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From: brown@nicmad.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.video,net.politics
Subject: Re: Satellite Signal Scrambling
Message-ID: <571@nicmad.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 13-Mar-86 12:47:23 EST
Article-I.D.: nicmad.571
Posted: Thu Mar 13 12:47:23 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 16-Mar-86 00:33:13 EST
References: <156@jc3b21.UUCP> <733@ihlpm.UUCP> <453@ccivax.UUCP> <747@well.UUCP> <541@tekcbi.UUCP>
Reply-To: brown@nicmad.UUCP (Mr. Video)
Organization: Nicolet Instrument Corp. Madison WI
Lines: 54
Xref: watmath net.video:2160 net.politics:13950

In article <541@tekcbi.UUCP> jimb@tekcbi.UUCP (Jim Boland) writes:
>Mr Video claimed:
>>>                                            HBO is currently not in stereo.
>>>They don't send it out in stereo from New York.
>>>Currently, only Movie Channel has stereo.
>
>>HBO is distributed in digital stereo.  A direct result of the M/A Comm 
>>Cypher II encoding/decoding system.  But, not all cable companies (mine 
>>included) put up the stereo audio on the FM band.  
>
>>One of the guys at our head-end put up HBO on the FM band, while it was still
>>mono.  After the scrambling went 24 hours, he put in the spare stereo exciter
>>and we had stereo.  But, the powers that be said that it had to be pulled, as
>>further study was needed.  For no extra cost we had stereo.  Oh Well!!!
>
>I knew that HBO intended to go digital stereo when they started scrambling.
>Therefore, I called them when they did and they said it was in the plans but
>they were not stereo as of yet.  Occasionally they feed concerts in stereo
>for the cable systems, but that is on a separate feed with separate audio.
>When David Anthony of DataSpan said (on the net) that he had a Cypher decoder,
>I asked if it were in stereo and he said replied no.  Then I saw your Mr.
>Video's posting that his cable company had it for a while and I said to 
>myself, "Self, what gives?".  So, once again, I called HBO and put the question
>to them again.  The answer from them is "No. We are not in digital stereo yet.
>We have not fed it yet.  We intend to but the date is unknown".
>I don't know what Mr. Video's cable company did.  HBO  1-800-426-3474.

I still claim it.  Here is the reason why.  About a week after HBO went full
time scrambling, I tuned in HBO on the FM receiver.  The first thing I found
was that it changed frequency.  I believe that was because of logistics.
90.5 and 90.9 were swapped, no big deal.  Anyway, when I found HBO again,
I sat and watched "Starman" in FULL stereo sound.  I had already watched
it in VHS Hi-Fi stereo, so I knew what it was like.  Obviously "Starman"
is not one of HBO's concert specials.  A few days later I watched another
movie in stereo.  I do not know what it was, sorry.  But, I have been taping
and keeping "The Hitchhiker".  That program was also in stereo, at least the
music was.  The lead-in music wasn't, but the program music was.  I have the
VHS Hi-Fi stereo tape to prove it.  It wasn't one of these false stereo type
of things.  I know what our cable company has for equipment, as I know the
engineer in charge of the head-end equipment.

I just got the off phone with HBO Network Operations (1-212-512-1000) and she
verified the fact that if the tape is stereo, it goes out in stereo.
Also, she said that a release is going out to all affiliates on how to get
the stereo audio to their customers.

I knew my ears weren't fooling me.
-- 

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