confused about noisy cable problem

[John Doe]

About three weeks ago all of a sudden my cable TV started getting noisy. The noise was just random white noise kind of thing, but would only start in around mid 20's and then go up. So thinking it was a signal strength problem I replaced the 4-way splitter with a 3-way, since I was only using three of the four anyway. Hooking the -3db to the equipment that I record on. This fixed the problem and just thinking it was a bad splitter I was happy again. Now I notice a couple of days ago another problem started. Anytime there is a bright white next to a dark color mostly a red I get random white lines that streak across the darker color always moving to the right side of the TV and a weird crackling/humming noise in the audio. I'm starting to think the signal is now to strong. Please help me with this, any insights would be great. Thanks.

[edDV]

That is the way some TVs respond to an overly strong signal. Add splitters or attenuators and see if it gets better. These symptoms may also point to a failing TV tuner. Try using a VCR as a tuner to compare.

The cable company should fix the problem if the signal is too hot.

[John Doe]

Thanks for the reply, edDV. I'll try your suggestions. I'll switch it to the -7db drop on the splitter and see if any thing happens. If it still does it I'll add some more. My Sony television is about 8 to 12 years old but the problem is my new Panasonic DVR records the same noise.