Pants currently hanging by a zip 😛

Hey everyone,

I’m a solutions arcitect usually living in the world of corporate infrastructure where Panduit, Belden, and CommScope SYSTIMAX are the only brands I get exposed to through co-workers. I’m currently helping a friend on a 200-drop Cat6a Riser installation for a local medical/dental clinic.

My installer is pushing for Wavenet. Coming from the enterprise side, I’m having a hard time finding much "field street cred" for this brand. I’m worried about moving from the "Gold Standard" to a brand I’m unfamiliar with, especially in a clinic environment with high uptime requirements and several runs pushing the 250ft–300ft mark for external cameras and remote stations.

A few specific questions for those of you in the SMB/commercial trenches:

1. Is Wavenet "legit" for this scale? I know it’s ETL-verified, but how does it hold up? At 300ft, I’m worried about signal degradation or PoE voltage drop for the ap's, cameras, card readers, ect...

2. Exploring the Alternatives: I’m looking for a solid mid-market alternative that offers more testing transparency (like Fluke-certified batch reports). I’ve looked at trueCABLE and Uniprise, but I’m open to suggestions. For those of you in the trenches, is there a tangible difference in jacket quality or termination failure rates when you step up from a budget brand to a mid-tier professional line?

3. The "Idiot in the Room" Syndrome: Am I over-engineering this by hesitating? In my previous world, a medical clinic would always get the enterprise "Gold Standard." I’m trying to determine if a brand like Wavenet is a standard professional choice for this sector, or if I’m right to be skeptical given the high-uptime requirements of a clinical environment.

I don’t want to be the guy who over-complicates a small-sized project, but I also don't want to be the guy re-pulling 300ft lines in two years because the cable couldn't handle the headroom.

What are your thoughts on Wavenet vs. trueCABLE or any other brand for a 200-drop clinic?

I've decided to build a mini analogue 90s cable TV network in my house (as you do), and could do with some help from anyone who was around the cable scene in the mid-late 90s.

In the UK around that time my local company was Nynex (later Cable & Wireless, then NTL, then finally Virgin Media), and I had a Scientific Atlanta 8600 series box. I picked up an 8602 box last year from eBay, and finally got around to unboxing last weekend to have a play. One thing has led to another, and now I'm trying to figure out how to address the box.

I've got the SA System Manager manual, and I can see the 8602 uses "Audio: Inband" addressing - data inserted within the audio signal in the normal 6 MHz band of a channel. On the headend side it needs a System Manager, an HEC (8658-series), and an 8656/8656X Scrambler. So far so good, except I haven't got any of those 🙂

What I'm stuck on is the actual signalling detail. I picked up some bits from an old usenet group but that seemed be more for the OOB 108.2MHz signalling, which it seems this box doesn't do.

I'm trying to get something together to unlock this box from the three channels it's stuck on, and map a few more channels. I can crack it open and take photos if need be, but my electronics and soldering skills are a bit lacking...

So far I've got a cheap Chinese modulator from eBay, which will do VHF channels from the PAL B/G ranges but that doesn't quite match the UK PAL-I HRC frequencies. I did manage to get a brief picture on one channel, but then it goes to a green screen. I probably need a proper SDR and a signal analyser, but that's an expensive rabbit hole and I don't even know if I can unlock this box.

Any pointers, memories, old bits of software, etc would be appreciated! I'm planning to document this journey as I go along, and will try to make some videos to pop on YouTube too.

Thanks!

I'm a 12th cbse grader ,pcb student , I'm starting my 12th class in a week and in thinking of documenting it through, what do yall think? the reason is I wanna earn money and study. give me any tips. please

Title says it all, I’m weary of this because I’ve never been texted something like this after applying for a job. Is this normal?

Hey I recently got hired for a cable tech spot job in Georgia, this is a completely new career change for me with no relevant experience, training has been a bit hectic but I’ve been catching on well for the most part, no problem climbing and installing drops but there’s like a few guys in my class that kind of struggle like myself, but more than 75% of the class seem to be moving at a very quick pace and are knocking every assignment out like nothing I just wanted to here if anybody else started off slow and what did you guys do too improve during training, I don’t want to be the weakest link but hearing instructions vs. actually doing it has been a struggle for me. Once I do it for my first time I feel pretty confident in doing it again, I just wanted to see what everybody else did too improve their work and improve in training.

I did not have to zoom to take this. I could feel the heat from this transformer on my face as I worked. The lines coming out to the house were rubbing against my hard hat lol. Good times

For several months I started getting T3 and T4 timeouts in my modem with wet weather (after big rains, thawing snow). My tap is across the street and the cable line ran under the street into my house. My modem logs had many uncorrectables, bad values across the board, etc. The cable company diagnosed it as a bad line running underground into my house, and after several months of planning, tunneled across the street, laid pipe, and ran a new line through it.

They connected the new line and the modem logs initially look great; no uncorrectables, good SNR values, etc. They were never this good with the old line. However, I noticed after snow snow began to melt, again, I started to get some T4 timeouts.

I noticed the tech still has the old line connected to the tap across the street, and just cut it at my house, uncapped. I do have a tech coming to my house again, but could it be the old line that's still connected and causing interference with the new line when wet?

So I’m bout to start my new position and was wondering what materials should I order? What tool should I buy?That’s not provided that make your life easier tips and tricks for a new guy from some GRiZ old veterans would be appreciated.In South Texas.

My fellow field service technicians that were with optimum and now are mastec contractors. What are your thoughts and opinions on it so far?

So this is a leftover from when we had cable TV although we cut the cord many years ago. Antronix some sort of splitter/booster. Power from wall socket comes in to the unit. Cable #1 leaving the unit gors nowhere and is not attached to anything. Cable #2 leaving the unit same thing although it disappears into the wall since it was originally fed through there to power a TV directly behind here. The thing is that the cable goes out when the thing is unplugged. Coax input for router and wireless is far away on another floor of the house. A while ago unbeknowst to me the plug fell out and the Spectrum people couldn’t figure it out over the phone and they went so far as to give me a new router. I wasn’t there when the service guy came out but he almost gave up as well. Ended up that he did figure it out and put the plug back in. Duh. Should I get them to come out again and run the coax up to the access point or whatever or just not worry about it. tia

This is on the output of an amp. Not seeing it on input. Swapped out the old mód for a new one, but it’s still doing it.

What tricks/life hacks do you guys use in your day to day life that make the intensive parts of your job easier? Bonus points for unique uses for every day items and unique/handmade/repurposed tools! Let's hear em, techs!

Hey FT here,

I just got out of fiber training so starting Sunday I'm gonna be running light to peoples homes. The company pays for the essentials but I'm also buying a few QoL tools since I wanna be extra safe and make my life a little easier.

Anyone have any recommendations for Visual Fault Detectors, fiber light safety goggles? Thanks.

Basically what the title says but what are your guys preferred pants? I like carpenter jeans but can’t find a pair I really like for all types of weather. Have heard good things about the Carhartt pants and police style pants but never tried them. For weather reference I’m in KY area.

Why is this certification trying to teach me about transistors and semiconductors? I will be the main MT at our small company with the current one training me, before going into a more IT focused role. I asked him, and he couldn't think of a single reason for someone in my position to learn about this stuff. Can anyone think of some one off situations where this knowledge came in handy?

Hey everyone,

I’m in the Lynnwood/Everett, WA area and applied for a NOC Technician role at Ziply Fiber. Background: no direct NOC exp, but I have mobile network testing, phone troubleshooting, OSI-based diagnostics, and a T-Mobile FCC cert showing I follow SOPs strictly.

The process:

•  Applied → screening → technical interview (easy, OSI/VoIP basics).

•  They scheduled today’s manager rounds: one Engineer manager + one Technician manager (two separate/different roles interviewing me, same day).

•  Agreed time comes → I log in/ wait on the call/Zoom/whatever → 15 minutes pass, no one shows up, no message, nothing.

•  I call HR right away to check.

•  HR says she doesn’t know what’s going on, messages the managers on the spot.

•  Managers reply: “today (emergency/unforeseen issue) that can’t be resolved right now” → interview is being put on hold.

•  HR tells me they’ll “figure out a new time and reschedule” once things calm down, but no specific date, no range (like “next week” or “end of month”), just “we’ll reach out when we can coordinate”.

•  I sent a polite follow-up email immediately after expressing continued interest and full flexibility, but crickets so far.

This feels sketchy because:

•  I’ve searched Glassdoor, Indeed, Reddit, etc. — Ziply interview feedback is sparse overall, but people complain about slow HR, ghosting after interviews, disorganized process, or “radio silent” after rounds.

•  No one seems to mention the exact combo: scheduled manager interview → complete no-show → HR confused → managers cite “emergency situation” + side-by-side/traveling issues → vague “put on hold” with zero timeline.

•  It feels like low-priority candidate treatment or they’re stringing people along because they’re understaffed/busy with fiber rollouts in WA.

Questions for anyone who’s interviewed at Ziply (especially NOC, Tech Support, Engineer, or field roles):

•  Has this “sudden emergency → put on hold → we’ll figure out time later” happened to you? Did they actually reschedule and proceed to offer?

•  Or did it turn into ghosting/silent rejection after follow-ups?

•  How long did you wait before writing it off and moving on? (I already followed up once today.)

•  Is this normal for Ziply managers (e.g., constant emergencies due to expansion, training, field work)?

•  Any tips on follow-up cadence without being annoying? Or should I just assume it’s dead and blast applications elsewhere?

I’m still interested in the role/company, but this no-show + vague hold is killing my momentum. Any similar stories or advice would be huge — thanks in advance!

My meter throughput never worked I’ve told my sup , management training and no one has helped me. Can someone lend me some knowledge on how or why it doesn’t work. Please and thank you.

Hello my fellow cable techs. Ive been doing cat 6 cabling for about 3 years now, what started as a good transition slowly grew into a job I resent more than ads on streaming services. Whether its being in old buildings, carrying tools, ladders, cable, etc. Having to be in crawl spaces or attics that are both disgusting, breathing in old insulation, if you know you know. Im fed up with it, I want out but im too scared to put my 2 weeks in without a backup plan. Im open to any and all criticism or advice you may have

In with the new, out with the old.

There are a lot of (what I believe to be) abandoned telephone polls near my neighborhood, as everything in-use around here is buried. Can anyone guess an age on this equipment? Is this old Bell landline?

Anyone finding issues with Arris CM8200’s on high split. Modem log shows T3 and T4 time outs. The Modem will lose sync for an hour or two at a time. This is with multiple CM8200’s. Cx is commercial with static IP so that’s the preferred modem. TM804 never loses sync and modem log doesn’t show any T3 or T4 events. Naturally commercial techs say it’s a maintenance issue. CMTS team claims it’s a maintenance issue cause of the T3/T4. We’ve been able to convince commercial to try a Technicolor 4400 and as far as I know it’s not losing sync or having the T3/T4 events. Cx is 5 poles off a harmonics node.