257 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
257 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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| Cable TV |
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| and The Black Art of Radio |
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| by Thomas Icom |
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+----------------------------+
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Chapter I:
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----------
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Wireless Reception of Cable TV Signals
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a.k.a.
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How to Get Free Cable TV Legally
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======================================
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Intro
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The difference between cable TV and regular TV can be seen in cable TV's
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"official" name, Community Antenna Television (CATV). Basically, with CATV,
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the cable company installs a TV antenna, and a satellite dish at a good
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receiving location somewhere (they call this place a "head-end"), and then
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re-transmits the TV signals over cable to customers' homes and businesses.
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CATV systems use frequencies between 108-400 Mhz. to send their extra
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channels through the system. The mid-band (channels 14-22) is between 108-174
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Mhz., super-band (23-36) is between 200-290 and hyper-band (37-53) is between
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290-400 Mh. (These ranges are approximate.) To keep the CATV signals from
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interfering with the regular services on those frequencies. the cable company
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must keep leakage from their system down to an absolute minimum. This is
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easier said than done, and no matter how hard they try, CATV systems still
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leak to some extent, however minimal it may be.
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With equipment available from your local Radio Shack along with your TV,
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you can pick up low-level CATV signal leakage and get free CATV service
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without having to pay an installation fee or monthly service charges. This is
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all perfectly legal because you (currently) have the right to receive radio
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signals that come onto your domain, and in all reality the cable TV company
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shouldn't be letting these signals leak out of their system to begin with.
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When attempting this you should be aware that if your cable TV company is
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competent, you might not find an area in your neighborhood's outside plant
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that has enough leakage to get a good signal. Also, the way the government
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has been acting lately, one never knows when they might decide people who
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experiment with low-level RF signal reception are a threat to society. If
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such a thing does occur, make the necessary preparations before one of those
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UH-60 Blackhawks full of men with MP5SD3s lands on your lawn to bring you into
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"protective custody".
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How to Do It(!):
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----------------
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Your wireless CATV reception station will need the following:
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- Fringe reception TV antenna
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- 10-20 db gain TV reception amplifier. Preferably one with an amplifier
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module that mounts near the antenna and a remote power supply. The two
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piece models offer better amplification as they amplify the signal before it
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gets noise from going through the coax.
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- Cable TV converter box
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- Cable descrambler for your system, if you want to receive "premium"
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channels (optional)
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- television (obviously)
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- Good quality RG-6 (or better) coax cable with connectors and 75-300 Ohm
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transformer if your TV doesn't have a 75 Ohm antenna input
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- TV antenna mast and other materials for mounting the antenna on your roof
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The system is put together as follows:
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ANTENNA
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AMP
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| AMP CABLE
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+----POWER----CONV.---TV
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SUPPLY
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(If 2 pc. AMP)
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If your CATV descrambler is also a converter, then put it where the CABLE
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CONV. goes. If it is one of those types that descrambles channel 3 from a
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separate converter than hook it up in this fashion:
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CABLE
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---CONV.---DESCRAMB----TV
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Once you have your system put together you have to find a leak to receive
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off of. The cable companies find leaks by driving down the road with a field
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strength meter. You can do this by walking under the cable and stopping where
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you see a peak on the meter. You can get a field strength meter for under $50
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at Radio Shack. However, unless you use a tuned field strength meter you will
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also register any strong RF source. If you have a portable TV such as a Sony
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Watchman, you can tune to a channel that you normally won't receive and walk
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around until you get reception.
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On a side note, many of those portable TVs that use an analog tuning dial
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(as opposed to a channel selector knob) often are able to receive mid-band
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cable channels without a converter box. (The Sony Watchman Model FD-10A can.)
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To check if your portable TV can do this, examine the TV's VHF (Ch. 2-13)
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tuning selector. The mid-band capable TV's have only 1 band for VHF
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selection. To get mid-band with these TV's, simply tune between channels 6
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and 7. You will also be able to pick up various types of voice commo from 88-
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174 Mhz, although the selectivity and sensitivity on portable TV's suck for
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picking up narrow-band FM voice. You might fare better getting in some of the
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stronger FM broadcast stations on 88-108 though.
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When looking around for a good CATV leak, check under junction boxes
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where the main line is tapped to run cable drops to subscribers. They often
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degrade from being exposed to the elements. Also check around the homes of
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neighbors who you feel might have added extra CATV extensions to their houses
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wiring plant. If they have an antenna on their roof, then chances are they
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took the wiring plant that was hooked up to their antenna, and hooked it up to
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the cable system. The cable company generally uses good quality (expensive)
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materials when installing cable in someone's house. Most people when
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extending their system go to a department store or Radio Shack, and buy the
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cheapest (low quality) stuff they can find. This often leads to CATV leakage.
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Usually, the CATV company doesn't notice the leakage from a home unless it is
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really severe, as their detection equipment consists of a field strength meter
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and a 1/4 wave antenna. And since their readings are taken while going 40 MPH
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down a road, the signal from inside a house set back xxx feet from the road is
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usually not strong enough for them to take notice. You on the other hand, are
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using an antenna that has 100 times more gain than theirs, and are amplifying
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the signal your antenna picks up even more.
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Once you've found a leak, aim your antenna at it. You should then be
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receiving free cable TV. The reception may not be perfect, but what do you
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expect for nothing? To get better reception, try one or more of the
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following:
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1. Position your antenna closer to the source of the leak
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2. Use a higher gain (bigger) antenna
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3. Use a more powerful amplifier
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If your leak still isn't adequate or you haven't found one at all, then
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use the following technique. Be careful with this one, as it will royally
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piss off the cable co., FCC, FBI, FAA, NSA, PUC, and your local chamber of
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commerce if you're cable co. happens to a member. Not to mention that if you
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get caught, you could be charged with vandalism, theft of services and
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possibly sedition. You'll need the following:
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- straight pin
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- 8-10 foot length of magnet wire (length not critical)
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- "liquid black tape", Newskin (liquid bandage), or similar spray-on
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insulator material
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- soldering iron and solder
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- crazy glue
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To start, solder one end of the length of magnet wire to the blunt end of
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the straight pin. Then apply the insulator material to the straight pin,
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except for the pointed end. Let the insulator dry. The insulation on the pin
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is the important part, as it is needed to prevent you from accidently shorting
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out your neighbors cable line.
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---========================================
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| ^-solder here ^-magnet wire
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|<-apply insulating material
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^-leave tip clean
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When that's done take assembly and crazy glue over to your neighbor that
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has cable TV. Find a nice run of coax and push the pin in. Make sure the tip
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has good contact with the center conductor of the coax. Then unroll the
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magnet wire and crazy glue it to the coax in a way that it won't be
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noticeable.
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What you just did was add an antenna to your neighbors cable. You will
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now be able to enjoy the use of your wireless cable TV setup. The main
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problem with this setup is that the resulting "leak" will most assuredly be
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noticed by the cable co. who will come over and inspect everything. Your best
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bet is to install this device during the early evening and remove it the next
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morning before the repair crews hit the road. This way, it is less likely to
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be detected, unless your cable co.'s repair crews work at night.
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Chapter II:
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-----------
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How to Piss Off Your Cable Company
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and Give Your Neighbors Free Cable TV
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=====================================
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Radio Shack sells a device which will enable you to do just that. It
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will also let you use any standard TV for cable reception without having to
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purchase separate converters for each TV, or run coax.
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Go to R.S. and pick up a Model 15-1281 Cable TV Block Converter. This
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handy little device will take your mid and super band channels and convert
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them to UHF TV broadcast band frequencies. Hook it up to your cable system,
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and attach a good UHF TV antenna to the "TO UHF" f-connector.
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+-------------------+
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! RS 15-1281 !
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! !
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! CABLE TO TO !
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! IN VHF UHF !
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! * * * !
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+---!------------!--+
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To Cable ! ! To UHF
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System------+ +------ Antenna
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It is important that you use a good high gain antenna or you will not get
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any range.
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What you are doing is taking the cable channels 14-36 and retransmitting
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them over the normal UHF TV channels. This way, any non-cable compatible TV
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can receive them. The range isn't too great though. Expect about 300 feet or
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so under ideal conditions. Antenna type, height, placement, and the receiver
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set-up will have a lot to do in determining your range. There's a lot of
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possibilities for the experimenter here. Optionally, you might also want to
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contemplate adding a small 1-5 watt amplifier to the UHF output (Get the info
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from The Motorola RF Devices Manual, available for free from Motorola. Call
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your local rep. for info.)
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The End
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=======
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If you have any questions, you can contact me on the following BBSes:
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Landfill - 914-HAK-VMBS
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Uncensored - 914-761-6877
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The Implosion - 914-762-6954
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Blitzkrieg - 502-499-8933 NUP: Columbian Coke
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Dark Shadows - 203-628-9660
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I'll be u/ling more updated info to these boards as I get it, as well as
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printing it in Cybertek: The Cyberpunk Technical Journal. For those of you
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who are unaware, Cybertek is a hardcopy newsletter which covers practical
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aspects of technology and survival. Get a photocopy from someone who has it,
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or get a subscription for $15 (6 issues) by writing to:
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Cybertek
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P.O. Box 64
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Brewster, NY 10509
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Disclaimer:
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-----------
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Although this g-file is for educational purposes only and should not be
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construed as a suggestion to commit illegal acts; I have a feeling that the
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establishment doesn't give a shit about the bill of rights. That being the
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case, I suggest everyone follow standard C.Y.A. guidelines. Remember, freedom
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only exists for those who choose it.
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Please distribute this g-file (intact) by any means available.
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-Mr. Icom 7/18/92
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