Tangled Wire Mess

Usually this time of year is dealing with Xmas wires totally tangled in a mess.  There is something about wires that their default state is to completely tangle themselves requiring the patience of Job to get them straightened.  Jenna has taken on the Xmas lead manager role and now deals with the wires and challenges of partial lit strands of Xmas lights.  I have freed myself of the obsessive desire to untangle and fix the Xmas lights.

However, I received my dose of wire puzzles as I assisted the Direct TV installer with replacing Time Warner cable.  The spagetti stands of coax cable spread around with splitters and signal gain adapters created a complex web of a "whole house wire mess".  With old technology of coax concatenated A/B wire combined with a Time Warner complex installation of a "whole house loop" - this complex configuration had both the Direct TV installer and me completely confused.  That combined with wires in the attic, the crawl space and outside created a matching wire puzzle game. 

After the installation was complete, I decided to create a whole house wiring diagram to facilitate future upgrades or changes back to cable.  Without proper testing equipment and  because the cable signal was discontinued, it was a best guess. 

All of this reconfiguration reminded me of when Dad and I installed the first Direct TV satellite at the Brill house in 1991.  Back then it was $700 to buy and self install - but as a bleeding edge gadget guy - I just had to have it.  Now 20 years later the technology has changed from single signal and one TV/phone connection to multiple satellites, LNB, with SWM splitters to multiple receivers/TVs all connected through a broadband adapter.  And the cost to install was $19.99 ( the $300 normal cost was waived with a 2 yr contract).

I think the tangled wire mess is straightened out - for now.