Scenario:

LCD HDTV has only 1 coax input.

Signals to be fed:
- OTA HD signal via coax. Antenna has preamp attached.
- ANALOG (yes NTSC) cable signal via coax. I do NOT have a digital cable box.


Plan:

Idea was to invert a 2-way coax splitter and feed both signals into the TV via one coax cable. This approach works fine when either coax cable is connected individually to the inverted 2-way splitter. The ANALOG cable signal is not that bad considering there is no booster and its being channeled through 75-100' of in-house cable and via 3 coax splitters. To me and the homeowner the cable picture quality looks quite good on this older HDTV LCD!


Problem:

When BOTH the ANALOG cable coax and the OTA coax cables are connected to the inverted 2-way splitter, the cable signal becomes extremely snowy. Some channels are better than others; some are barely viewable b/c of the noise. The minute we unplug the OTA coax cable from the inverted 2-way splitter, the cable signal becomes clear again.


Assumption:

I realise ANALOG NTSC signal reception is susceptible to noise and interference. My assumption is that b/c the OTA signal is being pre-amped, perhaps there is a lot of noise being fed into the inverted 2-way splitter from the OTA coax feed and thus polluting the ANALOG cable signal exiting the same output. The TV's single coax input is, after all, receiving both an analog + digital signal from the OTA feed AND the ANALOG cable signal simultaneously. The actual SELECTION is made by the TV's remote by choosing either "cable" or "antenna" in the menu.


POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

- Getting a digital cable box (NOT AT THIS TIME)
- Grounding the inverted 2-way splitter so as to isolate/cancel out possible noise pollution via the OTA coax feed: TRIED THIS; NO EFFECT.
- Finding a "better" or different device/setup to combine both coax cables/signals instead of inverting a 2-way splitter???

Any suggestions, or is this simply not in the cards?

EDIT: We are going to try unplugging the AC cord for the OTA preamp and see if that clears up the ANALOG cable signal with the OTA coax cable still attached to the inverted 2-way splitter. If that does the trick/is the culprit, then we'll have to get some sort of key-fob AC outlet going which the homeowner can easily toggle the pre-amp on/off when watching cable.