Cable -tv question -- Very freaky thing that happens.

[The Backlash Cometh]

This has happened at least 5 times in the last ten days. I'm on a channel (today it was CNN Headline News) then suddenly the television changes to the Cartoon Network -- on its own! But the freakiest thing of all, is that the same show is on -- It's the Disney movie, "The land before time" And it appears to start at the same point. Then, after a while, the television just shuts itself off.

Under what scenarios can something like this happen?

[trotsky]

1. Is this a cable-ready TV or do you have a cable box?

n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. I don't think I have a box. It's direct connect.

[trotsky]

3. Odd.

I would think that if the TV is shutting itself off, it's got to be a problem with the TV. They show those Land Before Time movies A LOT on Cartoon Network, and there's something like 17 of them and they're pretty much the same damn story. I know this because my 5 year old LOVES dinosaurs.

[bvar22]

4. Did you see "poltergeist"????

Was your house built on an ancient sacred burial ground???


How do you know????

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. I wish. It would certainly improve the neighborhood.

[Jersey Devil]

6. Have you check the Nooblin level?

It is a common occurence for these things to happen if Nooblin levels are below manufacturer recommendations. Assuming you have a cable ready TV, check for a small switch on the back that says "Nooblin Check". Switch it to the on position then shut off the TV and start it again. If Nooblin levels are OK a message will appear that says "Nooblin check passed". If too low the message should say "Add Nooblin".

[trotsky]

7. Gee, I thought you needed a left-handed monkey wrench to fix that.

:eyes:

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. No silly. Those are in the old models. In the new models, you

just have to rotate the pelican fans in a counter-clockwise direction.

[demosincebirth]

13. I have one!

[BlueHandDuo]

8. Is your TV positioned where...

...someone can point a remote control at it from across the street?

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Not really.

It would have to be a super-duper microwave deluxe model of a remote control.

[havocmom]

11. Back in the olden days before cable, when TV images flew through the air,

someone I know had a similar problem. Remotes controls were brand new (god, I am old!). Anyway, the TV would go on and off and change channels seemingly on its own. Turned out to be the parakeet and the polished metal mirror in his cage. Bird would peck at the mirror which would hit the metal cage just so and somehow that set off the TV. Most annoying at 3 AM.

We had some mysterious problems with the satellite TV. Turned out to be the cat. He learned that pushing buttons, well, pushed our buttons. Again, especially annoying at 3 AM.

Have considered the possibility that the bird reincarnated into the cat and kept up with technology. ;)

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. There was an easy answer.

My son had been playing with the pre-recording buttons. He can't even remember what he did. But everything happens at 11:08 in the morning. Personally, I liked the poltergeist theory.

[Mabus]

14. One of my dogs likes changing channels

He does it on purpose too. One Saturday evening I set up the VCR to record something on C-Span. I think it was the Harken Fish Fry and then left for the monthly party at my friend's house. We left the tv on to provide light and sound for the dogs. (I know, they're spoiled.)

The next day when we rewound the tape we got about ten minutes of the fish fry. Then the channels went up one by one (from channel 27 to channel 40) to the Animal Channel. There was a dog show. After the dog show, right after the program ended, my dog started channel surfing again. He ended up on National Geographic channel for a little while (three channels) and then up another fourteen channels to MTV.

It's happened more than once. We've the set the VCR and left only to find the channel changes throughout the tape. We've started hiding the remote or taking it with us.

When we're watching tv in bed at night, this dog sometimes he gets it in his head that its time to change the channel. He walks over to the remote and just keeps hitting it with his paw until he gets to wherever he thinks he wants to go. My husband and I just look at each other and wonder what he's doing or thinks he's doing.

I've missed some crucial plot points of movies/shows because of his channel surfing. I've got a tv set up in the kitchen on the same feed as the living room tv. The dog has changed channels on me when I'm in the middle of doing dishes. I have to dry my hands, go in the other room, find him, take the remote from him and turn it back. Last week he changed channels at the end of "The Wire" when one character told his drug/business partner that he offed his partner's nephew. Huge plot point. If my husband hadn't been watching in the bedroom I would have not known what happened until the replay on Monday.

We also have to put the remote up at night or the tv gets turned on in the middle of the night. For a while I thought my husband was turning it on and falling asleep and he thought I was doing it. One day I finally showed him how to set the timer to turn it off. He said he was thinking of teaching me. We knew it was the dog.

[Longhorn]

15. That is one of the funniest stories I've ever heard!

Please come over to the Pet Group and post it again! :hi:

[havocmom]

16. MALE dog. That figures!

;)