on)
3) Issue with in-home connection to that particular set of boxes. If they all pass through a common leg of a splitter, you can try replacing it if CV has not been inside the house (I know you mentioned they were outside working)
4) 3 bad boxes. Least likely solution, but not impossible.

Possibly others. I'm not an expert in this matter by any means.

Jmartz0
join:2000-07-20
Tenafly, NJ

Jmartz0 to amn70

Member

to amn70
Cordless phones can also cause problems with cable boxes.

amn70
@optonline.net

amn70 to frdrizzt

Anon

to frdrizzt
said by frdrizzt:

Well, happening on all 3 HD boxes & not SD boxes could indicate one of the following (in no particular order):

1) Issue with HD feed for channels. Not necessarily impacting all regions, but maybe leaving your local head end.
2) Issue on the particular frequency/frequencies that the channels are transmitted in. HD & SD would not travel at the same frequency so noise or bad levels on those individual frequencies (and not just on 603 MHz, which the box locks on)
3) Issue with in-home connection to that particular set of boxes. If they all pass through a common leg of a splitter, you can try replacing it if CV has not been inside the house (I know you mentioned they were outside working)
4) 3 bad boxes. Least likely solution, but not impossible.

Possibly others. I'm not an expert in this matter by any means.

#1 very possible
#2 makes sense to me as well.
#3 Not the case as one of the HD boxes goes to a different leg them the other two. And the one SD box that is not experiencing the problem is sharing a splitter with one of the HD boxes that is experiencing it.
#4 Highly unlikely as you said. They even replaced one of our 4300HD boxes that was experiencing it on one of the TV's with a Samsung box as per my request and its still happening on the Samsung box as well.
amn70

amn70 to Jmartz0

Anon

to Jmartz0
said by Jmartz0:

Cordless phones can also cause problems with cable boxes.

Interesting though highly unlikely scenario in this case. Two of the boxes with trouble are nowhere near a cordless phone and the phones in the house aren't in use at the time of the issue anyway.

Also now for the 3rd day in a row the problem began to start up at about 10pm. Its 10:02pm right now and its beginning to manifest itself. I am starting to see a pattern with this. Not sure what is so significant about 10pm eastern time to trigger this but I bet just like the last two days it will happen in varying degrees during the hour and then stop about 11pm. Now it does happen at other times of the day but this is the first time I am seeing a pattern 3 days in a row in the same timeframe or so its seems anyway. The degree that it manifests itself varies from minor to unwatchable.

Jmartz0
join:2000-07-20
Tenafly, NJ

Jmartz0 to amn70

Member

to amn70
My parents were having issues with their cable box. It was replaced multiple times, they had technicians replacing cables, etc. Singals were fine, there was absolutely no reason for the audio drop outs and signal picture dropping, channels not showing up, etc.

I managed to get a senior tech out to their house and he unplugged the cordless phone. Sure enough all of the problems vanished the second he unplugged it. The phone does not have to be in use or even in the same room, apparently some phones can cause problems with the cable boxes.

It is weird, but I think you should try it. At the worst it doesn't work and you plug the phone base station back in.

EliteData
EliteData
Premium Member
join:2003-07-06
Philippines

EliteData to amn70

Premium Member

to amn70
said by amn70 :

said by Jmartz0:

Cordless phones can also cause problems with cable boxes.

Interesting though highly unlikely scenario in this case. Two of the boxes with trouble are nowhere near a cordless phone and the phones in the house aren't in use at the time of the issue anyway.

Also now for the 3rd day in a row the problem began to start up at about 10pm. Its 10:02pm right now and its beginning to manifest itself. I am starting to see a pattern with this. Not sure what is so significant about 10pm eastern time to trigger this but I bet just like the last two days it will happen in varying degrees during the hour and then stop about 11pm. Now it does happen at other times of the day but this is the first time I am seeing a pattern 3 days in a row in the same timeframe or so its seems anyway. The degree that it manifests itself varies from minor to unwatchable.

sounds like interference from another RF device entering the cable line.