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A Guide to the Chicago Cable System Part 1
by Dr. Ripco
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Rather than starting things off with a desciption of what is
really going on out there, here is a quick and easy way to start saving
money off of your monthly cable bill. This of course only applies if you
already have the basic service and your Cable company is Group W of Chicago.
In future parts we will be discussing the Scientific Atlanta which
is being used on the south and eastern parts of the city. For the first few
parts most of the info contained applies to the Jerrold 450 system which
Group W is using throughout tHe remainder of the city. It should be noted that in some areas Group W is using a decoder made by Pioneer which for all practical purposes is the same as the Jerrold 450. Why they are doing this will be covered in a future i
stallment.
now onto the good stuff......
How to really get something for nothing (almost).
Group W is no different than the other 1000 cable systems across
the country. It, like them, are run by a bunch of money hungry bastard
executives who do little else than come up with ways to charge you more for
less service.
One of the 'high level' services is the FM broadcast service which allows
the consumer (sucker) to get simulcasted audio of the premium movie
channels over his/her fm stereo.Along with them you get a handful of the
local fm/am stations that unfortunetly there not where they are supposed to
be. (see chart at end).
To explain the simulcast theory, the best way to do it is to bring
up other examples. If you go back awhile, one of the first proven attempts
was the old ABC-TV series call "In Concert". You would tune your tv to
channel 7,turn the sound off and tune your fm stereo to what was then WDAI
(94.7). More recent examples are several specials shown on WTTW (ch.11) and
the audio on WFMT, along with the first year of "Friday Night Videos" shown
on WMAQ-TV and the audio over WLUP (97.9).
Over the air simulcasting isn't done much anymore with the advent
of the "MTS Stereo Decoder" but the pigs at Group W think differently. Why
should they allow the sucker (consumer) to get free stereo with his stereo
ready tv/vcr when they can charge extra for it? I mean whats the point in
allowing someone who paid probably $200 extra for the feature get a free
ride on the cable system? Bear in mind that only WMAQ and WTTW are full
time stereo locally but almost all f the 'premium' station are.
Well here is the bad news, Group W doesn't put in (or allow to pass) the
MTS stereo signal needed for the stereo ready tv and vcr's to work. They
have a 'better' alternative. (even though the jerrold 450 is capable of
passing the signal).
The Optional FM hookup is how they sell it. Its only $2.50 extra
on installation ($30 if commercial) and $2 a month ($10 if commerical). Yes
thats right, for only $24.00 extra a year you can kick yourself in the ass
for paying for your cable ready stereo tv only to find out neither the
cable tuner nor stereo decoder is worth squat.
This mod won't help you fix a mistake, but at least in 10 years or so you
can recover the expense. And for everyone else this might prevent you from
spending money without good cause. To do this right, you will need the
following items:
1- 2 way 75 ohm cable coupler
1- 75-300 ohm matching transformer
2- pieces of coax cable with ends,one
short (about 2 feet or so) the other
long enough to run from the decoder
atop your tv to your fm stereo.
If you have no idea what any of the above items are, simply print this file
out and bring it to your local Radio Shack dealer. I find they are most
helpful when it comes to aiding cable consumers (suckers).
All you have to do is follow the next diagram. In words all you
are going to do is unscrew the cable coming from the wall to the 'cable in'
jack on the back of the decoder, screw the cable into the input of the 2
way coupler, run the short coax from one of the outs of the coupler back to
the jack on the decoder where you unplugged it, then take the longer piece
of coax and run it from the other output of the coupler to the 75-300
transformer which in turn will go on the fm-ant screws on the back of your
fm stereo radio.
______ short cable --------------|
| out|--- _______________ | cable in |
--------------- _| |--- | |
cable from wall--- |_in | | |(decoder)
--------------- | |--- ______ | to tv |
| out|--- \ |(leave alone) |
------ | |---------------
2 set coupler |
|
| <--- longer coax cable
|
___
| |
-----
| |
| |
75-300 ohm matching ---> | |
transformer | |
| |
-----
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
^^^ ^^^
\ /
attach these to ends to the fm
antenna screws on the back of
your fm stereo. (300 ohm inputs)
Thats about all there is to it. The total cost is about $3-$5
depending on the lenghts of coax you get. The cost to Group W is about a
dollar for the same stuff. Well worth the $2 a month they charge extra for.
Now that you have things attached ere is a run down of the stations in case
you don't have the offical list:
standard radio stations-
WIND 89.3 WTAQ 89.7 WCEV 90.3 WEDC 90.7
WCRW 90.7 WSBC 90.7 WGN 91.3 WMAQ 91.7
WBEZ 92.5 WXRT 93.7 WLAK 94.5 WLS 95.3
WMET 96.1 WLS 96.5 WBBM 96.9 WNIB 97.7
WLUP 98.5 WFMT 99.3 WUSN 100.5 WLOO 100.9
WKQX 101.7 WCLR 102.5 WBMX 103.3 WFYR 104.1
WJMK 104.9 WOJO 105.7 WCKG 106.9 WGCI 107.3
Note that many of the stations are AM foreign language.
stereo simulcast stations-
VH-1 (video on 40) audio on 92.9
Showtime (video on 18) audio on 93.3
TMC (video on 46) audio on 94.1
TNN (video on 37) audio on 94.9
Bravo (video on 68) audio on 95.7
SPN (video on 66) audio on 97.3
MTV (video on 42) audio on 98.1
HBO (video on 17) audio on 98.9
Cinemax (video on 44) audio on 99.7
Disney (video on 48) audio on 100.1
HTN (video on 63) audio on 101.3
Gala (video on 50) audio on 102.1
BET (video on 52) audio on 105.3
All ya have to do now is tune the decoder to the channel you want,
turn the sound off, turn on your fm radio and tune it to the matching
frequency for the audio. Of course if you are not paying for any of the
'premium' channels you aren't going to get a picture, but that will be
covered in one of the next parts. (hehehhehehe).
A few notes... First off if you are already paying for the fm
service, you can cancel it and do the above to re-attach it. They will
explain to you that if they send one of their highly qualified techs out to
disconnect it, it will cost you $25 or the service call. If you ask them if
you can do it yourself, they will tell you yes and to disconnect the 75-300
ohm transformer from the radio and bring it into the office on Milwaukee
ave. Since you are leaving the 2 way coupler and coax cable, on the way
back from the office drop by Radio Shack and pick up a new transformer. You
won't need anything else.
Another thing is don't lose any sleep about them catching you with
an illegal tap on the line.Unless you are stupid enough to let them in to
inspect the wiring there really is no other way for them to know. The
system they installed so far is no setup for "line testing" so it is next
to impossible for them to detect it from outside of the house. Also note
that the fm-service cannot be cut-off like they do if ya have a non-
authorized remote control.
Well have loads of fun and enjoy.......
Dr. Ripco