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                                                                  EXHIBIT 31 (a)


I, John Whetzell certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Northland Cable
      Properties Seven Limited Partnership;

2.    Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
      statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
      make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
      statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
      this quarterly report;

3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
      information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
      material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
      flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
      quarterly report;

4.    The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
      establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
      and we have:


          a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
               disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
               supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
               registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
               known to us by others within those entities, particularly during
               the period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

          b)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
               controls and procedures and presented in this report our
               conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
               and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
               report based on such evaluation; and

          c)   Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
               controls over financial reporting that occurred during the
               registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
               affected, or is reasonably likely to affect, the registrant's
               internal controls over financial reporting; and


5.    The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
      our most recent evaluation of internal controls over financial reporting,
      to the registrant's auditors and board of directors:


          a)   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
               design or operation of internal controls over financial
               reporting, which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
               registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
               financial information; and

          b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
               other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
               internal controls over financial reporting.


DATE: 11-12-04


/s/  JOHN S. WHETZELL
     ----------------
     John S. Whetzell
     Chief Executive Officer