[mythtv-users] Comcast / San Francisco and pcHDTV 3000

[Meatwad]

Deyan Bektchiev wrote:
> Meatwad wrote:
>> If you DO have a noise problem, an amp will only make tuning worse if 
>> not impossible. Verify and solve any noise issues before adding any 
>> gain. 1st--Inspect analog cable channels for noise. 2nd--Find the coax 
>> coming from the cableco. Feed that directly to the ANT in on a TV. 
>> Inspect the analog channels again. You may see an improvement (less 
>> noise). If you do, your cabling needs to be redesigned, repaired and/or 
>> replaced. If not, the cableco needs to fix a compromised termination nearby.
>>   
> You are pretty much describing what I did and I've had several Comcast 
> technicians come to my place and all of them so far claim that they've 
> never been or not follow up.
 >
> The only solution all of them proposed was to change my existing cable 
> box with one that would convert the QAM signal for the TV (Motorola 
> DCT700) but nothing close to fixing the real issue with the noise. Of 
> course this does nothing to fix my PVR-500 tuning directly these 
> channels and the box cannot be controlled via RS-232 anyway, so it's not 
> a fix for me.

If problem exceeds technicians patience or skill, then change box. All 
the contractors think of is "how many tickets can I punch today."

> I think that they just don't want to spend any more money fixing analog 
> channels since everything is going digital soon and they'd hate to 
> "waste" any money on something that will only be used 1-2 years.

Analog isn't going away that quickly. It will be around. But more 
importantly, if there is noise in the band at analog they can count on 
problems elsewhere in the spectrum affecting that portion of the 
network. It still needs fixing.

> I had another technician come today and he also promised to follow up 
> with "the network people" but I'm not holding my hopes very high on them 
> resolving my problem...

I assume a total a$$hat will show up at the client's door. Lessens the 
disappointment somewhat, doesn't it? Sadly, stroking their ego a little 
bit up front helps get them to do their job.