Cable reception not clear on some channels

theoldwizard1 wrote:
Second, modern digital TV can NOT get "fuzzy" pictures UNLESS there is something between the source of the signal and the TV that is analog. Pixelation yes, fuzzy, no.

Oldwizard is dead on here. Disregard all the talk about QAM, ATSC, and satellite.

Things to check:

• Connect a known good coax cable directly from campsite post to TV set
• Make sure signal source on TV is set to 'Cable'
• Do a channel scan on TV

If channels look good, problem is somewhere in the RV. If they still look bad, problem is with campground.

It's possible that a campground is distributing cable TV using channel assignments that are the same as broadcast TV. If this is the case, set signal source to antenna and do another channel scan.

wa8yxm wrote:


I agree with economics but my point is both cable and sat are overpriced and not being pleased with one bill for the house the cable companies encrypt so you have to pay more more more for each added TV.

yup, economics 101. overpriced is a subjective term but the pricing of a product or service is all about supply and demand.

wa8yxm wrote:
But the Sat/Cable business is all about releiving you of your money...

show me a business that's not about "relieving you of your money" and i"ll show you a business that's no longer in business. pay tv providers aren't stealing from their customers. they are providing a product. it's up to each of us to determine the value of that product.

rk911 wrote:

economics 101...if more people cut the cord on satellite and cable prices will come down or the service will disappear. it's not greed...it's business.

as for campground cable...if I recall correctly the law that required the OTA stations to move to digital from analog permitted but did not require cable providers to scramble their signals. a set-top decoder box was required to view cable in the few parks and campgrounds that did offer scrambled cable. one park in Pennsylvania started out with about 2-dozen "loaner" boxes for her transient guests but the manager admitted to me that over time they were either returned damaged or not at all so she dropped her cable service. that was a major reason we opted for the Winegard Trav'ler dish option when we bought new in 2015.

I agree with economics but my point is both cable and sat are overpriced and not being pleased with one bill for the house the cable companies encrypt so you have to pay more more more for each added TV.

As for sending analog, digital or digital encrypted. THe law requiring OTA stations go Digital has no effect on cable. Cable can convert to analog. or leave as ATSC or QAM or QAM encrypted. no restrictions.

Some convert. Some encrypt some basically just pass it on. THough not all do a good job of that. (I used to get one channel better OTA than Cable)

But the Sat/Cable business is all about releiving you of your money.
ANd remember for OTA "The product" Is not the show you are watching. IT IS THE COMMERCIALS.

Since the topic is TV I will comment on on of my favorite Teasers (COMET TV (OTA Tier 2 network) Andromada.

Dillon and Rody are facing a couple of BIG and I MEAN BIG Aliens. Dillon says "First we have to have a test fight" THe bigger of the bad looking dudes says 'You mean test flight'
Both Dillon and ROdy in unison punch out the alien's lights Dillons says "They just DON'T LISTEN"..

Like most businesses, Cable TV and Satellite is OPTIONAL. The cable guys don't roam the highways and byways in tanks and armored personnel carriers forcing people to sign bloated contracts. There are many alternatives with costs going all the way down to the ubiquitous over the air for free. If you are "getting ripped off by cable" it is because you chose to be ripped off.

As for scrambling by cable providers, it is done for two reasons. One, to prevent piracy. Without a scrambled signal, virtually anyone can tap into their transmission lines and steal their product. Scrambling is the digital equivalent to locking your doors.
Secondly, by requiring a set top box, they open up additional profit centers. They now can offer pay for view items. They also can decrease their costs since most customer service items can be accessed through the box. You can change your programming line up, access all the free services such as on demand programming adding value to those services. It is an absolute pain in the rumpus for RV parks, but they make up a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of 1 percent of the business for cable companies. And there are alternatives and workarounds for parks. They just cost significant money which not every park is willing to invest.

theoldwizard1 wrote:

rk911 wrote:
untrue. the FCC still permits low power analog stations. we run in to them every now and then on the road and even have a few here at home.

Then maybe you should correct Wikipedia.

not surprising. Wikipedia is notoriously wrong on a number of issues.

wa8yxm wrote:
Correction on digital cable.
SOME systems went all encrypted. Some did not. But I agree the reason for encryption is greed. if you have more than one TV they can charge you more for each additional Set Top Box. I once got in trouble for saying all the cable/Sat companies were crooked.. Well. they are. Charging 100/month or more in many cases for what I get for FREE using my Winegard Sensar.

economics 101...if more people cut the cord on satellite and cable prices will come down or the service will disappear. it's not greed...it's business.

as for campground cable...if I recall correctly the law that required the OTA stations to move to digital from analog permitted but did not require cable providers to scramble their signals. a set-top decoder box was required to view cable in the few parks and campgrounds that did offer scrambled cable. one park in Pennsylvania started out with about 2-dozen "loaner" boxes for her transient guests but the manager admitted to me that over time they were either returned damaged or not at all so she dropped her cable service. that was a major reason we opted for the Winegard Trav'ler dish option when we bought new in 2015.

Correction on digital cable.
SOME systems went all encrypted. Some did not. But I agree the reason for encryption is greed. if you have more than one TV they can charge you more for each additional Set Top Box. I once got in trouble for saying all the cable/Sat companies were crooked.. Well. they are. Charging 100/month or more in many cases for what I get for FREE using my Winegard Sensar.

wa8yxm wrote:
Cable quality. Cables that are good at VHF-LOW BAND (2,3,4,5,6) (Actually that is Low a and Low b if I recall correctly) all under 150 MHZ. may not be as good at 7-13 (VHF HIGH) or UHF (13 and up)

Of course today channel 2 may well be using carrier 7 or even 20
(In Detroit channel 2 actually is broadcasting on 7 and 7 on 41. where I am now 7 really is 7 on broadcast)...

This is true for over-the-air ATSC signals. Digital cable uses QAM and I do not know how they use that frequency spectrum.

wa8yxm wrote:
Cable quality. Cables that are good at VHF-LOW BAND (2,3,4,5,6) (Actually that is Low a and Low b if I recall correctly) all under 150 MHZ. may not be as good at 7-13 (VHF HIGH) or UHF (13 and up)

Of course today channel 2 may well be using carrier 7 or even 20
(In Detroit channel 2 actually is broadcasting on 7 and 7 on 41. where I am now 7 really is 7 on broadcast)...

This is true for over-the-air ATSC signals. Digital cable uses QAM and I do not know how they use that frequency spectrum.

rk911 wrote:
untrue. the FCC still permits low power analog stations. we run in to them every now and then on the road and even have a few here at home.

Then maybe you should correct Wikipedia.

Wikipedia wrote:
Low-power stations, Class A stations and translators were required to shut down by 2015.

rk911 wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:
...Very few if any cable companies send out an analog signal...Most (all?) cable signals are digital. They may or may not be scrambled.

that's not been our experience. virtually all of the campgrounds and parks we've been to that offer cable have "analog" cable.

Surprising ! That is going to start fading and I expect soon. WOW in metro Detroit has been digital for 10+ years. Spectrum (Brighthouse) changed last year and I thought they were one of the few left. All digital cable is a great "revenue enhancer" because all though technicall not required, it scrambles all signals so a decoder box is required on each and every TV.