Plasma/cable question


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Old 06-21-07, 03:00 PM
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Plasma/cable question

Now that the prices have dropped, we are getting a 50" plasma! We do not have digital cable but we just had a lot of work done on our house and have to relocate the hole for the cable for the tv's new location.
It is bad crawling under the house and the old line is right there for me to push up the new hole but someone told me I should have a new type of cable. Do I need that even if I don't have digital? We have two lines coming in to the house but it is split right outside and then each line is split again so do I need all new cable and if so, what is the type to buy?
I also heard that if I get the type of new cable, we won't be able to read the captions of the tv anymore and we need those for a member of the family who can't hear(and can barely see, hence the new "big" tv!) True or false about the captions?
We just want a bigger screen for this family member and saw this tv, any one know if it is okay for our purposes?
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=161719
Thanks in advance.
 
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Old 06-21-07, 05:12 PM
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Too take full advantage of the clarity of your TV, and digital cable, it is prefered you use RG6 cable. Most typical homes are wired with RG59 cable. They look very similar but RG6 delivers a better picture (may not be too noticable).

Sometimes you can call your cable company, and if they are in a good mood, they can come replace these lines with RG6.

Your TV will work fine with RG59.

I do recommend upgrading to digital cable to take advantage of the clarity and options.

Also, save some money for the Protection Plans! ASPECIALLY PLASMA's and LCD's! These TV's typically crap out around the 4 yr mark and are very expensive to repair.
 
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Old 06-22-07, 08:54 AM
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Thanks so much! I may as well replace the cables if I have to crawl under there so now I know what kind to buy.

Another question, our cable co. only lets us have 4 tvs hooked up-total and to top it off, we can only have 2 included in the price and the other 2 are charged an additional outlet fee. So, we have split the cable ourselvesto hook up all the other tvs. 4 are fine but now that I rehooked up the other 3, the signal is terrible. This doesn't include the big tv yet (obviously) but I was reading here that cheap splitters could be the cause. I also saw some posts about a "signal booster" but that seemed to pertain to digital and was hundreds of $$. Is there something like that for the "old time" not digital cable that is affordable?

So, what is the best splitter to go and buy at the store? I am sure we just have cheapies from the hardware store right now. (Can't go to the cable place or they will charge me!)

Is it better to split the signal before coming into the house or to split the line once it is in? Does that even matter? (Outside lines are all underground until it gets to the house so we don't even know where the box is.)

We are having second thoughts about the plasma. We have a big tube tv right now and the only thing wrong with it is that the sensor for the remotes in the tv itself does not work. You can not change the volume and after replacing the remote, it did not solve the problem. Is there an easy fix for that? We can use the dvd/vcr to change channels though but the volume thing is a pain!

Thanks for any additional help you can give me. Sorry for so many questions but putting the house back together after remodeling has been a chore. You should have seem me trying to fish the cable up through the walls! I finally got smart and bought a 24" drill bit but the first hole ended up under the kitchen cabinet-oops.
 
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Old 06-22-07, 09:42 AM
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Cable company is charging you for additional outlets? Do you have boxes on these? They should not charge you for these. I have ran all my cable into many different rooms myself, and my cable company, Cox, does not care at all.

Yes, splitters can give you bad pictures. Spend a litle extra $ and get a good one. It doesn't really matter where you split it, but, I would not add a splitter to a line that already has a splitter or two. This will degrade your signal.

They do make signal boosters, they range from a hunderd $ and down. The more money you spend, the more amplification of the signal you will have. They sell cheaper ones, for like $15 at Radio Shack which are good for one TV.
 
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Old 06-26-07, 01:10 PM
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Hey HotinOCK, Thanks for your reply. Yes! They charge us $7.50 for an additional outlet over the free first 2 and no boxes anywhere! (What a rip! and you are not allowed to have more than 4 TVs hooked up period!

I had to come back and tell you that I got the signal booster and it worked great! Tried it first before changing the cable and it made such a difference I could not believe it! Not only that but I could not put it at the original line coming in because it needed electric so I just stuck it on right before the 3 way splitter and all 3 of those tvs now have a perfect picture! They were never this good before. Wish I had known about it years ago.

(Decided to wait on the big tv but did all the work fishing the line for the old tv but can't lift the darn thing-grrr so I am not sure how the picture will be there yet but at least I know about the signal booster if needed-yeah!) Thanks again for your help.
 
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Old 06-26-07, 01:18 PM
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Glad to hear it! Slowly the cable companies are upgrading their equipment and lines so that consumers do not need to get boosters. Majority of bad signal is on their end, but some older homes have bad wiring as well.
 
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Old 07-30-07, 08:30 PM
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Talking

Originally Posted by HotinOKC
Glad to hear it! Slowly the cable companies are upgrading their equipment and lines so that consumers do not need to get boosters. Majority of bad signal is on their end, but some older homes have bad wiring as well.
I can tell you for a fact that cable plant built not so long ago for 750 Mhz were not designed to deliver enough signal for more then say, 5 outlets at best typically. Even an older 550 Mhz system that's been retrofit with new actives can probably come close to that. Don't get me wrong your right, there is a lot of old, old cable plant out there that isn't up to the task. But for the most part signal loss is the result of old wire and devices in the house without a doubt. You see, the cable companies are utilizing more bandwidth (higher frequencies) to add sevices that people want (PPV, VOD, HiDef, etc) and the old house wiring and devices just attenuate those higher frequencies very quickly which is why the industry standard is RG-6 and longer drop lengths can even be RG-11. Bigger cable = Less loss.

I'd love to know what cable company that guy has because charging per outlet is crazy. The company I work for will wire your whole house if you want for a one time installation charge. Use all of it or none of it. We don't care.
 
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Old 07-31-07, 07:04 PM
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What company do you work for?

I'd love to know what cable company that guy has because charging per outlet is crazy. The company I work for will wire your whole house if you want for a one time installation charge. Use all of it or none of it. We don't care.[/QUOTE]

WHAT company do you work for? Can you wire my house? I've been trying for four years to get my cable company to come to my house and every time I ask, they just laugh.
 
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Old 07-31-07, 08:20 PM
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The OP was/would get charged additional monthly fees for additional outlets to be on, not additional charges to install the wiring.

I've never heard of a company doing this, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Running cable to outlets is not all that difficult and most DIYers can do this without to much trouble.

You asked the cable company to install new drops and they laughed?
 
 

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