The Logic God Collection
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CABLE TV PIRATING

PART 1
7/28/85

COMPOSED BY:

LOGIC GOD

FORMATTED IN 40 COLS. ON AN APPLE II+.
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TODAY I WILL COVER THE MOST COMMONLY USED METHOD OF CABLE SCRAMBLING, THAT OF INBAND GATED SYNC. FOR THE MORE COMATOSE OF YOU, I WILL NOW PRESENT A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF HOW IT WORKS AND WHY IT IS SO COMMONLY USED. THE SIMPLEST FIRST: IT IS OFTEN USED BECAUSE THE BOXES ARE SO DAMN CHEAP. THE GATED SYNC UNSCRAMBLERS DO NOT EVEN REQUIRE A TUNER, THE WHOLE PROCESS IS DONE SEMIPASSIVELY AND REQUIRES NO INTERNAL CONNECTIONS TO THE TV. HENCE, AN EASY WAY OUT FOR THE CABLE COMPANIES WHO INSULT YOU BY THINKING ALL ITS SUBSCRIBERS ARE AVERAGE DOLTS, NOT REQUIRING THEIR ATTENTION. (HMM...MA BELL MUST HAVE THOUGHT THAT WAY ONCE CHUCKLE...) THE BASIC WORKINGS OF THE GATED SYNC ARE AS FOLLOWS: FIRST, I MUST DEFINE A SYNC PULSE. IT IS A PART OF THE TV'S VIDEO SIGNAL WHICH LINES THE SIGNAL UP, CAUSING IT TO COME OUT ALL NICE AND NEAT SO YOU SEE A GOOD PICTURE. WHAT GATED SYNC DOES IS TO REMOVE THAT PORTION OF THE SIGNAL, AND TRANSMIT IT ON A SUBCARRIER WITH THE REST OF THE SIGNAL. THIS RESULTS IN THE SCRAMBLED MESS YOU SEE WHEN YOU DESPERATE ONES TRY TO WATCH THE PLAYBOY CHANNEL AND YOUR PARENTS HAVEN'T SUBSCRIBED TO IT. NOW, KEEP IN MIND, THE SYNC PORTION OF THE SIGNAL IS NOT DISTORTED AT ALL, BUT MERELY TRANSMITTED ON A SLIGHTLY DIVERTED FREQUENCY. THUS, IT REMAINS IN TIME WITH THE REST OF THE SIGNAL, AND NEEDS ONLY TO BE RECOMBINED WITH THE REST OF THE SIGNAL. THIS IS MUCH SIMPLER THAN IT MAY SEEM. ALL THE CIRCUIT MUST BE ABLE TO DO IS TO RECEIVE THE SYNC PULSES, AND RETRANSMIT THEM ON THE ORIGINAL FREQUENCY, WHERE THEY WILL BE LINED UP PROPERLY. "BUT" YOU MAY SAY, "ISN’T THAT RATHER DIFFICULT?" NOT AT ALL, MY FRIENDS. THINK OF YOUR VIDEO MODULATOR: IT MUST TRANSMIT THE ENTIRE SIGNAL, AND IT IS ONLY ABOUT 2"*1"*1". THE RECEIVING IS SIMPLE: THE RECEIVER DOESN'T NEED TO BE ABLE TO CHANGE CHANNELS-THE CABLE COMPANIES NEED ONLY HAVE THEIR UNSCRAMBLERS SET FOR THE CHANNEL THE BOX RECEIVES ON, BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY ONE IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO UNSCRAMBLE. WILL BE USING. HOW TO FIGURE OUT IF YOU HAVE GATED SYNC ---------------------------------------- SCRAMBLING: ----------- THIS METHOD OF SCRAMBLING IS CHARACTERIZED BY CORRECT SOUND, AND A PICTURE THAT IS ALLLLMOOOOST NORMAL, IF YOU COULD JUST GET THE VERTICAL HOLD TO WORK A LITTLE MORE. IF YOU WANT TO BE 100% SURE, CALL UP YOUR CABLE CO'S CUSTOMER HELP LINE AND ASK. I KNOW THIS SOUNDS RIDICULOUS, BUT I CALLED CENTURY CABLE IN CALIF. FOR THE POPE, AND IT WORKED FOR ME. JUST PLAY IT COOL AND SAY "WHAT KIND OF SCRAMBLING METHOD ARE YOU USING?" AND I THEY SHOULD GIVE IT TO YOU. INCIDENTALLY, CENTURY CABLE DOES USE GATED SYNC, FOR ANYONE IN CALIFORNIA WHO HAPPENS TO READ THIS. PLACES TO GET GATED SYNC UNITS: ------------------------------- WELL, THE BEST PLACE TO LOOK IS IN THE BACK OF ELECTRONICS MAGAZINES- NOT THE IDIOT ONES LIKE POPULAR ELECTRONICS (DOES IT EVEN STILL EXIST?) BUT THE DEDICATED ELECTRONICS ONES- LIKE RADIO-ELECTRONICS (BEST) OR 73, THE AMATEUR RADIO TECHNICAL JOURNAL. HERE IS AN ADDRESS WHICH I GOT OUT OF RADIO ELECTRONICS, AUGUST 1985, P.110: GATED SYNC: KIT FORM, ALL PARTS, INSTRUCTIONS, VERY GOOD, $39. WRITE TO: J&W ELECTRONICS, INC. P.O. BOX 800 MANSFIELD, MA. 02048 FONE: 1 800 227 8529 (ORDERS) 617 339 5372 (TECH. INFO) *************************************** LOOK FOR PART II SOON, COVERING OVER-THE-AIR PAY TV. LATER ON, LOGIC GOD. CALL THE BROADWAY SHOW: 718 615 0580 K.A.O.S.: 215 465 3593 ---==>>HAVE FUN!<<==-- 
*************************************** PIRATING CABLE TV PART 2 COMPOSED BY: LOGIC GOD FORMATTED IN 40 COLS. ON AN APPLE II+. ***************************************
TODAY WE WILL DISCUSS OVER THE AIR PAY TV SCRAMBLING. THIS IS USED WIDELY IN MANY AREAS WITHOUT CABLE, AND ALL OF THE SYSTEMS IN USE USE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME SYSTEM, THAT OF SSAVI SCRAMBLING. DISCUSSION OF SSAVI SCRAMBLING: SSAVI STANDS FOR SUPPRESSED SYNC, AUDIO VIDEO INVERSION. THIS METHOD OF ENCODING VIDEO TRANSMISSIONS WAS DEVELOPED BY THE ZENITH RADIO CORPORATION, WHO MANUFACTURES THE VAST MAJORITY OF LEGAL UNSCRAMBLERS USED TODAY WITH THIS METHOD. SUFFICE TO SAY, SSAVI IS THE ANTI CHRIST OF CABLE PIRATES. THE SYSTEM INVOLVES SEVERAL LESS SOPHISTICATED METHODS COMBINED TO PRODUCE A SEVERELY SCRAMBLED SIGNAL WHICH IS VERY DIFFICULT TO DECODE WITHOUT THE PROPER HARDWARE. (IE, A REAL BOX.) IT IS ILLUSTRATED BY THE NAME: SUPPRESSED SYNC: THIS IS THE METHOD DISCUSSED IN PART 1 OF THIS SERIES, ONLY WORSE. THE SYNC PORTION OF THE SIGNAL IS NOT TRANSMITTED ON AN AUDIO SUBCARRIER, BUT IN LINES 1-14 OF THE PICTURE INFORMATION WHICH ARE NOT SEEN ON THE SCREEN. HENCE, THE BOX MUST BE ABLE TO ISOLATE THE FIRST 14 LINES OF VIDEO AND EXTRACT THE INFORMATION FROM THEM. AUDIO: THE AUDIO IS TRANSMITTED ON A SUBCARRIER IN A SIMILAR FASHION AS THE SYNC PULSES IN PART 1. IF YOU WILL REMEMBER, THE AUDIO WAS NORMAL IN THE SUPPRESSED SYNC METHOD. VIDEO INVERSION: THE VIDEO SIGNAL IS RANDOMLY INVERTED AT THE SCRAMBLING STAGE, RESULTING IN A NEGATIVE PICTURE WHEN THE SIGNAL IS INVERTED. (YES, LIKE A CAMERA NEGATIVE.) THE INDICATOR FOR WHETHER THE UPCOMING FRAME OF VIDEO WILL BE INVERTED IS ALSO SENT IN THE FIRST 14 LINES OF VIDEO, ALLOWING THE BOX TO BEGIN INVERTING THE SIGNAL BEFORE YOU SEE IT. ALL OF THESE LITTLE BITS OF EVILNESS EXIST INDEPENDENTLY OF EACH OTHER. THE SIGNAL MAY HAVE ALL, NONE, OR ANY COMBINATION OF THESE THINGS. BECAUSE OF THIS, THE BOX MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT. ALSO, BECAUSE THE BOX IS USED SO WIDELY, IT MUST HAVE A TUNER, ALLOWING YOUR LOCAL TRANSMITTER TO SELECT WHAT CHANNEL THEY ARE USING BY TUNING THE BOX BEFORE THEY GIVE IT TO YOU. ALL THIS MAKES FOR A REAL FUN TIME WHEN YOU GO TO UNSCRAMBLE YOUR SIGNAL. BOX THEORY: THE SUPPRESSED SYNC SIGNAL IS TRANSFERRED FROM THE FIRST FEW LINES OF VIDEO MITTED NORMALLY IN THE FIRST FEW LINES OF VIDEO, WHICH, INCIDENTALLY, ARE TRANSMITTED NORMALLY. THE BOX 'SEES' THESE 14 NORMAL SYNC PULSES, AND CALI- BRATES ITSELF TO REPRODUCE THESE SYNC PULSES FOR THE REST OF THE FRAME OF VIDEO. IT THEN INSERTS THESE PULSES WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED IN THE SIGNAL TO PRODUCE A NORMAL PICTURE. THIS RECALIBRATION EVERY FRAME IS NECESSARY, THOUGH. SYNC PULSES OCCUR OVER 500 TIMES EVERY SECOND, AND IF THE CLOCK WERE NOT CONSTANTLY REVAMPED, IT COULD GET OUT OF SYNC (OH GOD) WITH ITSELF. AUDIO: THE AUDIO IS TRANSMITTED ON A SUBCARRIER DEVIATED ABOUT 15KHZ. ALL THE BOX DOES TO THE AUDIO IS RETRANSMIT THE AUDIO ON THE PROPER FREQUENCY. VIDEO INVERSION: THE VIDEO SIGNAL IS RANDOMLY INVERTED, BUT THE MODE (INVERTED VS. NORMAL) CAN ONLY BE SWITCHED BETWEEN FRAMES, NOT BETWEEN FIELDS, MAKING THE JOB OF DETECTION AND REINVERSION SLIGHTLY EASIER. THE BOX LOOKS AT A PORTION OF LINE (2, I THINK) AND BASED ON THE LOGIC LEVEL AT A CERTAIN POINT IN THIS LINE OF VIDEO, THE BOX REROUTES THE SIGNAL THROUGH AN OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER'S INVERTING INPUT. AS A RESULT, A SIGNAL RECEIVED INVERTED IS NOW CORRECT, AND A FRAME OF VIDEO 'SEEN' AS NORMAL IS NOT ROUTED THROUGH THE INVERTER, AND SENT STRAIGHT TO THE RF MODULATOR, WHICH RETRANSMITS THE CORRECTED SIGNAL TO THE TV SET, USUALLY ON CHANNEL 3. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ZENITH SSAVI DECODER: THE BOX IS APPROX. 11" BY 7", AND ABOUT 2.5" TALL, INCLUDING RUBBER FEET. IT HAS A ROUND VERTICAL TRAVEL PUSHBUTTON SWITCH IN THE REAR LEFT TOP CORNER, AND IN A SMALL METAL LABEL ON THE TOP CENTER OF THE BOX IS ENGRAVED ZENITH SSAVI-1 ABOUT 1.5" BY .75". THERE ARE 3 FEMALE F CONNECTORS ON THE LEFT REAR, AND A 3 PIN POWER CONNECTOR ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT REAR. THE CASE IS BROWN, WITH A WOOD GRAINED STRIP RUNNING AROUND THE HORIZONTAL CENTER. A RATHER FORMIDABLE DEVICE. SOME INTERESTING FEATURES OF THE SSAVI SYSTEM: (WHEN USED BY THE PAY-TV COMPANIES, KOFF KOFF) BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME TO WHICH THE SCRAMBLING OF THE SIGNAL IS TAKEN, THE SYSTEM PROVIDES MORE SECURITY AGAINST THE CASUAL BASEMENT CABLE WIZARD THAN ANY OF THE OTHER SYSTEMS IN USE TODAY, SAVE THOSE NOW BEING IMPLEMENTED BY VARIOUS SATELLITE TRANSMITTERS. THESE ARE REALLY MEAN: DIGITAL VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION, FLUCTUATING TRANSMISSION FREQUENCY, AND OTHER FUN STUFF. BUT THAT IS ANOTHER FILE, COMING LATER. IN ADDITION TO THE COMPLEXITY OF THE SCRAMBLING, EACH BOX IS GIVEN ITS OWN INTERNAL ID NUMBER, ALLOWING EACH BOX TO BE ADDRESSED BY THE TRANSMITTER AND SHUT OFF IN THE EVENT A CUSTOMER DOES NOT PAY HIS BILL. IN ADDITION, EACH BOX CONTAINS A FIRMWARE CODE WHICH IS CON- STANTLY BEING COMPARED TO THAT TRANSMITTED BY THE STATION. HENCE, A STOLEN BOX WILL NOT WORK IN ANOTHER CITY, WHERE IT CANNOT BE TURNED OFF BY THE NORMAL METHOD DUE TO THE FACT THAT SOME ONE MAY ALREADY BE USING A BOX CONTAINING THE SAME SECURITY CODE. THERE ARE SEVERAL MORE CODES STORED IN THE BOX: THOSE WHICH DETERMINE THE SERVICES TO WHICH A SUBSCRIBER IS ENTITLED. (SUCH AS OPTIONAL SPORTING EVENTS, NITE LIFE, ETC.) THESE CODES ARE STORED IN A VOLATILE MEMORY POWERED BY A RECHARGEABLE BATTERY, TO ALLOW REPROGRAMMING FROM THE STATION. THIS ALSO MEANS THAT IF THE BOX IS STOLEN AND/OR LEFT UNPOWERED FOR SEVERAL DAYS, THE BATTERY WILL RUN DOWN AND THE AUTHORIZATION CODES WILL BE LOST. WELL, AS USUAL, WHERE THERE IS SECURITY, THERE WILL BE SECURITY BREAKERS, AND THIS IS NO EXCEPTION. TALK TO THESE PEOPLE ABOUT GETTING YOUR OWN SSAVI BOX: VIDEO ELECTRONICS 3083 FOREST GLADE DR. WINDSOR, ONTARIO N8R 1W6 FONE: 519 944 6443 ACCORDING TO THEM, THE BOX ALSO WORKS WITH SSAVI CABLE SYSTEMS. THIS IS THE REAL THING, MADE BY ZENITH. WHY DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO GET IT THROUGH CANADA? CHANNELS THESE PEOPLE GUARANTEE THE SSAVI BOX TO WORK ON: ANN ARBOR 31, BALTIMORE 54, WASH. DC 50, CHICAGO 66, DALLAS 27, MINNEAPOLIS ST. PAUL 23, SAN JOSE 48, ST. LOUIS 30, TULSA 41, BOSTON 27. WELL, THERE YOU HAVE IT. THEY WANT $130 FOR THE BOX, AND WITH A $21/MONTH FEE IT WILL PAY FOR ITSELF IN 6 MONTHS. HAVE A GOOD TIME. LOGIC GOD *************************************** COMING SOON: #3 CABLE CONVERTERS CALL:BROADWAY SHOW:718 615 0580 K.A.O.S.:215 465 3593 FOR QUESTIONS, I CAN BE REACHED AT THESE (AMONG OTHERS) BOARDS. -=>LATER<=- *************************************** pirating cable t.v. #3 composed by: logic god ***cable converters*** *************************************** first, a plea. I need a recipe for nitrous oxide. (laughing gas.) if anyone knows where I can get one, or has a file on "how to", !please! con- tact me at k.a.o.s.-215- 465-3593, or leave it on a few of the more popular ae lines. thank you. ************************************** cable converters:required knowledge. ------------------------------------ 1. most scrambled cable channels are transmitted either between channel 13 and channel 14 ('midband' transmit- ting) or below channel 2 ('superband' transmitting. thus, if you recieve the cut rate bottom of the line cable ser- vice (such as the 3 networks and a few community stations) you may never even get a chance to see the scrambled chan- nels, let alone try to unscramble them. hence, we usher in the <>. these are nothing new or il- legal, mind you, they can be purchased at radio shack. they were originally intended for the video cassette recor- der owner (that is, the ones that are sold on the open market.) his rented cable converter and unscrambler, usu- ally combined in the same tvtop box, were busy faithfully unscrambling and converting to channel 3 the prog- ram he was currently watching. however, if he wanted to tape something on an !un!scrambled channel that was transmitted in the midband or superband mode, he was up shit creek, because he had no way to get the signal down to a frequency his tv or vcr could recieve. but if he hooked up his little radio shack converter, presto! he was set. 2. now is a good time to make clear an important point. cable converters do !not! unscramble a scrambled signal, they merely move it to a frequency the tv/unscrambler/vcr/whatever can get a hold of it. there is lots of space bet- ween channels 13 and 14-it is the div- iding line between vhf and uhf. there are places in there your tv just can't get to. 3. here comes another point: those of you with 'cable ready' tvs think you're home free now, eh? no. while a cable ready tv will let you view any mid and superband channels that you may unknowingly recieve, the scrambled ones are still scrambled. so what do you need now? an unscrambler, of course. *************************************** 4. it may be necessary to explain what is actually happening in your boxes that you rent from the cable co. thus: ----- if you have bothered to pay extra for any scrambled channels, you are given an unscrambler and converter by the cable co. for which you gladly pay rent in addition to your cable fee. this is usually a brown box that comes in several styles, expounded upon below: digital with remote: a small box upon your tv, with a digital display of the channel you are watching. you have a trusty remote, and zap away at will. knob style: a box or non-wireless rem- ote with a large knob on it. it, of course, selects what channel you are watching. switchboard style: a 9" x 5" (or so) board with several 3 position vertic- ally moving switches. what the hell do these do? you'll never guess. the kind without any switches: (now how will I operate my digital watch?) this is called a block converter. more on these later. *************************************** what is going on: ahhh, the good part. what happens here is this: now matter what system you have (except for the last- ignore that for now.) in some way you select a channel. the cable converter runs off, finds this chan- nel, and yanks it down to channel 3 (or 2, or 4, whatever your cable co. uses.) where your tv is waiting for it. (yes, thats why you put your tv on the same channel and change channels with the knob, remote, or whatever.) now, if it's a scrambled channel, and yo are authorized to recieve it, the signal is rerouted through a small un- scrambler. (a note: cable scrambling methods are piddly little hindrances; for a real bitch of a scrambler see the ssavi system, explained in part 2.) the signal is again spat out at channel 3, and your tv glows happily away, dis- playing your mid or superband channel. 5. at this point, a question may by nudging around your temporal lobes now. something along the lines of " how do I get cable tv without paying for it, dammit??" well, here we go. you look up that place I mentioned in part ii. (address & phone# at end) just fork over your $30 (or someone else's credit card) and get one of these nifty little unscramblers. now, mind you, the cable co. wants it's (your?) money more than you think, and will be rather upset if they find you doing any of this shit, so take care. here's how to hook up your un- scrambler: first, adjust the unscrambler to rec- ieve the channel your tv is set on to recieve a signal fron the cable box. next, send the output of the real box to the unscrambler, and the output of the unscrambler to the tv. you're all set! just sit back and watch those porn flicks pour in. 6. if you change channels with your tv set, and you don't have a box, get a cable converter and an unscram- bler. your service is too basic to rate a converter, so you have to get one. just make sure it has some sort of channel selector on it-all selected channels must be output on the same channel so the unscrambler can unscra- mble them. sorry. *************************************** 7. how to make this much easier on yourself: there is a much easier way to do all of this shit, but you sacrifice ease for legality. that is, even though what you would have done if I wasn't telling you this was illegal, this is more illegal. but let's be realistic- does anyone give a shit of any size whatsoever? no. of course not. therefore: ---------- beating the cable co. at thier own game is easier than you would think. firstly, call up your cable co.'s customer (hee hee) service number, and tell them what optional channels you currently subscribe to, and ask them if you would have to get a new box if you wanted to add some channels. chan- ces are they will say no, because most of the boxes have a small computer in them which can be told over the cable what you are authorized to recieve, (neat, huh?). this is the same comput- er which decides wether the channel you want to watch gets sent to the unscr- ambler portion of the box or not. so if they say no, you're in good shape. if they say yes, you are in a little bit better shape than if they say no. if they say no, this means they change your authorizations inside the box by changing hardware- that is, connecting sets of wires. how to change your authorizations:(yay) first, the hardware boxes-they're easier. according to some people i've talked to, the cable companies get highly (very) pissed off if you play with thier boxes, so you have to get hold of one they don't know you have- remember, they will want your rented box back when you move and will get unhappy if you have been monkeying with it. getting a box: a. steal one. b. say somebody stole yours, your dog shat upon it, or whatever. c. find some unethical person (druggie) who will sell his for a few bucks. changing a hadware box: 1. open the box without destroy- ing it. this can be a real ch- allenge sometimes. while at the sheraton washington (wash, d.c.) attending the model un last year, I stole one from someone's room and tried to get it apart for about an hour so we could watch the flicks thst night- I gave up, got drunk, and threw it out of a window-no, it didn't break. (yes, incidentally, for any- one in the wash, d.c. area, there is one in every room of the sheraton washington. good point- ritzy hotels are great places to get those boxes.) 2. look for a small set of sock- ets, such as an integrated circuit socket without a chip in it. it will have wires in it instead. if you can't find one of those, look for a dip switch-these are the same size as an integrated circuit, fit in an ic socket, and have the same number of switches on it as pins on one side of the ic socket. 3. try to correspond the wires or the positions of the swit- ches with the channels you pay for. these wires or switches are how the box is programmed- try turning all of the switch- es on, and putting all of the wires in, and see if you get more channels. conversely, try removing wires and turning switches off. *************************************** cable programmed boxes: ----------------------- these are a bit more difficult. you have to try to seperate the three sections- computer, reciever(conveter) and unscrambler. when you isolate the computer section, just bypass it com- pletely. find the output of the conver- ter and the input of the unscrambler and just hook them together. as you can probably see, this just does not permit the computer to have a say in what gets unscrambled-incidentally, this will work for the hardware boxes, but it is usually pretty easy to find the little wiring panel/switchboard and you do not have to figure out what is what inside the unscrambler. *************************************** well, I hope this helps, and if you desperately need to ask a question, you can get me at: k.a.o.s.-xxx xxx xxxx the church ae-xxx xxx xxxx pw ataru and I will be glad to answer. *************************************** here's the address I promised: unscramblers ------------ warning: this unscrambler will not work with those channels that make that obnoxious beeping noise. this is a gated sync un- scrambler. to find out if this will work in your area, get that good 'ol cust.service number and call and ask if they use suppr- essed horizontal sync as thier scrambling method. yes, they will tell you. j & w electronics, inc. mansfield, ma. 02048 fone:1 800 227 8529 (orders) 617 339 5372 (tech info) ************************************** well, thank you for sitting through 350 lines of my ravings. if you download this, please give it to all. up with the individual! *************************************** now if you'll excuse me, i'm going to kick back and smoke a marlboro. -=> good luck. <=- ***************************************
 
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