Cable FTA

Dishman Dan · #1 (**permalink**) 11-23-2009, 10:47 PM

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I know that FTA pertains to unencrypted satellite channels, but what about the "in the clear" cable channels???

I have cable for my internet service. When the installer put the cable to my house he told me that I could hook the coax to my TV and receive about 20 channels!

These channel frequencies cannot be filtered out or I would not be able to get on the internet he explained. Enjoy! A couple of other service guys told me the same. The only time I tried it is when my internet went off and the service person on the phone told me to hook up a TV and presto... TV! (My modem was at fault for no internet!)
Is it legal to hook up and watch TV like this???
FTA satellite TV is basically "unfiltered" signals too?!?!?! Right???
The AZBox marries satellite and cable reception but what cable is available on the AZBox??? Is it these "in the clear" cable channels???

Hopefully Santa is bringing me a AZBox!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.............

USDownlink · #2 (**permalink**) 11-23-2009, 11:02 PM

You describe one of two things: Either what I've heard referenced as Clear-QAM, or the old NTSC analog style basic cable service. Either way, yeah, it's legal. Not widely publicized, but legal.

As it turns out, you might want to check in to adding the basic cable television service to your internet package. In my area, it's apparently cheaper to have both as a bundle than it is to subscribe to internet service alone.

FTA isn't, however, as you proposed, "unfiltered" signals. What you can receive with an FTA receiver are unencrypted signals. No filtering involved. Likewise, the cable company can encrypt those channels you discovered, but for whatever reason, has not decided to do so.

Dishman Dan · #3 (**permalink**) 11-24-2009, 05:58 AM

The cable guy says that in order to allow the internet to go through these channels cannot be filtered out due to being the same frequency. I am not too interested in the cable TV service overall due to the poor picture quality! My 4DTV, FTA and OTA picture blows the cable picture away! However there is a channel or 2 that looked good and interesting and I cannot get on satellite. I am also cutting back on my 4DTV sub due to money reasons and I can pick a couple up here. My brother has the fastest cable internet available in our area and the tech told him the same thing but my brother refused because he did not think it was legal either. Supposedly he would get a lot more channels due to the internet service being faster and that means less filtering.

Most of the channels are analog and there is a handful of digital including the locals.

1ADAM12 · #4 (**permalink**) 11-24-2009, 06:34 AM

You are a subscriber and have a right to connect to their cable as part of your service plan. It would be theft of service if you were not a subscriber and hooked yourself up to catch the ITC channels.

SatboyZ · #5 (**permalink**) 11-24-2009, 06:47 AM

We have only cable internet and only receive about 3 channels when I hook the cable to a tv. The filter allows channels 2,3,4 and a grainy 5 and that is it. The bummer is that they removed the analog fm stations a while ago that I used to enjoy - now it is all digital.

Steve

mikelib · #6 (**permalink**) 11-24-2009, 10:25 AM

Besides Internet service my cable company has 3 levels of service, Basic with around 30 channels and no set top box, a Digital and HD service with different set top boxes. I have 3 TVs hooked up to basic service by connecting directly to cable.

I have 2 TVs hooked to HD set top boxes, which I lease for $9 a month. Since all OTA has gone digital I am waiting for the cable company to block basic and lease you a set top box to receive it. I think you have basic cable if you want Internet service.

I also pay for one movie channel that I am going to drop soon. They use to show a lot of movies before they were released on DVD, but all they have now is mostly old movies and their own programming. The local supermarket now has a movie kiosk vending machine that you can get DVDs for a dollar. The bottom line is I pay a lot of money for my internet and cable TV service.

**Iceberg** · #7 (**permalink**) 11-24-2009, 11:04 AM

You're probably getting clear QAM channels. I assume they all log like a oddball digital channel like 88.123?

The azbox wont work with it as the card available for clear cable is DVB-C which is used in europe (not QAM)

PopcornNMore · #8 (**permalink**) 11-24-2009, 11:52 AM

My in-laws in Florida hooked up their CATV wire to the TV before subscribing and received roughly 8 Ft. Meyers local channels very clear.

I want to try attching our CATV wire to the TV someday just to see if anything gets picked up. I hooked up the OTA antenna the other night to the TV and received 5 analog TV stations. One even had a Dish Network like graphic showing the signal strength. I believe it was from a nearby house that has a DN digital to analog converter that is leaking the signal.

concord · #9 (**permalink**) 11-24-2009, 12:03 PM

I know one guy that had RR service and connected a TV up to it also....he got a call from TW and told to disconnect it... some way they were able to detect the connection.

DirectDishNet · #10 (**permalink**) 11-24-2009, 12:22 PM

I just disconnected my modem and plugged the cable into my RF on the TV, Auto scanned and got about 70 channels analog. channels 1-40 were kinda fuzzy and channels 40-70 were okay picture quality.