NTL without a decoder

MORPH3US

A mate of mine (who wouldn't lie but could be mistaken) swears blind that in his rented house, his NTL goes from the cable straight into the back of his TV without a decoder or box of any kind.

Is this possible?!

M

star1_2

To get the FTA (Free to Air) Analogue channels - possibly. The channels you get can depend upon the area of the country your in - connected to the cable network.

But you won't ever get Digital or encrypted channels without the Telewest / NTL set top box.

Lord_Chris

If he is getting the pay channels, then yes it is POSSIBLE, but it is also ILLEGAL

star1_2

No normal TV sold in the UK would "un-encrypt" the channels, your friend (if watching the encrypted channels) would be using some additional hardware, and as Chris mentions would be illegal.

I have a Thompson TV, that when connected directly to my old Telewest Analoge TV service (now unable to, as I'm on Digital), was able to be set to scan the Cable channel frequencies (refered to as CC, in the setup), and I received about 9 free unencrypted channels, ones like .... CNN, Sky News and some shopping stuff I think .... pretty crap by todays standards, but that was before Freeview - so was fine for a second tv .... it's better and less hassle to just get a cheep freeview box !

MORPH3US

I think he's just getting the freeview channels. So if I wanted to do the same, will the standard NTL cable that goes into the back of the box just fit into the back of my tv?

As for illegal, if NTL is plugged into the back of the tv that comes with his rented house and if he was getting pay channels then thats their fault not his! But anyway according to star1, its not possible without the box!

M

star1_2

MORPH3US wrote:

I think he's just getting the freeview channels. So if I wanted to do the same, will the standard NTL cable that goes into the back of the box just fit into the back of my tv?

As for illegal, if NTL is plugged into the back of the tv that comes with his rented house and if he was getting pay channels then thats their fault not his! But anyway according to star1, its not possible without the box!

M

The connection provided by the cable company is normally an "F" connector (a screw thread), the TV will be standard co-ax plug, you'll need to change this to get it to fit, or use some adaptors.

The only way someone's TV would actually un-encrypt channels would be if it were to have a CAM card/interface (or similar), they are availaible in other countries (ie. US and Japan for their respective markets), This is effectivly a card that replaces the set-top box, and allows the TV to do all the encryption. These are not sold, marketed or are availaible in the UK. NTL/Telewest only distribute their service by their own provided set-top box, using one of these from another country is'nt going to work in the UK.

Legally - the viewing of TV, that you should be paying for is against the law. Ignorace is not a defence in a court of law, although many people have pleaded this .... under similar circumstances !!

meclive

star1 wrote:

NTL/Telewest only distribute their service by their own provided set-top box, using one of these from another country is'nt going to work in the UK.

Not true, you can use some stb from other countries.

star1_2

meclive wrote:

Not true, you can use some stb from other countries.

Fraid you're wrong there .... on NTL and Telewest digital services - you won't get the encrypted channels .... If you have a look in an NTL or Telewest Digital setup box it has a smart card (just like Sky's smart card in sky STB's) - NTL and Telewest "link" the card and box together, their system will not permit unauthorised viewing with an un-known box (ie. one from overseas) or without the card .... if you don't beleive me try it ....

As for analoge - as mentioned previously, yes - you can use a TV or box (that just effectivly shifts the CC freqs to a modulated RF frequency to let you watch it on your TV).... but you won't be able to watch encrypted channels - unless the box has been hacked .... as you'll be well aware hacked boxes are another (totally illegal) subject ....