Cable descramblers

[LtDan]

Anyone have experience with the aftermarket cable descramblers they sell on Ebay? I have the NHL Center Ice package but want to view it on my small tv I take out to the hot tub which means I need another digital cable box. I don't want to rent another from the cable company.

[SerjicalStrike]

I don't know a lot about those, but can you add a splitter AFTER the cable box and run one wire to each tv?

[drewstar]

We had an "Aftermarket" descrambler for years and it worked great.

Then the cable company switched to Digital cable and my older box wasn't compatable, and the new boxes i bought were lousy  for picture quality.  I returned mine.  This was about 4 years ago.  Perhaps the new, aftermarket  boxes for the digital signal have improved?

I would make sure the seller is reputable and will give you  100% refund if it doesen't work out for you.  There are so many differetn cable providers out there,  one box may not work that great with a certain provider.  

[Brookenstein]

I don't know a lot about those, but can you add a splitter AFTER the cable box and run one wire to each tv?

I'm not sure if this is exactly the same thing, but that is what we are going to do this weekend with our DISH, so that we can watch the shows that we DVR on our 2nd tv in the office, on our main HDTV in the living room.

Also, can you ebay the box?  Is it more/less than a descrambler?  My son lost our remote for the HD DISH and they wanted $50 to replace it.  I got one from Ebay for $10.

[drewstar]

I'm not sure if this is exactly the same thing, but that is what we are going to do this weekend with our DISH, so that we can watch the shows that we DVR on our 2nd tv in the office, on our main HDTV in the living room.

Oh yea.  My wife and I upgraded to this system 2 weeks ago.  One box runs 2 tvs.  Good thinking brook.

[Brookenstein]

We have a ton of shows DVRd but we never watch them because they are on the tv in the garage or the office and our main TV is HD and doesn't have the DVR. My husband bought 500 feet of coax yesterday so that we can circle the house 5 times and then jump rope... (actually it was cheaper in that quantity) but his plan is to hook up the regular dish to the HDTV as well so we can watch the DVRs and then also run some outside so that we can take the 9" tv from the garage out to the hot tub when we want.  We are giong to have wire everywhere.

[drewstar]

We have a ton of shows DVRd but we never watch them because they are on the tv in the garage or the office and our main TV is HD and doesn't have the DVR. My husband bought 500 feet of coax yesterday so that we can circle the house 5 times and then jump rope... (actually it was cheaper in that quantity) but his plan is to hook up the regular dish to the HDTV as well so we can watch the DVRs and then also run some outside so that we can take the 9" tv from the garage out to the hot tub when we want.  We are giong to have wire everywhere.

Huh?  I don't have HD....and maybe i am missing something , but why not make the "Main" TV one of the two on DVR set up so you canwatch what you record? The fact that it's  HD shouldnt make a difference. I was under the impresion the DVR set up from Dish was an  HD compatable/ready system.  

[Brookenstein]

We have to have a special HD receiver to get the HD channels for our HDTV.  At the time we got our DISH package, they were not offering HDTV DVRs, but the DVR came standard with our other receiver.  We've got a tv in the office but we only have it on when we are on the computer, not when we want to sit and watch a show.  So now that we have 46 hours of recorded TV, we don't want to sit and watch it in the office or the garage.  J thinks he can split it from the tv in the office to the main tv, so that we can watch the DVRd stuff.  I think we could also be able to use our PIP that way, as we can't use it now because there is only one signal.

Did that make sense or did I confuse you more?

[LtDan]

I don't know a lot about those, but can you add a splitter AFTER the cable box and run one wire to each tv?

I could, but with a second cable box my kids could watch their shows while I get my hockey fix. You can get the analog boxes that are supposed to pull channels 1-125 for under one hundred bucks, but I need the digital channels in the 700 range. The digital boxes are 200-300 bucks.

[Brewman]

For $300 I'd pay the cable company rent.  I think they charge us about $5/mo for a digital box.  

[drewstar]

For $300 I'd pay the cable company rent.  I think they charge us about $5/mo for a digital box.  
 

I agree with brewman.  I thought you'd be getting into this for less than a hundred.  

I'd rent additionalt box from the cable company. At least that way, you're sure it's compatable, you've got someone to service it, and  you can upgrade it when new technology becomes available.

[BobRex]

Just a note of caution.  A friend of mine was visited by the FBI shortly after purchasing a cheater box with a tv from a local shop.  Seems the shop kept records of all of the cheaters they sold and were raided.  My friend gladly gave up the tv and gave a statement in trade for time served and a fine.

Bottom line - this is theft of service, if the cable companies want to prosecute, you will be SOL.

[drewstar]

Careful.



If you use a box to receive singals you did not pay for, that's theft.

If you are using the box to receive a signal you paid for, then it's legal.  Just as the phone company cannpt force you to use and buy thier phone, you don't need to use a cable companies box.

I assume we are talking only about legally obtained programming?

[LtDan]

Just a note of caution.  A friend of mine was visited by the FBI shortly after purchasing a cheater box with a tv from a local shop.  Seems the shop kept records of all of the cheaters they sold and were raided.  My friend gladly gave up the tv and gave a statement in trade for time served and a fine.

Bottom line - this is theft of service, if the cable companies want to prosecute, you will be SOL.

Yeah, the FBI shows up at houses that have cable descramblers. Info for you:
Descramblers are legal. If your cable TV company can possess & rent the box then you can own the box yourself providing that you notify your cable company about it's use. It is legal for you to purchase and it is legal for you to own. When you buy a converter, descrambler, cable boxes & equipment it is your responsibility to inform the cable TV company that you are accessing their signal. It is illegal to receive their transmission without paying for it. This holds true even if your cable box is purchased as a non-addressable, non-detectable, and "bullet proof" unit.

I pay for digital cable service, I paid for NHL center ice package. I want to be able to watch them on more than one television. If I use the box to decode premium, pay per view or porn channels without advising the cable company that is theft of services. I do believe you have a better chance of kissing God than getting the FBI to show up at your door to seize your tv and lawfully purchased cable box IF the cable company can prove you used it improperly.

Just a note of caution, watch out for urban legends, especially ones that start out "one time, this friend of mine..."

[Brewman]

I figured that it was just a choice between renting a box from the cable company, vs purchasing one.   Either is fine with our cable company, since we already subscribe.