I was trying to watch AMC on cable channel 65 tonight but it seems there is interference coming from the local Telefutura KTFQ station who broadcast on channel 14 and also are on cable channel 14. Is there anyway I can stop the interference, besides contacting Comcast? I actually had to turn the VCR on to watch AMC .
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Cable interference
- Thread starter genius
- Start date
genius said:
Get Comcast to move AMC to a different channel... cable channel 65 is (pretty much) the same frequency as air channel 14. It sounds like KTFQ's air signal is leaking into the cable.
Make sure you're using good quality cables to connect the Comcast signal to your TV. Make sure all connections are solid.
A
AKLes
Guest
w9wi said:
Very common cause is the use of the lightly shielded cables with "push on" f-connectors. The kind that typically come with VCR's. The cable from the "wall" to the decoder box is usually cable-company supplied, as is the cable from the box to the TV. It's when folks start inserting a VCR in series with the TV that the cheap cable creeps in and the garbage starts.
OTOH: Some cables do a lousy job of keeping their systems "tight" and have no interest in so doing. They forget that where there's a leak "out" there is also a leak "in". Dealt with one not long ago what was spewing out leakage, destroying reception on 161.76 MHz, a frequency for which the station I was helping out was licensed for remote pickup. When actually transmitting it was OK but monitoring the frequency was impossible because of the cable leakage. Solution: Fire up the VHF with audio pumped into it and leave it up. The legal, licensed signal got back into the cable and wiped out a very profitable home shopping channel. Took the cable company less than a day to fix the leak they'd denied existed for over a month!
genius said:
During the 90s and somewhat into today, I have had the same problem with WPXA 14 (Pax/ION) and Cable 65 (Cable 65 is on the same frequencies as UHF 14). The transmitter is 10 miles north of where I live in Acworth, GA (across Lake Allatoona). During the 90's, the signal was so strong WPXA's (then WTLK) picture would come in crystal clear without an antenna plugged in (a naked jack if you will).
Also we had a poor signal with the cable provider we had before 2001 (Wometco/Media 1/MediaOne/AT&T), which not only interfered with Cable 65, but Cable 66 as well. When we switched to a city government provided service in 2001, the problems went away. Also, transmitter changes have weakened the signal from what it once was (although it is still strong enough to cause problems on our sets with digital cable boxes).
If you live within 10 miles or so of a transmitter site (AM, FM, or TV), you might have problems with these issues. A few years ago, radio station WHTA 107.9 in Atlanta caused an entire neighborhood (and a nearby school) to have hip-hop music come in on anything with a powered speaker, from telephones to computer speakers to talking childrens toys. It took months for the problem to be fixed.
You probably should call both Comcast and KTFQ.
K
KML0224
Guest
I'm on Comcast in New Britain,(CT). The only thing I have problems with it over-the-air channel 3 from Avon Mountain. It messes with CN-8 on cable channel 3. If the cable is crap or if the cable is just tapping the wall plate, I'll get the CN-8 picture and the WFSB sound. I really don't have many problems with over-the-air channels 30 and 61, depsite the fact that the Rattlesnake Mountain transmitters are 5 miles from this house at the most.
That's because the VHF broadcast frequencies are the same as the VHF cable frequencies. Since ch. 3 is the only Hartford VHF station, it's the only one you see it on. I assume you can't pick up WTNH 8 New Haven OTA, correct? Because if you could, you'd probably also notice it there. For UHF, OTA channel X is at the same frequency as X+51 on the cable system for OTA channels 15-43 and X+56 for channels 44-69, which is why OTA ch 14 interferes with CATV ch 65 in the original posting. If your TV is unplugged from the cable (it helps if plugged into an OTA antenna though), and your TV is in CATV mode (instead of broadcast mode), you should find WUVN 18 Hartford at ch 69, WTXX 20 Waterbury at ch 71, WEDH 24 Hartford at ch 75, WVIT 30 New Britain at ch 81, and WTIC 61 Hartford at ch 117. If you can pick up the Springfield stations, they'll be at 73, 91 and 113.
K
KML0224
Guest
dhett said:
I get analog channel 8 in pretty good actually. I don't get the Springfield, MA stations at all. You forgot their sister station channel 59 (MY) in your list. I get a so-so picture of theirs, but just enough on their digital channel to see MY in high definition. Whether I actually watch it though? LOL
Kevin Lagasse said:
I was going to ask you if you get interference on 8 as well, but Zap2It reports that WTNH is on ch 8 on the cable system in New Britain anyway, so there wouldn't be interference. And it appears that your cable system doesn't have any stations located X+51 or X+56 from any CT UHFs, so it looks like WFSB/CN8 is unique on your system. If you're curious, you might tune to one of the unused channels to see if a local UHF is on it.
I didn't list WCTX or WHPX because I mistakenly thought you were NW of Hartford (which is why I thought you might get the Springfield stations). Had I been reading for comprehension, I'd have seen that you said you were in New Britain, which is SW of Hartford. Or maybe I just knew that you wouldn't be interested in watching what was on either station.
Forgot to mention.
WFSB's OTA signal causes interference to COX Sports Televison which is on Channel 3. (Though they mostly show infomercials).
WTNH's OTA signal causes interference to WSAH/43 which is on Channel 8. WTNH is on channel 7 where I live. (Actually all 3 COX systems in CT carry 8 on 7). Forgot to mention WSAH was a Shop-at-Home O&O station and is in the process of being sold to Multi-Cultural Broadcasting and will go Chinese in June.
WFSB's OTA signal causes interference to COX Sports Televison which is on Channel 3. (Though they mostly show infomercials).
WTNH's OTA signal causes interference to WSAH/43 which is on Channel 8. WTNH is on channel 7 where I live. (Actually all 3 COX systems in CT carry 8 on 7). Forgot to mention WSAH was a Shop-at-Home O&O station and is in the process of being sold to Multi-Cultural Broadcasting and will go Chinese in June.
Channel 95 on our cable system always has a poor signal. Doesn't matter what TV or what type of connection you're using. Doesn't matter much to me because all they run is PIN. Used to be an access channel but the cable company turned 95 and 96 into infomercials.
For a time in I think 2002 the local 50kw FM radio station's audio was leaking onto Channel 95.
For a time in I think 2002 the local 50kw FM radio station's audio was leaking onto Channel 95.
Cable channels 95 and 96 are on the same frequencies as FM radio. 95 is 90-96 MHz, and 96 is 96-102 MHz. Any cable company that uses them is asking for problems from "ingress" interference, which is why when they're used at all, it's often for "throwaway" channels like PIN. Time Warner here in Rochester tried to put C-SPAN and C-SPAN2 on those channels a few years back (remapping them in the digital boxes to their old 44 and 45 positions), but there was so much interference from FM broadcasters (who are licensed to use the frequencies, which the cable company isn't) that they relented and moved them back.
Other channels often susceptible to ingress interference are 19 and 20, which overlap some high-powered paging channels just above the aviation band, and 97, which is also in the FM broadcast spectrum.
Other channels often susceptible to ingress interference are 19 and 20, which overlap some high-powered paging channels just above the aviation band, and 97, which is also in the FM broadcast spectrum.
There is a very similar thing in the town where I live. This has gone on for many, many years. The cable system I have is Continental Cablevision/MediaOne/AT&T/Comcast in that order. And my area has 2 separate lineups for customers with a box and cable-ready customers. For cable ready customers, all of the VHF channels (WGBH, WBZ, WCVB, WHDH) are on channels 22-25. Channel 3 (CN8) which used to be QVC has noise interference lines that are synchronized with the audio of WGBH. Channel 4 on the cable-ready lineup is not used. Channel 5 (WYDN) has some interference from WCVB, but it's not that severe. Channel 7 (WSBE from Providence) has interference from WHDH. And I remember once back in 2001, the interference was so bad, that on Channel 95 (which was then C-SPAN 2) had the audio from WJMN-FM, and it was loud and clear! Channel 96 (ESPN Classic) had interference from WZLX, and I think 97 had interference from WODS. This used to bother me a lot. But it doesn't now, since I have digital, and the channels are offered digitally.
Jeremy Andrews said:
Thanks Jeremy, I forgot about those two. 95 and 96 are garabage on my cable system up here in Connecticut as well. 95 is HSN (but it's 79 if you have a digital box). And someone I know has COX Digital Cable and 79 is just as bad as 95. And 96 is Leased Access, which as filler runs the TVSS Infomercial Network and is also leased to Connecticut Off Track Betting 7 Days a week 8PM-11PM Saturdays and Sundays 1PM-530PM.
Figure this one out. On all the channel charts they've sent us along with the listings on the TV Guide Channel and all the online TV Listings they have it listed as 79 HSN. With No Mention of 95, however the leased access channel is listed as 80/96. There is no 80. The leased access channel is 96 whether you have COX Digital Cable or just a cable ready set.
For the most part the interference on 19 and 20 isn't as noticable as it is on the other channels. Here on COX Cable 19 is TV Guide Channel and 20 is WRDM/50, the Telemundo affiliate. I rarely watch Telemundo. And the TV Guide Channel, I just watch for a minute or two just to see what's on a particular channel and then I change it. No matter what channel TV Guide Channel is on it don't matter to me wether or not there's interference just as long as the scroll is still able to be read. :Scott Fybush said:
In my area Charter Cable out of Jackson, TN had skipped having stations on channels 70 and 75 presumably because of interference caused by WJTE-LP channel 19 in Jackson and WPTY channel 24 in Memphis (I think, but I'm not sure why it's necessary), which would be the over the air equivalents of cable channels 70 and 75. However I live less than 2 miles from the tower for WJKT channel 16 but Charter has Sportsouth (Formerly Turner South) on cable channel 67. I don't have any problem on the sets with digital tuners, but I do have trouble with bleedover from WJKT on my other sets that don't have it. Some of the suggestions in this thread might hopefully help my problems as well.
Things are changing though later this month when Charter realigns their channel lineup. Nickelodeon will be moved to cable channel 67, and the History Channel will be moved to channel 70. However channel 75 will still be open, and cable channels 15 and 18 will now be open as well. (What is the over the air equivalent of these channels?) It's strange to me that Charter is going to having more stations on channels where there could be a problem with interference from an over the air station, but are leaving channels open where that shouldn't be a problem.
Things are changing though later this month when Charter realigns their channel lineup. Nickelodeon will be moved to cable channel 67, and the History Channel will be moved to channel 70. However channel 75 will still be open, and cable channels 15 and 18 will now be open as well. (What is the over the air equivalent of these channels?) It's strange to me that Charter is going to having more stations on channels where there could be a problem with interference from an over the air station, but are leaving channels open where that shouldn't be a problem.
K
KML0224
Guest
Just checked my analog lineup in New Britain, CT and Comcast. With no converter hooked to my TV, cable 19 (ARTS/NASA-TV during missions) and cable 20 CT-N (kinda like our version of C-SPAN) were fine. Cable 96 had the big time interference (Jewelry Television). The exact same thing was on cable 98 with no signal problems. If anyone need to knows, our big analog locals are 3, 8, 18, 20, 24, 26, 30, 53, 59 and 61. Channels 30 (NBC) and 61 (FOX) are closest to me, yet any bleed-through with a poor cable connection happens with OTA analog channel 3 on cable channel 3. It interferes with CN-8 (local 3 is on cable channel 2).
anotherguy said:
These two channels are not used by over-the-air TV. Cable channel 15 is (probably) 126-132MHz which is used by aircraft, and channel 18 is 144-150MHz which is for the most part the 2-meter ham band. (148-150 is military) There usually isn't much problem with interference *to* cable reception on these channels. Interference *from* cable *to* amateurs is often pretty severe; the channel 18 carrier frequency of 145.25MHz has been defacto reallocated from ham radio to cable TV as the interference makes legitimate use frequently impossible.
Interference *from* cable *to* aircraft is usually stomped on pretty quickly by the FCC(grin)!
Thanks all for the advice and comments. I called Comcast and told them the situation about and they said "they would look into it". :
I have four TVs in my house, one connected to the digital cable box and it has no interference as expected on any channel; however, the other three, which aren't connected to any digital cable boxes including the one I tried watching AMC on have the same interference issue...one even seems to be having problems with getting VHF stations, although I think we've had that TV since at least 1987...
I have four TVs in my house, one connected to the digital cable box and it has no interference as expected on any channel; however, the other three, which aren't connected to any digital cable boxes including the one I tried watching AMC on have the same interference issue...one even seems to be having problems with getting VHF stations, although I think we've had that TV since at least 1987...
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