Kinda long winded, sorry for that.
I have a VOD problem with Comcast. VOD is new in my area. Here is what I have.
I have 6 SA digital boxes and 2 other analog TV outlets (8 total). We have a large family. After the drop, there is a drop amp and then an 8-way splitter with lines for each location. All has been fine. VOD rolled out about 3 weeks ago here. Since then, sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. Customer Service says VOD has been stable for 2 weeks - no dropouts. I checked the SA box's info screens and this is what I see. I noticed that when it does work the FDC (Forward Data Channel - which is showing as 75.250MHz), has a signal of around -1 to +1. When it does NOT work, it drops to about -14 and goes orange. All other readings seem unchanged. The main tuner signal shows either "analog" or around +4. If I disconnect the cable from the box for a couple of seconds and reconnect it, nothing changes, but if I disconnect the whole house BEFORE the amp and reconnect, the FDC signal returns back to near 0. VOD then works again. It may work like this for days of just a few minutes, then the FDC signal drops down to near -14. All the boxes do this.
I tried it without the amp but the signal is too low, period. All the analogs are grainy, there are dropouts and its too low for VOD to connect. I have 2 different amp setups: An Electroline with built-in 8-way splitter and a separate Motorola Drop amp with a Channelvision 8-way splitter. I have tried both setups and it still does this. I added the Moto amp to the Electroline setup (alot of power!), but it still dropped out. I originally had the Moto amp and a 5-way setup but as the family grew, I changed to the Electroline with the built-in 8-way. The moto amp is about 1-1/2 years old, the Electroline is 4 months old.
The only thing I have not yet tried is running no amp and only 2-4 boxes but that would defeat everybody having a tv. I am not sure if the amp is even the problem but I don't know why dropping the whole house off restores the FDC level when dropping an individual box off does not.
Only VOD is affected, everything else works okay (indemand, guide, weekly sport pak, etc.). I have a tech call with Comcast for next week, but I'm afraid he will just say something about the amp. Anybody have any suggestions I can try? Since VOD is new here, and everything had been working well, I'm not sure if this is my problem or still a VOD bug. Thanks. Bill
I have a VOD problem with Comcast. VOD is new in my area. Here is what I have.
I have 6 SA digital boxes and 2 other analog TV outlets (8 total). We have a large family. After the drop, there is a drop amp and then an 8-way splitter with lines for each location. All has been fine. VOD rolled out about 3 weeks ago here. Since then, sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. Customer Service says VOD has been stable for 2 weeks - no dropouts. I checked the SA box's info screens and this is what I see. I noticed that when it does work the FDC (Forward Data Channel - which is showing as 75.250MHz), has a signal of around -1 to +1. When it does NOT work, it drops to about -14 and goes orange. All other readings seem unchanged. The main tuner signal shows either "analog" or around +4. If I disconnect the cable from the box for a couple of seconds and reconnect it, nothing changes, but if I disconnect the whole house BEFORE the amp and reconnect, the FDC signal returns back to near 0. VOD then works again. It may work like this for days of just a few minutes, then the FDC signal drops down to near -14. All the boxes do this.
I tried it without the amp but the signal is too low, period. All the analogs are grainy, there are dropouts and its too low for VOD to connect. I have 2 different amp setups: An Electroline with built-in 8-way splitter and a separate Motorola Drop amp with a Channelvision 8-way splitter. I have tried both setups and it still does this. I added the Moto amp to the Electroline setup (alot of power!), but it still dropped out. I originally had the Moto amp and a 5-way setup but as the family grew, I changed to the Electroline with the built-in 8-way. The moto amp is about 1-1/2 years old, the Electroline is 4 months old.
The only thing I have not yet tried is running no amp and only 2-4 boxes but that would defeat everybody having a tv. I am not sure if the amp is even the problem but I don't know why dropping the whole house off restores the FDC level when dropping an individual box off does not.
Only VOD is affected, everything else works okay (indemand, guide, weekly sport pak, etc.). I have a tech call with Comcast for next week, but I'm afraid he will just say something about the amp. Anybody have any suggestions I can try? Since VOD is new here, and everything had been working well, I'm not sure if this is my problem or still a VOD bug. Thanks. Bill
