OK, I know this is a bit off-the subject for this board, but I have run out of ideas and the cable company won't help me. I apologize in advance for another long post:

I own three RCA and one Zenith TV's. All of them came with the Guide Plus+ feature, something I was willing to pay extra for when I bought them. Up until six months ago, the guide worked perfectly fine until we had trouble with a cable TV line extender down the street.

We had lost our high speed Internet (cable modem) but it would only go out when it was freezing cold. After many technicians came out (during the day of course when it was warmer), we finally had a day where it didn't get above 20 degrees. Shazzam! I finally got them to witness (and correct) the problem.

Since then, we now no longer have the Guide Plus+ service on the TV's. It wasn't exactly that day, but since the TV's hold about a week's worth of programming, it's hard to say exactly when it went out. I think it's an awfully strange coincidence, but I can't prove anything. I have simply lost reception of this signal for no apparent reason.

Here's where it gets worse.....The cable company (Adelphia) claims that they have no control over this signal. I have no way to prove them wrong. I am reasonably intelligent when it comes to CATV. They also did a major head-end modification and moved channels around, etc. at the same time. I brought this to their attention, asking if maybe some kind of filter may be in place that's notching out the frequency. They swear that there's just nothing there.

I have been told this by the company's area supervisor. He seems to be pretty concerned and willing to help, but he claims he's at a dead end. He's gone as far up in his company as he can and nobody has an answer. He has given me his personal contact numbers and offered to come over anytime on short notice to help me troubleshoot. The problem is, THERE IS NO TROUBLESHOOTING that can be done. You simply put in your zip code and 24 hours later, you have an interactive guide.

Four TV's, two different manufacturers and they all stopped working at the same time. The TV manufacturers won't return my calls or answer e-mails. Gemstar (the signal provider) says to talk to the TV manufacturer. I don't buy the "we don't notch frequencies" crap I'm hearing from Adelphia. Maybe they don't intentionally, but... Still, I have a hard time believing that I am the only cable subscriber of 250,000 that is having this problem. That's why I think it has to do with the line extender they replaced when this all started. There are only eight subscribers past this point and it's possible I am the only one with Guide Plus+ on my TV's.

So that I have some form of ammunition, does anyone out there have any information about how this service works (frequency, etc.)? I haven't had much luck searching the Internet, nor has the cable TV manager. He claims that if I can locate some better information about the service, he might be able to figure it out. He's basically told me he has no clue, but I respect someone who's honest with regard to his abilities. At least he's willing to try to assist.

My wife has been driving me nuts about this forever and I need some help. Anyone have a clue? Thanks for your time.

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Ed
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How come there's always enough time to go back and fix it a second time?

Ed Vaughn, MBSWWYPBX