# Good Splitters Gone Bad (Coax Cable Splitter Question) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128 "2004-04-21T00:02:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![larsenmtl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@larsenmtl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/larsenmtl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/1 "2004-04-21T00:02:53Z")
I have the cable line coming into my living room split behind my entertainment center with your normal coax 2-way splitter. Something like this: > **[RadioShack.com Official Site - America's Technology Store](https://www.radioshack.com/?catalog_name=CTLG&product_id=15-2582)** > > The Shack Is Back! Shop Radios, Headphones, TV Antennas, Cables & Adapters, DIY Tools & Parts, Electronics Maker Kits, and much more brand new arrivals daily! Don't forget to visit any of our 450+ RadioShack locations across America! I do this so one split can go to the cablebox - TiVo - TV and the other directly to the TV. That way if the wife is Tivo-ing Gilmore Girls or the OC or some other something else that makes me shudder, I can flip inputs and watch something on the Discovery channel. After about 6 months of everything working well, my reception will suddenly go fuzzy. This will occur on both inputs and sure enough both times, replacing the splitter has fixed the problem. Last time I even opted for the “expensive” splitter that’s double-shielded with 40-2150 MHz, what ever that means? How are my splitters failing? Or is the problem something else? I’ve tried detaching - reattaching the coax cables but this has no affect. By-passing or replacing the splitter is the only thing that seems to work. I know I have these splitters outside (cable company installed) that have never failed. Are they using some super, weather resistant splitter? Can I get one? Finally, can anybody explain to me how these things are ranked by MHz and what the numbers are supposed to mean? Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/2 "2004-04-21T00:10:28Z")
The “40-2150 MHz” spec is the band it is designed to work with. Attenuation is the only significant spec in this case. It shows how much weaker the output is than the input. Splitters don’t typically go bad unless there is corrosion. Have you tried reseating all the connections when you suspect one is bad? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/3 "2004-04-21T02:23:16Z")
Are you using the screw type RF connectors on your splitter, or the cheap “push-on” connectors? Sometimes there is a lot of signal loss due to poor connection on the push-ons. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/4 "2004-04-21T02:55:09Z")
You’re in Baltimore. Are you on the coast, or the harbor, or near the sea, or whatever? I can’t imagine any failure mode in the situation as you describe it except corrosion of the terminals. The 3.5 dB number by the two output terminals means that the signal power out of each of them is 44.7% of the input power. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/5 "2004-04-21T03:13:14Z")
I tend to have the very same problem, also from splitters bought at Radio Shack. the only difference is that the picture degrades rather than “suddenly” going fuzzy. Would there be a better place to buy them from? ---
**Author:** ![larsenmtl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@larsenmtl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/larsenmtl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/6 "2004-04-21T03:20:06Z")
Thanks for all the replies. Padeye - yea, my first response was to detached and reconnect all three coax cables. This had no effect. I saw great improvement if I took off the splitter and held the two coax wires together so the little metal wires touched. I figured it has to be the splitter. FBG - yes, I’m using good, thick quality, screw on coax. DS -nope, I’m not close enough to the coast. More farm country out here than any salt water. Oh and I’m guessing 44.7% output is good with little signal lose? Darn. Is it possible that the two coax wires are too close off the split and are causing interferance with each other? I’m really stumped. Could I just have two defective splitters? ---
**Author:** ![larsenmtl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@larsenmtl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/larsenmtl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/7 "2004-04-21T03:23:47Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I tend to have the very same problem, also from splitters bought at Radio Shack. the only difference is that the picture degrades rather than “suddenly” going fuzzy. > > Would there be a better place to buy them from? I just reposted and saw your response. Glad I’m not alone. Degrade might be a better description. I might have overstated the suddenly especially since I don’t watch much TV (the wife only said something when it got on her nerves). It was probably 3 days or so from when it started to when I swaped the splitter out. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/8 "2004-04-21T03:34:21Z")
Splitters from Radio Shack tend to be pretty crappy. Hunt through the yellow pages for an electronics supply store - the kind of place contractors shop - and see what they have. ---
**Author:** ![Tulipgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@Tulipgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tulipgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/9 "2004-04-21T04:09:19Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Splitters from Radio Shack tend to be pretty crappy. Hunt through the yellow pages for an electronics supply store - the kind of place contractors shop - and see what they have. Agree. So does our cable guy, Doug, who gave us ones he had for free. He says they are generally pretty junky. And we bought the nicer ones at RS. Ever since we replaced them with the cable company ones, we have had no problems. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/10 "2004-04-21T06:14:04Z")
> [@larsenmtl](#): > > . > Oh and I’m guessing 44.7% output is good with little signal lose? Yes, that’s OK. The best you can do with a two-way splitter is 50% at each of the two output ports. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/11 "2004-04-21T13:39:42Z")
> [@larsenmtl](#): > > Darn. Is it possible that the two coax wires are too close off the split and are causing interferance with each other? I’m really stumped. Could I just have two defective splitters? No, this should not be a problem, since the coax cables are shielded against interference. If you were to take a look inside the control room at your local cable company, you’d see huge bundles of coax cable all running right alongside each other with no detrimental effect. I’m with others here who say try a higher quality splitter. ---
**Author:** ![larsenmtl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@larsenmtl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/larsenmtl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-splitters-gone-bad-coax-cable-splitter-question/241128/12 "2004-04-21T15:07:47Z")
Thanks all.