cypherstream
Looking forward to the future of things.
Premium,MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
clubs:
| homogeneous vs a hodgepodge of line gear
I was in NY this past weekend (Newburgh / Middletown area) and noticed the cable provider had quite a hodgepodge of line gear.
I saw SA 9" Stretch taps consistently (same stuff used down in my Comcast system). But for actives I've seen Magnavox, SA 860 and C-COR 860 gear. Yeah it was all on the same feeder.
Does this affect system design, reliability or anything, if an operator uses a mixture of brands when building the system? I've always seen a homogeneous system (all one brand) where it's ALL SA, or ALL C-Cor, or ALL Motorola, etc...
I would think that it's easier to stock replacement parts for one vendor (along with the tools to work on them, etc...), but perhaps the older stuff like Magnavox gear is harder to come by, so other stuff was cut in. But mixing C-Cor and SA in the same span? That's just plain wrong, isn't it?
It's Cablevision area too, quite frankly the best cable operator in the nation (IMO) in terms of lineup (SD/HD), and what you get for the money (Internet speeds, interactive applications, etc...) |
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plat2on1
join:2002-08-21
Hopewell Junction, NY
clubs: | newburgh and middletown is time warner territory |
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cypherstream
Looking forward to the future of things.
Premium,MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
clubs:
2 edits | I thought that too, but then I'm curious why the place I was at had an SA4200 with the Cablevision logo on it and the remote had the big iO button?
Yeah there's parts of middletown that's TWC, but I think both companies boarder each other around there somewhere.
I was a few miles Northwest from the OCC Choppers HQ. Prolly closer to walden / wallkill. |
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plat2on1
join:2002-08-21
Hopewell Junction, NY
clubs:
1 edit | here is a pretty detailed map of Cablevision service area , i guess there is some CV all the way out there
»www.cvadsales.com/maps.html |
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cypherstream
Looking forward to the future of things.
Premium,MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
clubs: | reply to cypherstream
Well I guess it's ok, as long as it's all tuned and in spec.
I've noticed Motorola, General Instruments (old moto) and Antec gear all on the same Philly system this weekend. |
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linetech4u
@verizon.net
| reply to cypherstream
Cypher,
An amp is an amp. It should not really matter what brand of gear or mixture of gear the provider has if it is all balanced properly. It is more of a challenge for the maintenance tech who needs to know how to set up all of those different actives. But like everything else, there is no substitute for experience. A tech that has been around long enough knows the ins and outs and idiosyncrasies of the gear. But as you mentioned, parts do become obsolete and scarce so the only option is to wreck out the old and splice in the new, same brand or not. Not to mention, a lot of the systems Comcast has now were bought from small companies with little cash flow, so for cost savings they bought the "flavor of the week" which could have been SA one week, Maggie gear the next and so on, whatever they could afford. So that could also explain the hodgepodge amount of gear you have seen. But as these smaller systems get retro-fitted/upgraded the gear tends to stay all one brand these days, it just takes time and a boatload of cash. Oh and yes, it is a pain in the rear to stock and/or carry all that different gear on the truck. Hope this explains it a bit for you, I probably left some thing out, but I think you get the general idea.  |
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