mark@hermesa.uucp (Mark McWiggins) (06/23/91)
I subscribe to a couple of premium cable channels that require a descrambler. The descrambler maps everything to channel 3. If I had an "inline" descrambler, it would generally be much handier for me; I could tape one premium channel while watching another, etc. Does anyone offer this? Is there some technical reason why it's not feasible? By the way: I'm not interested in ripping off the cable company, just in more effective use of my equipment. Thanks in advance for any insight. -- Mark McWiggins mark@hermesa.uucp ...uw-beaver!amc-gw!hermesa!mark Box 40357, Bellevue WA 98004 / +1 206 455 2786 (24 hrs.)
barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) (06/24/91)
In article <1991Jun22.225534.4713@hermesa.uucp> mark@hermesa.uucp (Mark McWiggins) writes: >I subscribe to a couple of premium cable channels that require a descrambler. >The descrambler maps everything to channel 3. If I had an "inline" >descrambler, it would generally be much handier for me; I could tape one >premium channel while watching another, etc. > >Does anyone offer this? Is there some technical reason why it's not feasible? It would be more expensive. Most converters only have only one tuner and descrambler circuit, so only one channel's signal can be descrambled at a time. To permit simultaneous descrambling of all premium channels you'd need as many tuner/descrambler combinations as there are premium channels. Also, many cable companies derive revenues from rental of additional converters, when a customer has more than one TV they want to watch premium channels on, so they might not want to make it so easy to connect multiple TVs to the same converter. -- Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp. barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar
brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot) (06/24/91)
In article <1991Jun22.225534.4713@hermesa.uucp> mark@hermesa.uucp (Mark McWiggins) writes:
<I subscribe to a couple of premium cable channels that require a descrambler.
<The descrambler maps everything to channel 3. If I had an "inline"
<descrambler, it would generally be much handier for me; I could tape one
<premium channel while watching another, etc.
<
<Does anyone offer this? Is there some technical reason why it's not feasible?
Technically not feasible at this time. Actually it is cost prohibitive. It
can be done, but at great cost. No cable viewer would want to pay for such
a box.
--
harvard\ att!nicmad\ spool.cs.wisc.edu!astroatc!vidiot!brown
Vidiot ucbvax!uwvax..........!astroatc!vidiot!brown
rutgers/ decvax!nicmad/ INTERNET:vidiot!brown%astroatc@spool.cs.wisc.eduflash@lopez.UUCP (Gary Bourgois) (06/25/91)
In <1976@vidiot.UUCP> brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot) writes: ><The descrambler maps everything to channel 3. If I had an "inline" ><descrambler, it would generally be much handier for me; I could tape one ><premium channel while watching another, etc. >< ><Does anyone offer this? Is there some technical reason why it's not feasible? >Technically not feasible at this time. Actually it is cost prohibitive. It >can be done, but at great cost. No cable viewer would want to pay for such >a box. Mr. Videot is semi-correct. It depends on how many premium channels, and how your system is set up, and how much you want to play. What I did years ago in a similar situation was to use ONE descrambler to feed a separate cable to the rest of my home with an A/B switch so I could watch HBO in any room on the second cable. Then I got creative and acquired a modulator that fed an unused channel and re inserted HBO there. This made it work on ONE main cable that fed my home, and I could tape HBO like it was a regular station. I got my stuff for free. The modulator was an old tube type unit I got from a friend who used to rebuild cable TV head ends. I have seen these units new for $202, which may or may not be cost prohibitive. You will also need a means of DEMODULATING the signal, which can be had for around $70. SO for under $300 per channel you can do it with new components. You can also do it for near free if you know someone in the cable TV business, or know what to look for at a Hamfest. You can even use an old VCR to do this (One which has a working tuner, but the mechanics are blown). In this case you would set the VCR to either channel 3 or 4, and would have to build up a filter network to remove the existing channel 3 or 4 (hope it has nothing you want to watch) and also filter the VCR's output to keep it narrower so it wont interfer with ajacent channels. The point is, where there is a will, there is a way. I currently distrubute THREE in house channels on my home cable system. One has my satellite dish, one has a vcr for watching tapes in any room, and one has the status display of the BBS that I run (lopez). My total out or pocket expense for this system was about $40 (the UHF modulator, a startron, which is no longer available, sadly) I would not let anyone telling me something can't be done stop me from doing it. -- =Marquette MI: It's Not the END of the world, but you can see it from here= == Gary Bourgois flash@lopez (rutgers!sharkey!lopez!flash) GWN UPLink == == 3.950 Nationwide Amateur Radio Nightly after 0200z=Learning Channel == =============== WB8EOH = The Eccentric Old Hippie = WB8EOH ================
greg@hoss.unl.edu (Life...) (06/29/91)
barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) writes: >mark@hermesa.uucp (Mark McWiggins) writes: >>I subscribe to a couple of premium cable channels that require a descrambler. >>The descrambler maps everything to channel 3. If I had an "inline" >>descrambler, it would generally be much handier for me; I could tape one >>premium channel while watching another, etc. >> >>Does anyone offer this? Is there some technical reason why it's not feasible? I am told that the cable company in Omaha, NE has this. Lincoln, NE says they are working on it. (They have also mentioned a 5 channel tuner, and upgrading service for more than 36 channels, which are yet to be seen.) >It would be more expensive. Most converters only have only one tuner and >descrambler circuit, so only one channel's signal can be descrambled at a >time. To permit simultaneous descrambling of all premium channels you'd >need as many tuner/descrambler combinations as there are premium channels. Ord, NE as far as I know has never had descrambler boxes in homes, yet they have more than one premium channel now. The population of the town is less than 3000 people. We've had TVs connected in 3 different places in the house, 2 at a time, and no problems. >Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp. >barmar@think.com >{uunet,harvard}!think!barmar Right now I am resorting to two AB switch boxes. The first controls the signal going to the VCR (box or cable), and the second controls the signal going to the TV (VCR or cable). That way I can record a scrambled channel while watching something else. I can even listen to them both! -- /// ____ \\\ "The major problem--one of the major problems, for there are | |/ / \ \| | several--one of the many major problems with governing \\_|\____/|_// people is of whom you get to do it, or more to the greg \_\\\/ hoss.unl.edu point, who gets people to let them do it to them."