Antenna cable - Should I change it?

[FrankDrebin]

Hello everybody,

I'd like to read your suggestions about a little problem which has been bothering me for quite some time now: years ago I bought a Terratec USB DVB-T receiver (specifically, Terratec Cinergy Hybrid T USB XS FM) in order to record tv shows every now and then. Unfortunately, I've almost never been able to have an error-free recording because of interferences on the signal (stuttering, blocks appearing on the image etc.) which usually last for about half a second. I noticed that these interferences only happen when an electrical device is turned on, for instance, when a TV in an adjacent room of my house is turned on or when the lights are switched either on or off in the same room the USB receiver is in. This doesn't happen with every single electrical device in my house, only with those which are near the USB receiver. I tried positioning the USB receiver in different rooms, but, again, the electrical devices in that room or in an adjacent one give me the same problems.

I don't know if this can help, but, according to DVBViewer Pro, the signal quality is always above 90%. A few more details: I checked the antenna cable (I admit it, it's a little old) which I use to connect the USB receiver with the antenna socket in the wall and everything seems to be fine.

I was told that one of the possible causes for those interferences could be that the antenna cables in my house may run inside the walls in close contact with the electrical wires. Unfortunately, I can't confirm this because I don't have a lot of knowledge/experience in this field. What I know, instead, is that the entire antenna implant is quite old: it goes all the way back to 1985.

This is my idea: at the end of the day, I only care about making error free recordings with the USB receiver, therefore I'm considering replacing just the antenna cable I currently use (I'll repeat myself here, it's old and not very well shielded) with a more shielded one. Precisely, this new cable would start from the antenna socket in the wall and end into the USB receiver.

Do you think this could work or should I get the whole antenna implant done again?

What cable could I use? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

[usually_quiet]

Maybe a cable with quad shielding would help, but it is hard to say for certain.

My parents had a similar issue with a TV that in their living room. Every time the furnace (located under that room) came on there was a brief disruption in the TVs picture. The RG6 cable for the TV is relatively new, with standard shielding, but the signal received was weak. I never replaced the cable, just improved the signal strength by replacing a passive splitter with a powered splitter.

[mpholic]

If the installation is that old and if the cable runs parallel to AC wiring in the walls it would be prudent to run new Quad shielded cable from the antenna to the receiver. I dont see simply replacing the cable from the wall to the receiver being of much benefit. Thats not say it wouldn't be worth the effort since it will be replaced anywy if you redo the whole install.