JJV
Premium
join:2001-04-25
Seattle, WA
clubs:
 ·Vonage
| Comcast cable interfearance?
I have a s9 buzz all over 80 40 and 20 meters.
I live in a big complex with multiple units.
My hf antenna is a g5rv in the attic of the complex.
Comcast rewired placing coax for every unit through the attic.
Anyway i have been living with this buzz for a year or so.
Fast forward to today.
We had a local power failure that took out just a couple blocks.
I fired up my generator and ham radios.
I found the buzz was still there so I powered up my cable modem by generator. sure enough the only thing live in the building was comcast cable.
Im sure the buzz is from comcast now.
Do you think I have a chance of getting them to fix it? |
|
Robotics
See You On The Dark Side
Premium
join:2003-10-23
Louisa, VA
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
 ·Comcast
| I don't want to say much on here about this subject, but you just might have a hard time dealing with them.
I had a problem for close to two years. First I thought it was from the electrical company out here, but it wasn't.
Then I got lucky and found the rough area of the source.
Comcast had been here many many times and said it wasn't them. And that they couldn't find anything with their "fancy" equipment.
Only way I could tract this down was because it was also leaking audio from the food network. I made Comcast aware of it, and was told it was within their tolerable limits, or something like that.
So they refused to do anything about it... till I called the FCC.
(I wont say anything more about that...but there is a lengthy thread in here about the episode).
At that time I was writing about this on this forum I could only say so much, since I was told by the FCC not to say a thing about it to anyone including Comcast. And am still paranoid to talk about it because I have found several new leaks out here.
Try scanning in the 442mhz. band and see if you hear any audio from them. Also try in the 155mhz range.
This interference did effect HF but only noise...not audio.
I wish you luck if it is them that is causing the interference.
Don't let up on them, be firm,and don't give up (this is of course you are sure it is them causing this interference) I say this because I was given every BS excuse you could imagine.
Needless to say the FCC did a great job in making sure the problems were corrected.
--
Long you live and high you fly and Smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
and all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be. |
|
Robotics
See You On The Dark Side
Premium
join:2003-10-23
Louisa, VA
·Verizon Wireless B..
·Comcast
| reply to JJV
I found the link. Not really important to read, but will give you an idea what I went through.
»Comcast Refuses To Take Heed Of A Cable Leak
--
Long you live and high you fly and Smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
and all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be. |
|
Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
 ·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| reply to JJV
I agree that you might want to involve the FCC if you get no traction with Comcast. Laura Smith has pledged that interference from utility companies will be her top priority.
Furthermore, cable leaks are a big deal with cable companies especially since they can affect aircraft comms. |
|
KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs:
·Cricket Broadband
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to JJV
I had the same problems on 2m and 70cm from comcast, and since I don't have Comcast cable it was tough to get them to even send a tech out, until I threatened to go to the FCC and FAA(aircraft comm interference).
I could walk around my neighborhood with an HT and listen to the audio carrier from several cable channels that overlapped the 2m band.
I could pick out the houses with wiring problems by walking up and down the street.
I personally fixed cabling problems in several neighbors homes, and I was able to get Comcast to reluctantly replace some buried hardline that was damaged by people digging in their yards.
The Comcast tech actually found several illegal connections that were a greater cause of the interference, because it looked like they had barrel connected sections of "Dollar Store" grade RG59 together to make the connections.
A lot of the problems were resultant from subscriber drops, and fortunately most of my neighborhood switched over to Verizon fios, which greatly reduced the interference problem.
I would call, or even better stop by your local comcast service garage and demand to talk to one of their line techs, or even the plant engineer, as their regular telephone system is designed to solve customer service issues and not ham interference issues.
This is a serious issue, as comcast is breaking the law by not maintaining their cable plant, and no matter how reluctant they are to fix their problems, a threat of FCC intervention usually changes their minds.
--
ROCK 'TIL SUNSET |
|
CLI320
@qwest.net
| reply to JJV
There are hundreds of comcast techs who hold tickets. The issue is trying to talk to one. Place a call use terms like signal leakage, Cumlative Leakge index. Some leakge is allowable. 20 uv per meter. I always respond personaly and createa relationship with the ham. Ican tell you a few stories about HAM operating just a little out of spec. Lost a live CityCouncil debate one night. Tracked to a ham schack with a nice squrrel eaten feed line next to a walmart splice in his drop line. Carfull the FIOS system is going to casueissues. Verizon interpututes part 76 as in they arenot required to perfrom signal leakage checks. so thye willnot monitor anything. 90% of leakage comesfrom inside the customer home. Give FIOS customers time to start using crap from wally world. Disclaimer I do not work for either comcastrated or fissilo |
|
IsdnWolf
Premium
join:2002-05-24
Cleveland, TN
| reply to JJV
We had a subscriber come in to the office in Cleveland. I am a network engineer with Charter Communications. Basically, the subscriber was claiming the same thing, S9 noise on 80 and 40.
The tech guys in the office had no idea what S9 means, but since I had my ticket, I explained to them what the issue is.
When talking to the tech guys at your local office, make sure you use the correct terminology. Tell them that there is a possible leak in the cable system and that they need to send there CLI guy out to the area and check for leaks.
Any cable company with over 5000 subs has to have a CLI program.
As for our subscriber? we drove out and checked for leaks. We could tell them that it was not our system. We also called in the local Utility and had them check. The general manager at the utility is also a HAM.
Anyways, we found the source of noise.. It was the subscribers Plasma TV. When it was on, there was noise. When he shut it off, it went away. Guess he will be replacing the plasma.. |
|
Ender3rd
join:2001-07-15
East Granby, CT | IsdnWolf: Just curious. What does "CLI" stand for?
--
My Jeep is not an SUV. Your SUV is not a Jeep. |
|
IsdnWolf
Premium
join:2002-05-24
Cleveland, TN
| cumulative leakage index
I am not sure of the exact laws, although I am sure you can google it.
CLI is read as a specific leak measured in microvolts. This reading is taken at a certain distance.
for example, a 200 mv leak at 30 ft must be fixed whiten 24 hours. I am using this as an example, I am not really sure what the values are. |
|
IsdnWolf
Premium
join:2002-05-24
Cleveland, TN | This page does cli a bit more justice..
»www.wavetracker.com/Strategies.html |
|
Ender3rd
join:2001-07-15
East Granby, CT | Thanks! |
|
