digital cable tv swap

[phoneguy96]

Looks like our cable vendor finally swapped over to digital. Now we have some issues. We have a campus environment where we have split the signal to different buildings via SM fiber optic converters. The signal and all the channels work at the output of the fiber converters. In a few locations we have ran into what seems to be cable length issues, where after a certain footage we lose the signal. We have gone through and removed/replaced a couple of the older splitters which has cleared up a few issues. While the opportunity is at hand we would like to go through and clean up the years of hack and splice. I would prefer to install distribution amps at all the Point Of Entry locations where the fiber converters are located. My questions are : 1) What is a good /reliable distribution amp these days that will pass the digital signal. 2) What MHz band would it need to cover ? 3) What is a general max length for RG-6 before signal degradation ? Thinking inline amps for the few longer runs...

Thanks in advance for any assistance

 

[Milman179]

If you have a CAT5e or better infrastructure in place this product my fix some of your areas. My organization has used with success but the cost may be prohibitive.

http://www.z-band.com

Good luck!!

 

[jrgood0852]

Check this company out..............

http://www.l-com.com/content/TechnicalResources.html?cmp=hnav

 

[mforrence]

1. Indoor amps - Blonder Tongue and Drake are reasonable manufacturers.
2. If redistributing a cable company's signal, you'll need to either find out from them or use a test meter. Classic forward is 54 thru either 550, 750, 870 or 1000 MHz. SOME cable companies are using a larger subband RF space, so forward could be higher than 54 MHz. This is a really important component of the project!
3. RG6 (and all coax) has different cable loss at different frequencies. In theory, you could use a mile of it, so long as you had adequate input level to overcome the loss. We try to keep it to 70 feet or less.

I HIGHLY recommend that you get professional advice before starting this project. Without adequate design knowledge and test equipment, you'll spend a lot of time guessing.

 

[Alexbrown012]

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