Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!torsqnt!jtsv16!gil
From: gil@jts.com (Gil Hauer )
Subject: Re: "spiking" of cable-TV descramblers
Message-ID: <1991May27.150924.3482@jts.com>
Organization: Tech Noir Inc., Toronto, Canada
References: <13867@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> <1991May23.190150.3982@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 27 May 1991 15:09:24 GMT

In article <1991May23.190150.3982@rodan.acs.syr.edu> amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) writes:
>   The really sad or confusing thing is that something sorta similiar is
>what some cable companies are doing.  Many of the new boxes are addressable,
>meaning that the main office can communicate with the over the cable wire.
>Illegal boxes can be defined as boxes which, the serial number responds from
>the wrong zone/location or boxes which respond from several zones/locations,
>or boxes which respond telling the office it is descrambling servies that don't
>match the office billing records, or boxes which the office doesn't have 
>serial numbers on file for, or similiar things....   These illegal boxes can
>be told, by the office computer to shutdown or 'break'.  But no 'high-voltage'
>is involved untill you come into the office with the broken box to get it
>repaired.

It was my impression that cable television service is basically a one
way communication channel (i.e. out from the head-end). Is this not
the case any more? If it is one way, how can the descramblers be
"polled"?

>Al. Michielsen, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University
> InterNet: amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu  amichiel@sunrise.acs.syr.edu
> Bitnet: AMICHIEL@SUNRISE 


	Gil
-- 
--
Gil Hauer              			  gil@jtsv16.jts.com
Tech Noir Inc.         	    { torsqnt | suncan | geac | uunet }!jtsv16!gil
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA		   +1 416 653 8276