Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site sdcrdcf.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!shaprkg From: shaprkg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Bob Shapiro) Newsgroups: net.consumers Subject: Re: Buying a 19 inch color television--naming brands and prices Message-ID: <1630@sdcrdcf.UUCP> Date: Fri, 28-Dec-84 17:38:17 EST Article-I.D.: sdcrdcf.1630 Posted: Fri Dec 28 17:38:17 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 30-Dec-84 01:07:40 EST References: <293@mhuxm.UUCP> <609@cbosgd.UUCP> Reply-To: shaprkg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Bob Shapiro) Organization: System Development Corp. R+D, Santa Monica Lines: 73 Summary: I have cable with Valley Cable in LA. They use a system which permits them to scramble all pay channels and they can send a signal from headquarters to my decoder/switch box which will descramble any channel they wish (usually the ones I pay for but occasionally a promotion or even an error). Since I do not have a cable-ready TV but do have a VCR with capability up to channel 55 I bought a box for $50 which does the following: |-----------------------------------<| Antenna VCR | | Cable from street | | | | | | | | | | Splitter | V V V /\ /\ |--------------|----<---- --------->------>|---------------| | BOX |>------TV | Decoder | | |>------VCR ----------------- | | | | ---------------- Now I can input to my TV from the cable when I am not watching scrambled channels or channels higher than 55 by switching them through my VCR and I even have a remote control capability. If I want to watch pay TV I set the decoder as input and watch it on channel 3 either with or without my VCR. (I can record it with the VCR and watch if I want or record and not watch). If the cable goes out then I merely switch the box to antenna in and I am exactly where I was 10 years ago and switch the channels on my TV to get what I want. If I had a cable-ready TV I would not have to send the signal through the VCR in order to bypass the box. A friend of mine has cable through a company that is a little older and they control what you see via filters on the telephone pole. While this is not nearly as good as mine when you want to call up the company and change your pay channels or latch onto a special like a fight or new movie it does provide the capability to switch the pay channels without needing a decoder box. As a matter of fact all his decoder box does is convert the cable signal from the allocated cable 6mz channel to channel 3 of his TV - it does absolutely no unscrambling. In his case the company charges for the box and if you have a cable-ready TV you are not required to get it saving yourself money. In my case the company requires that you have a decoder and even though you have a cable-ready TV and don't need it you still must pay for it. Part of the reason is that my company will eventually get involved in 2-way communication on the cable offering services like security, question-answering, home selection of special offerings, etc. Their decoder has several buttons which presently are inactive and this is how they plan to control these services. The original question of should you have a cable-ready TV is now ready to answer. If you have a modern cable system like I do and pay for a lot of scrambled channels you may be wasting your money. If you have a cable-ready VCR you can convert your TV to cable-ready for about $50. The real payoff is if you have an old cable system based on filters rather than scrambling like my friend. Then you get full use of your cable-ready TV. Also beware of the number of channels which you get with your cable-ready. I have seen numbers as low as 105 and as high as the 130's. These numbers mean the following: 84 of them are allocated for VHF and UHF. Cable TV does not handle UHF. It either puts key UHF stations on unused VHF channels or on cable channels. Thus there are only 21 cable channels available on a 105 channel system. This only takes you to cable channel 35. In my cable system the company goes well into the 60's so I would not be able to see all of the channels with a 105-channel set. I think my VCR goes through channel 125 which is the reason I can't see the high channels on my system. The reason behind the increase in channel capacity has to do with the improvement in the technology. It used to be very difficult to deal at high band widths but the equipment has improved to the point that it is relatively common now so the newer cable companies now provide more channels than the older ones.