Coax Cable issues

[ronclark]

This might not be a verizon thing, but two weeks ago I had a tech out and was told the cable was bad and needed to be replaced.  I replaced the cable and it fixed the propblem. Yesterday, I started having the same problem, no service on one of the hd dvr's.  What are the chances of two cables going bad and what is causing this to happen? 

[Keyboards]

The most common cause of "bad cables" are the connectors.  Are the ones on your suspect cable crimped or compression (crimped typically have a hex shaped extension at the cable end of the connector, compression fittings have the cable going directly into the commector)?  Also, is the cable RG-59 or RG-6?  RG-59 will work in many cases, but for bandwidth and signal loss issues RG-6 is recommended.

Also, sometimes the culprit is a bad splitter.  If you are using old ones try replacing with newer ones rated for 5 - 1000 MHz (minimum bandwidth required).

[ronclark]

Thanks for the Reply.  The cable is R-6 and the wires are crimped.  The verizon tech changed out the splitter the last time he was here two weeks ago, but not sure what he put in, i will check it out.   I have a confirmed apointment tomorrow with a tech.

[Keyboards]

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@ronclark wrote:
Thanks for the Reply.  The cable is R-6 and the wires are crimped.  The verizon tech changed out the splitter the last time he was here two weeks ago, but not sure what he put in, i will check it out.   I have a confirmed apointment tomorrow with a tech.

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When the tech is there, have him replace the crimps with compression fittings.  Many times the braid (shield) gets intermittent with crimps and can cause nothces in the frequency spectrum as well as "leaking" RF (a no-no per the FCC).

EDIT - If a Verizon tech replaced the splitter it will be the right bandwidth (most likely manufactured by PDI).

Message Edited by Keyboards on 07-20-2009 01:33 PM

[ronclark]

Yes, the splitter is PDI.  I just got home and now the other tv has no service.  Another cable gone bad?????

[VZ_Brian]

When you say "no service", what exactly is happening?  Are you getting any message on the screen? 

[ronclark · Accepted solution]

It says no service on several channels but i still receive a couple of channels.

Any how, the tech spent close to 5 hours here figuring out the problem and it turned out to be a fiber optic line crimped in the attic, in such a way that it wasn't letting light through.  A little red light on the box next to the battery back up led him that direction, which the first tech completely missed.  All of the cables turned out to be ok.  One of the cables he changed out just because it was not a compression fitting and he moved the modem to a more convenient place.

Kudos to Verizon Tech Brian for an outstanding job.

The cable the tech changed out was actually mine because the first tech said i needed to run new wire.

Message Edited by ronclark on 07-21-2009 06:24 PM