Recently we were notified by our local cable provider that they will be
eliminating the present analog service and going to all digital. I
realize the advantages this affords them and their digital customers.
However there are a great many of us who still have all our old analog
equipment, and don't give a rats ass about HD, never had and never will.
We just want to watch TV.

So now they tell us that even if we were to go out and purchae new
digital sets they won't work because the digital channels will be
"encoded" or scrambled if you will. Each analog device will need to have
a little converter, (a box a little larger than a pack of cigarettes).
This box will process the digital channels and provide a channel 3 NTSC
output. You can only get this box from them and it must be rented every
month.

If I remember correctly, when the FCC decided that the over-the-air
channels were all to switch to digital, they made a separate decision
that cable companies would be obligated to continue to support their
analog-TV users (in one way or another) through the year 2012.

They *are* permitted to switch their cable plant over to digital
transmission, as long as they provide a way for analog TV users to
continue to use those TV sets (for another year, at least).

Is this even legal?

Switching their plant over to digital - yes.

Requiring the use of some sort of access/descrambling device - yes.

Requiring you to rent the access/descrambler box only from them...
very possibly not. Back in 1996, Congress passed a law which
largely outlawed the practice of "You must rent your cable box from
us!" policies by the cable companies. The intent was to allow
consumers to buy their cable set-top boxes on the open market, if they
wished, and connect them to the cable TV system.

Most cable companies (with a few exceptions) are now required to
provide support for "CableCard", a technology which moves the cable-TV
descrambling electronics into a small plug-in card (similar in size to
the PCMCIA or PC cards used in laptop computers). You buy the
set-top box (plain or DVR) on the open market, you get the CableCard from
your cable TV provider, you plug the card into the set-top box and
"pair" the card to the box, and you're now able to view the digital
channels.

The cable companies are allowed to charge a monthly rental fee for
CableCard devices.

Up until recently, the cost of a CableCard rental (for your own
set-top box) was often the same as the cost of renting a whole
descrambler box (which, in most cases, is actually required by law to
contain/use a CableCard). The FCC has recently changed the rules on
this, requiring that the rental fee for the CableCard be split out
separately and be

Further information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CableCARD
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/10/...e-box-rentals/

Why should anyone go out then and buy a new digital
TV with a tuner? You will be paying for a tuner that you will never be
able to use.

Most of the simple cable-box descramblers provide better forms of
video output than "channel 3 RF" (which is the *poorest* choice for
quality reasons). Most of them have, at least, "composite video",
and many have S-Video. Neither of these require a tuner (they'll
work fine with a suitable video monitor). More up-scale converters
generally have either component or HDMI or both.

Might as well just buy a monitor. Is there any way around
this? Thanks, Lenny

Put up an over-the-air antenna (if you don't already have one), and
get a cheap OTA digital converter. Since the government was
subsidizing the purchase price of these for quite a while, there are
probably a bunch of them sitting around unused in the homes of people
who have since upgraded to digital-capable TVs. You can probably pick
one up cheaply, or perhaps even for free via FreeCycle or CraigsList
or a local want-ad.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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