When to replace Cable Cards and HDHomerun devices

Channels DVR Server
#1

As a user of this wonderful product for over 3+ years I've never had many if any issues. Of late I'm running into some pixelation issues (history channel, CW, and NBC are a few that pop up repeatedly) on HD recordings coming from Verizon Fios. Currently I'm using cards and HDHOMERUN Primes that are about 4 years old if not older. I've kept up with card and tuner updates but i wonder if this could be the cause of my pixelation issue. So the question as noted in the subject is:

When if at all should i request new cable cards and/or replace my Primes?

Any feedback would be welcome. Thank you all.

#2

Usually the power supply to the PRIME is the first thing to fail.

But it also could be a bad signal coming into your coax

#3

Lokk at the Cable Connectors make sure they are tight. ... Maybe even try new Cable Coax to the HDHomeruns.

#4

Interesting...so these are the readings from one of my Primes:

OOB Frequency 75.250 MHz
OOB Lock 2.048 Mbps
Signal Strength 90% (-6.3 dBmV)
Signal Quality 100% (34.5 dB)

of course this is right now and not at the time of recording.

#5

Just in case you need a powersupply ...

Omnihil 8 Feet AC/DC Power Adapter Compatible with SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime Cable HDTV (3-Tuner) Power Supply, Compatible Part (amazon.com)

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#6

Thank you! I hope I don't need them anytime soon!

#7

Yours looks good.
image

#8

CableCARD Status

Card Manufacturer Arris/Motorola
Card Authentication success
Card Validation success
3DES encryption supported
OOB Frequency 75.250 MHz
OOB Lock 2.048 Mbps
Signal Strength 91% (-5.6 dBmV)
Signal Quality 94% (29.4 dB)
Channel List cablecard-oob
#9

I replaced my coax to HDHomeRun with Coax RG-6.

#10

interesting...how do you do that? i know cat 6 cable for regular computer use but i didn't think the prime could take a non coax plugin...

#11

oops coax rg6

#12

gotcha...i guess i need to look and see if i can shorten the run...do my numbers look good in the sense that i shouldn't see any pixelization?

#13

Not sure my numbers are much higher than yours maybe a cable expert can chime in.

#14

You can check the DVR logs to see what the signal numbers were for the affected recordings

#15

Roger..will take a look

#16

@Catfish the screenshots you posted are fine. No need to replace any cables based solely on that. Typically you want to be -10dBmv to 0dBmv on the downstream. However you should make sure you don't have any radio shack splitters, distribution amps, walmart coax, etc. As @tmm1 said, check the logs and see what Channels is saying the issue is. If it is signal related I would try and repro on a TV if you can (if you have one that has a VZ Fios box). It could be an intermittent problem with the HDHR, ONT, cabling etc.

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#17

Tangent topic (sorry!), but this made me think of something I've been rolling around in my head. I have a pretty decent attic antenna that is going straight to my Connect Quatro. At some point I am probably going to pick up a Flex 4K, and I figured I would just add a coax splitter so I can send the antenna signal to both devices. Is it a bad idea to split the signal?

#18

I have mine split 4 ways using extreme splitter.... but I have a good signal in my area.

#19

Your Verizon ONT may be failing. I needed mine replaced once. Contact them, explain the issue and they can run diagnostics on their end.

#20

It's there a best way to split out a single cable signal? I have one Verizon signal and one got it split with no amp for the signal... These lines are feeding the two primes