Your source for the latest in tech talk from around the broadband industry.

Broadband: Big Numbers, Small Numbers

Fri, 1 Jun 2007 0:00:00 EDT

Ours is a world of numbers, and in cable we tend to use a lot of really big and really small numbers. Fortunately, there are several ways to simplify how we describe those numbers, which I'll get to shortly. In reality, it's hard to grasp just how big or small numbers can be. Consider the number 1,000,000...

Digital Transmission, Part 1

Fri, 1 Jun 2007 0:00:00 EDT

Find out exactly what the CMTS upstream SNR estimate is - and what it is not....

HDMI Is Here

Tue, 1 May 2007 0:00:00 EDT

High definition multimedia interface (HDMI) is here, largely among high-end consumers. Here's a rundown on what HDMI is, how it relates to high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP), where the potential bugs are, and how to fix them....

The Next-Generation Field Tech

Wed, 1 Nov 2006 0:00:00 EST

As services become more advanced, so too must the technicians who enable them....

Letters to the Editor

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 0:00:00 EDT

Last week's Soapbox question on whether techs need laptop computers apparently struck a chord. Here follow two of the replies we received....

Unsolicited Grant Service (UGS) Turns Mountain Cablevision into a Voice Lighthouse

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 0:00:00 EDT

Unsolicited Grant Service (UGS) Turns Mountain Cablevision into a Voice Lighthouse Cable telephony looks great on a white board; sounds stunning at a shareholder meeting; is a fine foundation for clever TV advertising - and is a bear to do right. The earliest cable telephony systems relied heavily on what...

Self-Terminating Taps and Micro-Reflections

Sat, 1 Jul 2006 0:00:00 EDT

A Communications Technology reader recently sent me the following via email. "In your article `Linear Distortions, Part 1' (July 2005, www.ct-magazine.com/archives/ct/0705/0705_lineardistortions.htm), you mention the use of self-terminating taps as a possible ca...

Troubleshooting Digitally Modulated Signals, Part 2

Sat, 1 Jul 2006 0:00:00 EDT

Digitally modulated signals are a fact of life in the modern cable system, and keeping those signals healthy requires different equipment and knowledge than analog does. Here follows Part 2 of Ron Hranac's Expo workshop on troubleshooting digitally modulated signals....

More on Cable Modem Upstream Signal Levels

Thu, 1 Jun 2006 0:00:00 EDT

A couple weeks after I wrote last month’s column, Cisco’s John Downey took a look at the manuscript and suggested a few things to add to what was said. Since the May issue was well on its way through the editing and production process by then—and CT’s editors give me a limited amount of space each month—I suggested that we collaborate on a second installment to cover the additional material. Here ’tis....

Common Path Distortion

Thu, 1 Jun 2006 0:00:00 EDT

This distinctive but widely misunderstood bug can raise Cain with the return path. Here's what it is, what causes it and how to minimize it....