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Re: Doing Independent Cable Work - Limitations

Unless you have a signed contract with the local cable company you can not touch anything before the ground block. That would be like an electrician climbing a power pole and messing with a transformer. Anything after the ground block could be worked on.

Then it would depend on what your contract authorized you to do. If it's install only then you stop at the tap, if it's install and maintenance then you could most likely be able to work back to the node. It all depends on the company and the contract.


As far as in house techs having no control with the signal level coming from the pole that is because of the system spec's.  The MSO's have spec's and have designed for the amount of signal coming from the tap so the whole system working properly. When I use to work for the MSO's we designed for 18db at the tap on our highest freq. This would give you good levels behind the set after a 200' RG6 drop with a 4 way splitter and 50 to 80' of inside drop. Now these spec's are from 15+ years ago and may have changed. 
But when I worked in house if your signal was low at the tap you checked the next tap back. If it was low there you went back to the active feeding the run and you kept troubleshooting until you found the problem. But I understand now that most MSO's limit what a installer can do, last I heard was that they either worked back to the first active in line or stopped at the tap. Then turn it over to a service tech. But like I said it's been some time since I have worked for a MSO. 
If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking.
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Posted in reply to: Doing Independent Cable Work - Limitations by ZandarKoad
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