Hung a TV in a room that doesnt have an cable outlet..I ran a coax cable through the wall up to the attic and connected there. All conections are correct and Im not getting my guide and Im missing some channels.
Im thinking I may have damaged the cable running it through the wall...pulled through insullation and a horizontal stud..is there a stronger coax cable to run through a wall?
Also I am having to pass through electrical wiring and I know that can interfere with the cable. Any suggestions? Thanks

UVerse wireless receiver

would be nice...not offered in my area. Were Verizon FIOS

Is this cable connected to a cable box (or sat receiver) or an antenna? Or direct cable TV without a box?

If the cable is damaged or signal strength is really poor the picture is usually noticeably bad on all channels. A common problem is "snow" or a noisy picture. If this is an antenna connection then poor signals would likely occur on higher numbered channels (which are a higher frequency).

It is always better to avoid running A/V wire near electrical cable but often that isn't possible. It usually isn't a problem if you use good cable. You should use quad shield RG6. Make sure your terminations (connections) are good.

If on a cable signal without a box - did you run the channel setup autoscan again?

its connected to a cable box

channels I get are fine..not "snowy" at all. I am only missing my HBO and Cinnemax channels, which are the highest numbers.

When I hit guide, the guide comes up but every station says "information not available" and is shaded grey. I cannot use the guide to navigate from channel to channel. I have to hit 5-0-8 on remote to go to channel 508

[This message has been edited by kevmiller (edited 9/5/2013 1:24p).]

There is a type of coax made specifically for in-wall use.

Most RG6 sold as bulk cable is in wall rated. In wall cable doesn't perform any better than non in-wall rated cable. The difference is solely related to fire resistance.

A cable that is kinked (such as around a sharp corner or hole) will be degraded.

Why not just run a new one? Attach the new one to the end of the old one with a double female connector. Cover with electrical tape. Pull the new run. Do not tug hard! Strip and terminate correctly.

Also, try adding a coax amp.

That sounds more line an issue with the cablebox itself or an inline filter someplace.

Ordered a new cable box after first set up... Same results. Inline filter???

Redo the connectors. I had a similar problem with Suddenlink and the tech cut the connectors and pressed new ones on. He explained a bad connector can show some channels and hide some.

Cheap and easy to test.

Did you add your own splitter in the attic? Or run the line outside to the box? Check your connectors if there is any foil off the shielding of the wire it will mess things up or if the stinger is pulled to far back. Type of wire aldosterone make difference cheap radio shack 1.99 won't cut it! And if you did add your own splitter in the attic it could be the wrong megahertz needs to be at least 1000 your digital channels ride on a higher frequency the guide will always pop up.

No I did not add a splitter. In the attic, I removed an old line to a bedroom that I wasnt using cable in and connected the new line.

Kevmiller - please confirm what cabling you have. You said this TV is connected to a cable box.

Is this TV connected to an RF (screw type F connector) cable out connector on the cable box? If so, that signal should be strong enough. My cable box doesn't have such a connector. It has HDMI, component, and composite connections to connect to a TV. The RF connector is a pass thru of the cable feed to the cable box.

spice,

Verizon FIOS. I ran the coax cable to a 4 way splitter in my attic, this feeds out one wire to the outside box. Again I removed one connection and just added my new one, so still 4 total.
The coax cable runs from the attic to the FIOS set top box and from the STB an HDMI cord connects to the TV.

I apologize if I am repetitive and sound dense. But I just want to be sure I get it.

1. Cable from the cable company runs from outside the house to a 4 way splitter in the attic.

2. One of the "splits" goes to your STB using the new coax you ran in the wall.

I think you have a signal strength problem that could be a combination of a cable problem and the use of a 4 way splitter. Each time a cable signal is split in two the signal strength is dropped by 3.5 dB (or slightly less than half of the original strength). A 4 way splitter drops the signal by another 3.5 dB. That means each of the splits of a 4way are less the 25% of the original strength. It MIGHT be still good enough, but if you have a wiring issue it MIGHT NOT be strong enough.

If other equipment works fine behind the 4 way then you probably have deficient wiring to the STB.

So the first action is to re-run the cable with good quality cable with good quality terminations.

If that doesn't fix it then you could consider changing to a 2way splitter at first and send a stronger signal to the STB. Use another splitter to split the other half.

spice.. No, I appreciate your input. It's Friday, not like Im actually doing work at work.

You are corerct on 1 & 2.

The 4 way spliter in the attic was set up by Verizon, it splits the wires that feed into the 4 set top boxes throughout the house. Has been this way for years and no problem. Im taking the TV & set top box out of a guestroom and putting it in an office. Office didnt have a cable outlet so I ran a new cable through the wall in the office to the attic and connected to where the guestroom was connected on the 4 way splitter.

Any suggestions on a quality cable to buy for the new run?

Unless you're running it more tan 100 feet, Just buy a pre-terminated one from monoprice. It's cheaper than quality DIY terminations and there's less chance to screw up the grounding.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10216&cs_id=1021603&p_id=3035&seq=1&format=2

Isn't there a signal booster you can buy cheaply at Radio Shack?

Other than that I would run a test cable from attic through house to box just to check to see where the problem is.

Narrow that down as the problem first.

If that fixes it you know it's the line and you need to re-run the cable.

If not it could be your splitter damaged when changing cable or a few other issues.

I agree with all of the suggestions above, but why not simply redo the connection before you do anything else? That fixed my similar problem.

Thanks for all the advice/suggestions.

I have a signal booster. Before that, I was missing more channels. Again now just missing the premium channels and no guide.

Plan is to.
1. reconnect at splitter
2. run a test cable through house with new cable and if that works run the new cable through the wall.

Hopefully this will fix my problem

Edit - already responeded above

[This message has been edited by txlilagg (edited 9/6/2013 2:17p).]

kevmiller - Home Depot will sell you Carol quad shield RG6 by the foot. It won't cost much. Buy twice as much as you need. Quality terminations (I am a convert to compression fittings) are the final step. Regular crimp connectors are fine too, but a bit less consistent to install. I assume you have the proper tools in both cases.

Add: Superspeck makes a good point above. You can buy a find pre-terminated run of coax for less than most can make one. Just be sure it is quad shield RG6 rated for in-wall use.

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 9/7/2013 11:04a).]