Ceton infinitv 4 pixelation and degradation issue

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andrewjs18

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Ceton infinitv 4 pixelation and degradation issue

#1

Post by andrewjs18 » Thu Mar 12, 2020 8:54 pm

hi all,

I've been using a ceton infinitv4 pcie tuner for quite a long time now, the current one in my HTPC is 8 years old, to be exact. The pixelation and degradation of both live tv & DVR recordings over the past 2 weeks or so has made them almost unwatchable...

someone is selling a ceton InfiniTV 6 ETH local to me for dirt cheap. I thought about trying this out rather than moving on to a TiVo Roamio Pro or renting a DVR box from verzon fios...

is it worth trying? if I switch from the infinitv 4 to the infinitv 6, will WMC 7 retain my guide & DVR recording schedule?

if anyone has any other suggestions, I'd gladly welcome them!


Thanks!

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Scallica

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#2

Post by Scallica » Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:31 pm

Replace the CableCard first before you do anything else.
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unclebun

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#3

Post by unclebun » Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:22 am

Also consider having the cable company test your line for signal strength and quality. Last time I experienced that, they came out and ran a new line from the junction box and it cured the pixelation and tuner not available/no signal problems I was having with my Ceton.

andrewjs18

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#4

Post by andrewjs18 » Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:01 am

Scallica wrote: Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:31 pm Replace the CableCard first before you do anything else.
not a bad idea. I'm not even sure where my local verizon office is...I'll have to look into that, or see if they can send me a replacement.

andrewjs18

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#5

Post by andrewjs18 » Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:03 am

unclebun wrote: Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:22 am Also consider having the cable company test your line for signal strength and quality. Last time I experienced that, they came out and ran a new line from the junction box and it cured the pixelation and tuner not available/no signal problems I was having with my Ceton.
yeah, I'll get on their chat line in the next day or so to see if they can send out a truck to test the line. I hardly ever call them so rolling a truck shouldn't be a big deal!

I also ordered a new splitter just to see if the one currently on my line (same as the one I just ordered) is going bad or not - it's certainly quite old, though inside my basement and kept out of the elements. here's the splitter I picked up: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V6WI78I

oddly enough, the few shows that the DVR recorded tonight did not have any pixelation or degradation issues whatsoever..

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Scallica

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#6

Post by Scallica » Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:05 am

Also, locate every cable splitter in your house and make sure the connections are tight. If the splitter is a generic brand, replace the splitter with Antronix splitter.

https://www.amazon.com/Antronix-CMC2002 ... 524&sr=8-6
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andrewjs18

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#7

Post by andrewjs18 » Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:36 pm

Scallica wrote: Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:05 am Also, locate every cable splitter in your house and make sure the connections are tight. If the splitter is a generic brand, replace the splitter with Antronix splitter.

https://www.amazon.com/Antronix-CMC2002 ... 524&sr=8-6
only 1 splitter in my house that I'm aware of, the same model that I'm replacing it with, an extreme splitter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V6WI78I

I'm pretty sure some years ago, a cable guy gave me the splitter that I'm currently using.

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#8

Post by andrewjs18 » Tue Mar 17, 2020 8:28 am

got my new splitter in today from amazon and swapped it out tonight - no change in the pixelation issue. I guess I'll have to give verizon a call on Tuesday afternoon to see if they can roll a truck to test my line as well as supplying a new cable card.

I've been eying up the TiVo Roamio Pro DVR 3TB with a lifetime subscription on ebay as a replacement for my htpc if the tv tuner is what's going bad in my set up.

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#9

Post by andrewjs18 » Wed Mar 18, 2020 10:42 pm

verizon made it out to my house this afternoon. after showing the tech the pixelation on a live channel, he wanted to check out the ONT box in my basement...seeing how old the box was (he'd estimate at least 9+ years old), he decided to just swap that out entirely. after getting the new box installed and working, we checked the same live channel that had a bit of pixelation from earlier - didn't seem quite as bad, but not a clean signal.

we then moved on to replacing the cablecard with a brand new one...once he had it provisioned on his end and I refreshed the ceton utility a few times to make sure it was reading the new card, we tried the same channel as before and it seemed fine - no pixelation or degradation during the 2-3 minutes we watched it. I'll see how it goes over the next few days..

I may still look to move on to the tivo roamio pro of hdhomerun prime 6 (if it ever comes out) in the near future regardless.

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#10

Post by Scallica » Thu Mar 19, 2020 1:14 pm

andrewjs18 wrote: Wed Mar 18, 2020 10:42 pm we then moved on to replacing the cablecard with a brand new one...once he had it provisioned on his end and I refreshed the ceton utility a few times to make sure it was reading the new card, we tried the same channel as before and it seemed fine - no pixelation or degradation during the 2-3 minutes we watched it. I'll see how it goes over the next few days..
Thanks for following up. Always replace your service provider's equipment before replacing your own!

Tivo is a great product. However, the most economical choice is to find a good deal on a used one on eBay with a lifetime subscription.
Otherwise, you will have to pay $14.99/month :thumbdown:
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