Cable TV Pirating

by logic god

today i will cover the most commonly used method of cable scrambling, that of inband gated sync. for the more comatose of you, i will now present a brief discription of how it works and why it is so commonly used.

the simplest first: it is often used because the boxes are so damn cheap. the gated sync unscramblers do not even require a tuner, the whole process is done semi-passively and requires no internal connections to the tv. hence, an easy way out for the cable companies who insult you by thinking all its subscribers are average dolts, not requiring thier attention. (hmm...ma bell must have thought that way once <koff koff> chuckle...)

the basic workings of the gated sync are as follows: first, i must define a sync pulse. it is a part of the tv's video signal which lines the signal up, causing it to come out all nice and neat so you see a good picture. what gated sync does is to remove that portion of the signal, and transmit it on a subcarrier with the rest of the signal. this results in the scrambled mess you see when you desperate ones try to watch the playboy channel and your parents haven't subscribed to it. now, keep in mind, the sync portion of the signal is not distorted at all, but merely transmitted on a slightly diverted frequency. thus, it remains in time with the rest of the signal, and needs only to be recombined with the rest of the signal. this is much simpler than it may seem. all the circuit must be able to do is to recieve the sync pulses, and retransmit them on the original frequency, where they will be lined up pro- perly. "but" you may say, "isn't that rather difficult?" not at all, my friends.

think of your video modulator: it must transmit the entire signal, and it is only about 2"*1"*1". the recieving is simple: the reciever doesn't need to be able to change channels-the cable companies need only have thier unscramblers set for the channel the box recieves on, because that is the only one it will be necessary to unscramble. will be using.

how to figure out if you have gated sync

scrambling:

this method of scrambling is characterized by correct sound, and a picture that is allllmoooost normal, if you could just get the vertical hold to work a little more. if you want to be 100% sure, call up your cable co's customer help line and ask. i know this sounds ridiculous, but i called century cable in calif. for the pope, and it worked for me. just play it cool and say "what kind of scrambling method are you using?" and i they should give it to you. incidentally, century cable does use gated sync, for anyone in california who happens to read this.

places to get gated sync units:

well, the best place to look is in the back of electronics magazines- not the idiot ones like popular electronics (does it even still exist?) but the dedicated electronics ones- like radio-electronics (best) or 73, the amateur radio technical journal.

here is an address which i got out of radio electronics, august 1985, p.110:

gated sync: kit form, all parts, instructions, very good, $39. write to: j&w electronics, inc. p.o. box 800 mansfield, ma. 02048 fone: 1 800 227 8529 (orders) 617 339 5372 (tech. info)