At Wits End - Snowy TV 2

[jrv331]

I moved my 222 to a new room that did not have a cable line in it. I installed a new RG 6 line from the box to the inside wall plate. I terminated both ends with twist on connectors. When I originally moved the box I just unconnected it from the wall plate keeping all the original wires and diplexers untouched.

TV 1 looks great but TV 2 has a snowy picture. Everything is hooked up the exact same way as before with the exception of using the new line with twist on connectors. I have checked the twist on connectors multiple times but no improvement.

Im grasping at straws here(and pulling whats left of my hair out) assuming the connectors are causing a problem with back feeding the signal to TV 2. Am I correct and need to change out the twist ons or should I be checking some thing else.
Thanks and Happy Holidays
John

 

[MrDogDad]

Chances are that one of the twist on connectors is either not making a good connection to the coax shield, or there is a piece of foil or braid from the shield shorting out to the center conductor. Also if you used staples or nails to secure the cable, be sure you did not puncture the cable. It is possible that the cable is bad from factory, but that is really rare.
I would also check the connectors behind the receiver. I've seen them become loose on the cable when pulled on slightly.

 

[TheKrell]

Assuming the same cable is working for both satellite tuners, then it's not the cable! Make sure you don't have your diplexer in backwards.

 

[jscud]

On what channels are your TV1 and TV2 being sent out to your other TVs? I had a similar problem with my VIP222. MY TV1 was set up to be sent on UHF Channel 22 and TV2 on Channel 24. As with your system, TV2 was snowy while TV1 was fine. I changed TV2 to UHF Channel 28 and that fixed the problem. Something in my home cabling must have been blocking the Channel 24 frequency.

John

 

[Harmeister]

If the run is longer, you may need to put a signal amplifier in the middle too (close to the source where the signal is strongest). I have a 622 and a 722 and the runs from them to TV2 via coax are really long. Without signal amps in the middle (I just got the cheapest one at radio shack), mine was fuzzy too.

 

[webbydude]

Assuming the same cable is working for both satellite tuners, then it's not the cable! Make sure you don't have your diplexer in backwards.

+1 :up

 

[padgett]

Do you also have an OTA antenna ? When we upgraded to HD recently, the installers relocated the 222 from the attic where the 4900s were to the family room TV and fed the signal back to the attic and the MBR feed. The OTA antenna for the local channels was combined to the DN signal with a total of six splitters (two in family room, one by antenna/dishes, and three in attic with two facing backwards. This includes one splitter for son's 722.

I found that if I removed the OTA antena lead on the splitter to the MBR and verse the vice, the picture improved dramatically.

The solution was to replace all of the splitters except one for son's feed (he had not complained)with a Rat Shack 4-way amplifier for the OTA antenna and a second RG-6 line to the MBR. Both MBR pictures (SAT and OTA) are now very good.

It would have been simpler but the OTA portion of the 222 receiver does not seem very strong. I have a Zenith 901 converter box for the MBR Sony 4:3 and it pulls in several more stations from the same antenna. This is why I needed both the OTA and the DN feed to the bedroom however use of a splitter as a combiner affected both signals.

 

[jrv331]

After trying all things mentioned here with no luck, I went to HomeDepot and bought some new RG6Q cable. I ran a line from the outside box straight to the diplexer(sorry if this is not the correct term) on the back of the receiver. TV 2 had a perfect picture.

Im guessing that whats left on my spool of cable is going bad.

Thanks to all who tried to help
John

 

[highdefjeff]

I am happy that you found your clear picture. There are many options to try when dealing with picture quality on TV2. I have never had to add an amp to get a clear picture, though. Here's some TV2 tips:

TV2 Tips & Tricks

 

[padgett]

"The TV2 Tips and Tricks" mentions installing a splitter backwards to combine OTA and SAT signals. I found that this was the cause of the bad signal on TV2 (MBR). At first I installed an A-B switch in place of the splitter and was able to get a good picture on both but was not a good soulution. I now ran a second RG-6 line to the MBR for the OTA and that was the answer.

Also I added the RatShack 4 way splitter/amp to eliminate three of the six splitters the installers left and is used for the OTA antenna only. This feeds a Zenith 901 converter box in the MBR and finds 35 local channels where the 222 only finds 26.

 

[old corps]

Strange. I initially did the A/B switch thing for TV2/OTA, then switched to using the
"backwards" splitter solution. Never had a problem with pq either way. TV2 pic was, and is fine. Go figger.........

Ed

 

[Jim5506]

May have had a short stinger on the end of one cable.

 

[padgett]

Interesting: my OTA is a powered "flying saucer" I installed twenty years ago - was surprised to find it is still working. I am in SW Orlando (west of I-4). Most of the transmission antennas are by Bithlo on the far east side (35-40 miles) and am getting an excellent signal on those, the Zenith 901 really seems to have a strong tuner, better than the 222 or my HD TVs.

Unfortunately it also gives a 480p picture but has a number of zooms so for the big SD Sony WEGA in the bedroom it works fine as TV2.

Perhaps the line power unit is inteferring but when combined using a back splitter, *both* pictures were bad.

 

[highdefjeff]

"The TV2 Tips and Tricks" mentions installing a splitter backwards to combine OTA and SAT signals. I found that this was the cause of the bad signal on TV2 (MBR). At first I installed an A-B switch in place of the splitter and was able to get a good picture on both but was not a good soulution. I now ran a second RG-6 line to the MBR for the OTA and that was the answer.

Also I added the RatShack 4 way splitter/amp to eliminate three of the six splitters the installers left and is used for the OTA antenna only. This feeds a Zenith 901 converter box in the MBR and finds 35 local channels where the 222 only finds 26.

SIX SPLITTERS?!?!

Don't you get a snowy picture?

 

[PBX_Guy]

A backwards diplexer is the most common mistake, but twist-on connectors are the bane of system troubleshooters, Most often just the action of screwing on the twist-on connector will shred (break) the fragile braid resulting in snowy pix on low band but better pix on high vhf (the exact opposite of what you'd expect in a long cable run). However from your description my suspicion is something hooked up backwards (diplexor or splitter) hook up either one wrong and you'll have snowy pix.

 

[PBX_Guy]

Also I added the RatShack 4 way splitter/amp to eliminate three of the six splitters the installers left and is used for the OTA antenna only. This feeds a Zenith 901 converter box in the MBR and finds 35 local channels where the 222 only finds 26.

I've found the ATSC tuner in the 222 (and 722/622) is not as sensitive as the one in the new 211k nor sensitive as those internal ATSC tuners in any of our TVs. It works, but needs a good signal to drive it. If your sig. levels are marginal the 222 (and 722/622) may not be able to find them all.

Have you tried inputting them manually from the 'add local' screen?

Also, the Zenith convertor allows pass-thru of your present analog (NTSC) locals. That could easily explain the missing channels on the 222. The OTA tuner in the 222 is ATSC only.

 

[dlsnyder]

I have found only one practical way to combine OTA signals from my antenna with the output from a DVR. I was using diplexers and hybrid VHF/UHF splitters from Radio Shack. The output of my old 508 was on channel 3 and went to the VHF leg of the splitter. The UHF leg went to the tuner input on the TV. The "input" of the hybrid splitter went to the antenna leg of a diplexer. On the feed end of the run, the VHF side of the hybrid splitter went to a distribution amplifier and 4-way splitter to other TVs in the house. The UHF side was connected to the outdoor antenna. Of course there was also a diplexer there to seperate the antenna/DVR signal from the satellite signal. This worked just fine in my area as all of our local DTV signals are UHF - or at least they will be until Feb. 17. Now that I have replaced that 508 with a 622 that setup no longer works. I may have to finally break down and run another coax into the bedroom.

You should have seen the look on the installer's face when he saw that setup. He couldn't figure out what I had done or how it could possibly work. And I checked - there was no re-radiation of the DVR signal out of the antenna.