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To: yihsuen who wrote (12218)	7/9/1999 8:05:00 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

yihsuen, thanks for that endorsement, but I don't consider myself an expert on Cable systems. Others, like Dave Horne and Denver Techie over in the Last Mile section.. now those are a different story. But to answer this particular question concerning bi-directionality, yes, most if not all cable systems can be upgraded to two way, with varying degrees of ease, and/or grief. Very old systems that are all coax need to have their amplifiers replaced along the entire length of their makeup. The new amps must be in compliance with the newer frequency plans which define upstream and downstream channels, among other things such as: - powering usually needs to be increased to support heavier loads; - distances between amps are no longer the same in many cases; - often, new sites need to be selected for field level amp enclosures; - due to the use of higher frequencies on the new system, connectors need to be changed to newer and improved materials with tighter tolerances; - and much more at levels esoteric and nitty gritty. When the backbone line between the headend and the serving area feeder plant is extremely long, the best way to invoke the necessary changes to bidirectionality is to substitute the older coaxial cable with fiber. Due to the greater distances that can be covered by fiber without amplification, this immediately removes a major amount of the logistics related headaches associated with the all-coaxial system: the removal of dozens, or hundreds, of amplifiers in a given system, or cluster of systems, respectively. Once the new fiber trunk reaches the neighborhood it is married up with the coaxial feeder and block cables after undergoing a transformation from HF over fiber to HF over coax. At this point, the hybridization of fiber and coax takes place, hence, the term: Hybrid Fiber/Coax or HF/C. Strings of amplifiers in the 'hood will most often also require changing out to conform to the new upstream and downstream splits, or frequency plans. In all, it's not an insignificant or painless endeavor, by any means. But in most instances it is a doable proposition. The only cases where I would say that it is not, is when the older system is all coaxial and too far gone to consider salvaging anything. In such situations, it may be a much better decision to start over, from scratch. But that is a business decision, not one of physics. I invite others to comment or correct this explanation, as the case may dictate. Regards, Frank Coluccio