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CABLE TV PIRATING
PART 1
7/28/85
COMPOSED BY:
LOGIC GOD
FORMATTED
IN 40 COLS. ON AN APPLE II+.
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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
DIS- CRIPTION 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 SUB-
SCRIBERS ARE AVERAGE
DOLTS, NOT REQU- IRING 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 DESPER- ATE
ONES TRY TO WATCH THE PLAYBOY CHAN- NEL 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 FREQU- ENCY, WHERE THEY WILL BE LINED UP PRO-
PERLY. "BUT" YOU MAY SAY,
"ISNT THAT RATHER DIFFIULT?" 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 UNSCRAM- BLERS
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 CHARACTER- IZED 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 ELEC- TRONICS (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)
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LOOK FOR PART II SOON,
COVERING
OVER-THE-AIR PAY
TV.
LATER ON,
LOGIC GOD.
CALL THE BROADWAY
SHOW: 718 615 0580
K.A.O.S.: 215 465 3593
—==>>HAVE FUN!<<==–
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PIRATING CABLE TV
PART 2
COMPOSED BY:
LOGIC GOD
FORMATTED IN 40 COLS. ON AN APPLE II+.
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TODAY WE WILL DISCUSS OVER THE AIR PAY
TV SCRAMBLING. THIS IS USED WIDELY IN
MANY AREAS WITHOUT CABLE, AND ALL OF THE SYSTEMS IN USE
USE ESSENTIALY THE SAME
SYSTEM, THAT OF SSAVI SCRAMBLING.
DISCUSSION OF SSAVI
SCRAMBLING: SSAVI STANDS FOR SUPPRESSED SYNC, AUDIO VIDEO
INVERSION. THIS METHOD OF ENCODING
VIDEO TRANSMISSIONS WAS DEVEL- OPED BY THE
ZENITH RADIO CORPORATION, WHO MANUFACTURES THE VAST
MAJORITY OF LEGAL
UNSCRAMBLERS USED TODAY WITH THIS METHOD. SUFFICE TO SAY, SSAVI IS THE
ANTI
CHRIST OF CABLE PIRATES. THE SYSTEM IN- VOLVES SEVERAL LESS SOPHISTICATED METH-
ODS
COMBINED TO PRODUCE A SEVERELY SCR- AMBLED SIGNAL WHICH IS VERY DIFFICULT TO
DECODE WITHOUT
THE PROPER HARDWARE. (IE, A REAL BOX.) IT IS ILLUSTRAED BY THE
NAME: SUPPRESSED SYNC: THIS IS
THE METHOD DIS- CUSSED IN PART 1 OF THIS
SERIES, ONLY WORSE. THE SYNC PORTION OF THE SIGNAL IS
NOT TRANSMITTED ON AN
AUDIO SUBCAR- RIER, BUT IN LINES 1-14 OF THE PICTURE INFORMATION WHICH
ARE NOT
SEEN ON THE SCREEN. HENCE, THE BOX MUST BE ABLE TO ISOLATE THE FIRST 14 LINES
OF
VIDEO AND EXTRACT THE INFORMATION FROM THEM. AUDIO: THE AUDIO IS
TRANSMITTED ON A SUBCARRIER
IN A SIMILAR FASHION AS THE SYNC PULSES IN PART 1.
IF YOU WILL REMEMBER, THE AUDIO WAS NORMAL
IN THE SUPPRESSED SYNC METHOD. VIDEO
INVERSION: THE VIDEO SIGNAL IS RANDOMLY INVERTED AT THE
SCRAMBLING STAGE,
RESULTING IN A NEGATIVE PICTURE WHEN THE SIGNAL IS INVERTED. (YES, LIKE A
WETHER THE UPCOMING FRAME OF VIDEO WILL BE
INVERTED IS ALSO SENT IN THE FIRST
14 LINES OF VIDEO, ALLOWING THE BOX TO BEGIN INVERTING THE
SIGNAL BEF- ORE YOU
SEE IT.
ALL OF THESE LITTLE BITS OF EVILNESS EXIST
INDEPENDENTLY OF EACH OTHER. THE
SIGNAL MAY HAVE ALL, NONE, OR ANY COMB- INATION OF THESE
THINGS. BECAUSE OF
THIS, THE BOX MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT. ALSO, BECAUSE THE BOX IS USED SO
CHANNEL THEY
ARE USING BY TUNING THE BOX BEFORE THEY GIVE IT TO YOU. ALL THIS
MAKES FOR A REAL FUN TIME
WHEN YOU GO TO UNSCR- AMBLE
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