In this day many cable techs have field signal strength meters. In the old days it was all signal level. In these days of digital cable I have seen many systems that had enough amplitude ( signal ) but something was wrong with the digital carrier. Many older perfectly fine meters ( such as my Comsonics ) that have not been upgraded will not measure the digital carrier. All the old saws about signal loss ( and hence the questions about how many splitters ) will not work. Sure you still need sufficient signal at the display at all frequancies. But you also need to know the signal strength of the digital carrier and that means you will need an expensive meter. Even a good satellite meter costs a bit. I paid 1200 form mine though you can find a few DBS meters on the market for 60. The problem is that when the new satellites come on line (and there are always new satellites coming on line) you need to measure them too.

Do either of two things. Force the cable company to come out and measure the signal at the drop and at any TV 100 ft from that drop. Or hire a pro who has the requiste meter and pay him the money to do the same measurements. Or pay for a digital field signal strength meter that also measures the digital carrier. Wavtek charges about 3200 and Comsonics 2400 for theirs. When I asked about upgrading my older unit I was told 500 but it only measures one carrier not all of them. If I wanted a unit that worked on all digital carriers I'd have to order a new unit. I did not.

Alan