THE CABLE TELEVISION REPORT - FREE!

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CABLE TELEVISION DESCRAMBLING & DESCRAMBLERS, BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK

CHAPTER 4 - CABLE TELEVISION FILTERS

This guide was written to educate interested parties on Cable Television descrambling, descramblers and some of the various methods used to defeat scrambling methods on premium cable or pay cable television stations. The author of this guide is simply exercising every Americans First Amendment right, Freedom of Speech. The intent of this writing is not to defraud or promote the theft of cable services. This guide should not be interpreted as legal advice, if you have legal questions contact a lawyer or your local authorities. Be warned that stealing cable services is illegal, and there are severe penalties for anyone caught doing so.

Filters are a security measure used by cable companies to prevent unauthorized individuals from receiving premium channels they are not paying for. Instead of controlling access to channels through an addressable converter (inside the subscribers home), filters are placed outside the home (usually underground or on a telephone pole). The filters look like metal cylinders, and are between one inch to one-half inch in diameter and from one to four inches in length. Both ends are threaded to accept 75 Ohm coaxial cable. Filters placed outside a home prevent unauthorized premium channels from entering the home through the cable line. This is accomplished by physically filtering out a portion of the signal bandwidth that is being transmitted by the cable company. When the signal reaches the subscribers cable-ready TV, or non-addressable converter, the portion of the signal that contains the premium channel is masked over. As a note, it should be stated that there are some cable systems that combine addressable converters and filters in an attempt to make the system extra secure against signal theft. These systems are rare, because they are very expensive to maintain.

Filters usually correspond to a particular channel number. If, your cable company has HBO on channel 13, they use a channel 13 filter outside a persons home who does not pay for HBO. In addition to channel numbers, there are several different types of filters. Positive and negative are the most common. Even if your cable company uses filters there are still ways that they can be defeated. The first thing that must be determined is which channel numbers are filtered. Then it must be determined whether the filters are positive or negative. To counteract the filter, one places an opposite filter on the cable line inside the house. For example, if channel 13 is blocked using a positive filter, you would use a channel 13 negative filter to counteract the first filter. In some cases, when using a non-addressable converter, you can place a channel 3 filter after the converter. Since the output of the converter is on channel 3, all stations are restored with the channel 3 filter. However, this only works with some systems. For help when purchasing filters, consult chapter thirteen that deals with buying equipment. Companies that sell filters will know exactly what you need if you explain your cable system to them. The only drawback that typically comes with using filters is that if you have to purchase one for each premium station you want.

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