CABLE 101

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CABLE 101

• A Beginners (or not so beginners) guide to Cable
  TV

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The History of Cable TV

• Cable TV owes its birth to WWII
• Ed Parsons built the first Cable TV system in
  Astoria Oregon in 1949.

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Where do the Signals come from?

• Off-the-Air
• Microwave
• Local Origination
• Satellite

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Where do the Signals go?

• Frequency Spectrum (Bandwidth)
• 220 MHz (Chs. 2-13)
• 220 Midband (Chs. 2-22)
• 450 (Chs. 2-61)
• 750 (Chs. 2-116)
• 1GHz (Chs. 2-158)
• Standard, HRC, IRC

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Understanding Cable Terminology

• Trunk Cable (.750, .875, 1.00)
• Distribution/Riser Cable (.500, .625)
• Drop Cable (RG-6U, RG-11U)
• (Note All Cables 75 Ohms)

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Understanding Cable Terminology

• Headend
• Processor/Modulator
• Amplifier
• Power Supply
• Directional Coupler/Splitter
• Tap

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Lets look at a basic Cable System

• Headend
• Fiber/Trunk Cable
• Fiber Node/Distribution Amplifier
• Distribution Cable
• Drop Cable
• Consumer Terminal (TV)
• (Pretty much the same for field and MDUs)

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Problems, Problems, Problems

• Snow (aka My cable is out!)
• Cross Modulation/CTB
• Hum
• And the Number 1 Service Problem.

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• Customer Education!

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Service Calls

• 80 of all service calls are fixed between the
  Tap and the Television.
• More than 40 of all service calls are fixed
  through Customer Education.
• Around 90 of Georgia Techs service calls are CE
  related.

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Some Common CE Problems

• TV will not receive all channels. (Menu
  button)
• No sound or different language. (SAP
  setting)
• One TV, snow on all channels. (Check video game
  switch or VCR connections)

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Some Cable Modem Problems

• Improper installation
• No High Pass filter or HP filter removed

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3 Important things to remember

• If its working, dont mess with it!
• Never change anything in the Headend on a Friday!
• Chances are, turning the Amplifier up wont fix
  it!

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Troubleshooting a problem
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Things Youd Better Have

• System maps
• Field strength meter
• True RMS Volt ohm meter
• Test Television (AC/DC)
• Spare parts

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Field Strength Meter

• Also called
• Signal level meter.
• Reads RF energy levels and displays them as dBmV
  levels.

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Volt Ohm Meter

• Due to cable TV square wave power it should be a
  True RMS Voltmeter for AC voltage

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Test Television

• Should have at least a 9 picture tube.
• Should utilize AC/DC voltage.
• Should be cable ready (Good Luck!)

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Spare Parts

• One of everything critical.
  FO Transmitters, FO Receivers, Amplifiers, Power
  Supplies, etc. (Maybe Passives and Connectors
  too)
• One for every ten there after.

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Where Do You Start?

• Find Where It Aint
• Work in Halves
• Troubleshoot (Gather all the information)

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Troubleshooting the Amplifier or Node (In Order)

• 1. Input
• 2. Output
• 3. DC/AC Voltage
• (Hint If the unit is warm it just means the
  power supply is working. Check for RF anyway.)

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Additionally Recommended

• Code of Federal Regulations 47
• Parts 70 to 79
• Cable Television by William Grant
• NCTI Satellite Calculations Handbook

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The End

• Question and Answer Session