How to Install Cable Television
Once television stations fully move over to digital television, more folks are going to need to learn how to install cable television in their homes in order to view television. The other option would be a digital converter box. However, if you've decided on cable because of the additional channels available, here is a basic tutorial on cable television installation. You can set your entertainment center up with either a television alone or with a VCR and DVD player included.
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Instructions
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1
Purchase a television that has a cable connector in the back. The cable connection looks like a thick screw with a hole in the middle. This is where you will insert your cable cord.
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2
Contact your cable company and request a new account. It will activate your new service and either ship you your new cable equipment, tell you where to pick it up, or have a technician come drop it off to you. The equipment will include a cable box, a remote control, a power cord and a couple of cable cords. If your house does not already have a cable source from the previous owner, you will have to pay the cable company to have the technician establish a brand new "cable in" source that will run from outdoors.
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3
Connect the smallest cable cord that you were given to the back of your television, and then insert the other side into the back of your cable box on the connector marked "Out to TV" or similar. Be sure that the cable cord pin is all the way in the connector and screw it in tightly (remember: "to the right is tight, left is loose").
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4
Grab the cord that was already installed in your home or apartment (or that the technician established. This cord is most likely coming from an outlet in your wall or being run in from another room. Insert the open end of the cord into the back of the cable box on the connector marked "Cable In" or similar.
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Plug in your cable box and give it time to boot up. Turn on your television as well and tune it in to channel three or four (two in rare cases). Once the cable box fully boots up, you should have cable television. You may need to call your cable company to have a special code sent to your cable box as it is booting for the service to work properly.
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If you have a VCR or DVD player, you will need one more cord. Connect the "Out to TV" cord (running from the cable box) that would have been in the back of the television to the back of the VCR or DVD player instead. Then run the extra cord from the VCR or DVD player into the back of your television. When you need to use your VCR or DVD player, you will most likely need to press the "Input" button on your television's remote control to switch over.
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Tips & Warnings
You can have a technician come to set up your cable television for you, but you may have to pay additional setup fees. If you are going to be using a digital converter instead of cable, the hookup is the same or very similar to this process.
