Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!yale!cmcl2!tester
From: tester@cmcl2.nyu.edu (L Testerville)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Stock Ticker on FM
Message-ID: <1991Feb19.055338.26449@cmcl2.nyu.edu>
Date: 19 Feb 91 05:53:38 GMT
References: <5353@tellab5.tellabs.com>
Distribution: na
Organization: New York University
Lines: 40

lash@tellabs.com (Bill Lash) writes:
>A few people questioned the legality of doing this.  I was initially under the
>impression that this was a service of the FM station, but most people think
>that it is a pay service that can be subscribed to.  If it is a pay service, it
>may be at least ethically questionable to take the data without paying for the
>service.  It probably also implies that the data is scrambled and/or the
>encoding scheme is unpublished and proprietary.

I know that FNN (nee Lotus) Quotrek broadcasts real-time quotes over the
air in major cities.  But the caveat is that you must buy a Quotrek or
Signal receiver and pay for a password every month that mates with your
individual unit serial number to decode the transmission.  Forget about
decoding the ROM in those things too, I'm told that the ROM code is also
partially encoded.

>A response posted to Comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware said:
>	"  There's a company called Express which sells hardware for doing this
>	off cable TV using a sideband (like the alternate language coverage). If
>	that's what is carried in your area they may sell a tuner for that, too.
>  	You pay a one time <$100 charge for the modem, data is free. I'm
>	looking into the data format, I want to catch it with a UNIX box doing
>	other stuff, not a dedicated PC."

Express was made by an excellent company that developed an ISA BUS card that
actually READS NTSC signals and takes quotes directly from FNN.  The bad news?
Keep reading.

>Someone else replied:
>	"FNN in LA has a service that reads the QuoTrek info - you might 
>	contact them.  I think they call their service "X-Press". I've seen 
>	adds for it several times on FNN but dont have the 800 number."

God forbid FNN should allow Express to sell this equipment for a one
time fee, so FNN buys the Express company and LEASES it monthly to the
hapless few out there in investorland.  I don't know what happens to
those lucky few who actually bought this device (I'm sure FNN will come
up with something).

Good luck,
\\Lee