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Digital Cable Descramble
No, digital cable is
not all digital. Here’s an interesting fact to note: Typically
channels 1-125 on your digital cable system are still analog.
How do you know how many scrambled analog
channels you have between channels 1 and 125? Simple: Disconnect
your digital cable box and plug your coaxial cable coming from
your wall directly into your television. Then scroll through
channels 1 – 125. Every time you see a scrambled channel, you’ll
know this is a standard analog scrambled channel. Analog channels
can be descrambled with traditional analog descrambling equipment,
which is widely available. Many people with digital cable simply connect an A/B splitter to
the cable coming in from the outside.
This switch is made by L-com. L-com has developed a series
of modular, low-frequency manual switches having coax connectors
for use in digital communications, video and data applications.
These are non-constant impedance switches designed for use at
frequencies up to 15MHz. This switch can be purchased at: http://www.l-com
Once the A/B splitter is in
place, people switch the splitter to A to watch television with
a regular digital cable box, and they switch it to B to watch
television through an analog descrambler. It’s literally that
simple.
Note: Cable companies can use a technique
called Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) to try to determine how
many devices are connected to your incoming cable. In simple
terms, a tiny, short test signal is sent into your residence
and the time domain reflectometer determines the number of connections
by the various echoes returned down the cable. Since each device
is at a different point along the cable, they can be counted.
Each splitter, filter, etc. will affect this count. A simple
way to avoid being probed is to install a CATV amplifier just
inside your premises before any connections. This isolates the
other side of the cable from the outside, and a TDR will only
show one connection to the amplifier. You
can buy a CATV amplifier from Circuit City at this link:
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?oid=44964&WT.mc_n=92&c=1&b=g&u=c&WT.mc_t=U
CATV
amplifier
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