Audio/Video choppiness

Could be an indication of a weak incoming signal - common with over-the-air, but less so with cable. You can check signal strength on both tuners in the set-up menu.

 

What model TiVo?

If a Series 3 or 4, tune the bad channel and look in DVR Diagnostics. What are the signal strength, SNR and RS Error counts?

 

Advertisements

All your numbers are within TiVo's acceptable ranges. See this TiVo support page for details:

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/150

However the strength is below the recommended range. Compare the readings to other channels that don't have problems.

 

Assuming the signal strength uses "100" as "best", there's no way "61" should be called "acceptable".

With an OTA dgital tuner, anything in the low 70s starts being unacceptable, in my experience.

Can't see why cable would be any different.

 

Yes, if you look at the TiVo support page linked in my previous post, the wording is as follows:

Thus "acceptable" is not the right word. In my experience on cable signals on a TiVo HD you really need 70 or better.

 

What splitters do you have from where the cable enters your location?
If you have no splitter or just one splitter (frequently located in a box on your exterior wall), your signal should be stronger than what you report and I would complain to the cable co. If you have additional splitters, you may need an amp or "booster". One issue with any amp, booster, or even splitters is how much they attenuate the reverse OOB (out of band) control signal that goes back from your TA into the system for SDV request purposes. This is only an issue if you have a TA. Do you?

 

Try running the cable directly into your TiVo, i.e., bypassing the TA temporarily and see what signal strengths you get. This will check if the TA is attenuating the signal too much. Cisco TA's actually boost the signal a dB or 2 while Motorola TA's attenuate 1 or 2 dB. If the signal strengths go way up by bypassing the TA, the TA, or the short cable between TA and TiVo, is defective.

Otherwise I'd say either the signal delivered to your location is weak or the TiVo is giving false readings (i.e., is defective).

Go into Tuning Adapter Diagnostics and go to the second page of the first section (Status I think it is). Get the dBmV values for FDC, RDC and Tuner and post here. Preferably do this w and w/o the booster in place if not too inconvenient. FDC should be between -7 and 7 and is the OOB (TA communication) signal coming in to your TA. RDC is should be between 40 and 50 and is the strength of the OOB signal going back from your TA. Too high a value here means there is too much attenuation (e.g., in a splitter or booster) and your TA has to increase the signal to overcome it.

 

Are you sure the problem isn't in the signal before it ever gets to your house, much less into your TiVo? Maybe even before it gets to your cable co?

For example, the other day my mom was playing back the CBS soaps on her S2 DT and had a similar problem, but the problem was also present on the VCR recording of the same shows she kept on doing post-TiVo acquisition as a backup, so either the problem was introduced when TWC took the feed from WNCT and made it analog 9, or was introduced in WNCT's signal chain, or it got screwed up somewhere in the network-satellite-local affiliate uplink downlink path, or CBS the network screwed it up before they uplinked it to the satellite.

Or maybe Proctor and Gamble gave 'em a bad tape/file to begin with.

 

Any problem that affects only one channel does cast suspicion on the channel signal itself.

However the insertion loss of your TA (apparently it's a Motorola) seems too high to me. Sometimes the short cable between the TA and TiVo is bad, or it may be the TA itself. The numbers I told you to look for apply to the Cisco TA although I think the ones you posted are what Cisco calls the RDC and would be acceptable for that.

Were your numbers with the booster in place? If so, your incoming signal strength is too low and the cable co should be asked to check it.