Bhaskar Thiagarajan wrote:> "Joerg" <notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote in message > news:UaYpf.35338$dO2.12978@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net... > >>Hello Jerry, >> >> >>>>We have a cable modem. It really ticks my kid off that we don't also >>>>have cable TV. >>> >>>A buddy of mine has your setup, and the cable crews kept disconnecting >>>him. He wasn't signed up for cable TV, so they figured it was an illegal >>>tap. We finally climbed the pole and nailed a note to it near the drop. >>> >> >>In California this might have required a bilingual note ;-) >> >>I wonder, if they send most basic channels unscrambled how do they avoid >>somebody from tapping the line at the modem input and connect the TV to >>that? > > > This is why most cable providers (atleast here in San Jose, CA) make you pay > the $10 extra if you want only their cable modem services. They can't block > the basic cable content since it isn't scrambled. So if you subscribe to > their broadband services, you can tap into their basic channels.A frequency selective filter could stop that. Basically, they want subscribers to boost their advertising revenue. It's no different with print magazines. Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
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Digital filter simulators?
Started by ●December 18, 2005
Reply by ●December 20, 20052005-12-20
Reply by ●December 22, 20052005-12-22
"Joerg" <notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote in message news:y7Ypf.35336$dO2.27017@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net...> Hello John, > >> Around here, the cable company charges about $10 extra per month if you get >> cable modem without some type of cable TV service. The cheapest cable TV you >> can get (basic service, which includes the local over-air channels and a few >> extras) costs slightly more than $10. So usually people opt to get the basic >> service since it is essentially almost free. But you can choose to pay the >> extra $10 instead if you want. In the hilly area I live in, over-air >> reception can be bad to non-existent for many people even with a good >> antenna, so the basic cable service is popular. > > Very different here. They offer Internet for between $20 and $30 but w/o > subscribing to their TV it's $55 or more IIRC. DSL is $50 so it's a better > deal. No idea why the cable guys do that, I guess most people must have cable > TV. > > AFAIK the basic cable TV is already over $40. Not worth it IMHO. Terrestrial > reception is spotty as we live in the hills. You can see ghosting over several > lines, meaning the ghost image is vertically and horizontally separated. > Sometimes you have to train your antenna on that ghost because it's more > intelligible than the direct path. I could imagine that DTV will be a failure > around here. Instead of a somewhat intelligible screen we might just see a > garbled mess of data. Oh well, it won't be a great loss anyway. > > Regards, Joerg > > http://www.analogconsultants.comWhere is "here" for you, Joerge? For me it is Seattle, Washington (USA). FYI, my cable company (Comcast) doesn't advertise the cheap "broadcast channels" package at all on their web site. You have to call them up and ask for it. There was legislation a while back that required them to offer the service, but they try their best to make it hard to find! -- Jon Harris SPAM blocker in place: Remove 99 (but leave 7) to reply
Reply by ●December 22, 20052005-12-22
Hello Jon,> Where is "here" for you, Joerge? For me it is Seattle, Washington (USA). FYI, > my cable company (Comcast) doesn't advertise the cheap "broadcast channels" > package at all on their web site. You have to call them up and ask for it. > There was legislation a while back that required them to offer the service, but > they try their best to make it hard to find! >"Here" is Cameron Park, California, about 30 miles east of Sacramento. Highway 50 to Lake Tahoe. It's also Comcast out here. When I called them up they said that the competitive pricing offer on cable modem service is only valid if I also take their "basic" cable TV package. That was just under $40 back then but has gone above that now AFAIK. I just don't need home and garden TV and all that. In fact, when we moved here from overseas we truly forgot about TV. Eight months later we wanted to check the local weather and only then it dawned on us that our TV wasn't US standard and would not work. Duh. So I went to town and bought a TV set. About five (!) years later we re-roofed and upon taking down the antenna I realized that it had a pre-amp that did not and could not work the whole time. After fixing that we can receive twice as many channels. Did that enhance our TV experience? Nope. Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com
