I have a rather complicated issue related to the coaxial cables going from my OTA antenna to my TVs, and I'm having trouble pinning down where exactly the problem is. Here is my setup. I have a short run of cable going from the antenna to an amplified splitter in the attic. From there, I have a cable going to a TV with a digital converter box, a cable going to a portable digital TV, and a cable going to my new High-Definition LCD. The signal for the first two TVs I just mentioned seems to be just fine. It is the connection to the LCD TV that is the problem. We have tried several cables, including a brand-new quad shielded one, but we still cannot get a decent picture. If you hold the cable just right on the RF input, the signal will come in, but breaks up if you let go. I thought it was a problem with the RF input on the new TV. However in the same room, I still have an old analog TV, and when I connect the cable to the converter box I have similar problems. If you fiddle with the cable long enough on the RF input on the converter box you can get a pretty good picture, but occasionally you still get some pixelation and stuttering in the audio. None of these problems occur with the other two TVs. I have contemplated returning the LCD TV and getting a different one, but I'm afraid it will still have the same problem. Any suggestions on what the problem might be?
I would have the antenna straight through, without a splitter, to one location (or one location at a time) and test all the TV sets. If the same set still fails, I would take it back.
I'm afraid doing that won't help me because I purchased the splitter amplifier to boost the signal. Otherwise I get a terrible picture whether I am connecting to the converter box or a high-definition TV. I need the amplification because of the long run of the cables from the antenna to the TV.
If the problem TV works ok in the other rooms - it isn't the TV or the connectors. If the TV consistently fails in the original room, it isn't the cable - it's been changed, so feed the problem TV from a different output from the splitter.
Try using a different output from the amplifier. If that doesn't change things run a new cable to the room with the problem TV.
just change the length of the cable run... it could be a standing wave reflection. A few inches usually makes a huge difference.. that's assuming the cable itself is any good.
