TV Ga Ga

Sunday night, the TV in the bedroom only showed blanked dots. I really need to relieve the situation, I couldn't function without the TV on, I need background noises. I checked on the cable connector, it was jiggly. Ha, a McGyver moment came. I took out a tool box from The Rage for an exacto blade and general pliers. I also grabbed the first tape I can find around the apartment.

I then cut off the connector, splitted the cable with the blade and twisted the ground wires together. I splitted the inner insulation and opened up the aluminium that wrapped the thicker copper wire. I managed to put things together to the connector without soldering, thinking it's going to be temporary before I can take home a soldering gun from the lab.

The moment came to try on this make shift arrangement. It didn't work. I then bypassed the connector and plug the naked copper wire into the female side and wrapped the ground wire around the outer part of it. It didn't work.

I went downstairs to check on the splitter, everything was in place, it still didn't work. At this time, I was just going to give up and buy a 30-ft cable online. At least it's better than buying it with impulse from a local store. It can easily costs more than 20 bucks. I figure I can live with local non-cable channels (there are only three, KAMU, FOX, and an evangelical channel) for a couple of days while the cable is shipped out.

And then I went to the Rec. While on elliptical, I somehow thought about the splitter arrangement. My photographic memory is getting better these days. I remember there were only three cables plugged in while there are supposed to be four, one for the input, one for the living room TV, one for TV upstair, and one for cable modem. I checked on it as soon as I got home. And yes, the upstair TV's connector was unplugged.

Voila. Everything is working now. And with the new connection, it's almost like an HDTV clarity.