ntl FM hook up

[ntl customer]

OK, I've managed to get the radio part of my TV card working and I was wondering, does the ntl FM Hook up still exist? And what can you get on it? (I have taken a look at the Altis UK FM hook up pages and the spreadsheet says I can get quite a few channels - I am in Surrey BTW but the sheet has not been updated for around 2 years!).

I've got a redundant cable modem and cable that was disconnected a year or two ago, and all of the cables are still in place, and as it's near the computer I'm thinking why not use the cable? Would I still be connected at the green cabinet?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[Rob]

If you use this redundant cable, and connect incorrectly to it, you run the risk of introducing interference back into the ntl network.

Reading your post it implies you do not have ntl cable services anymore. Ideally the cable will have been disconnected, but perhaps not. However if you are no longer an ntl customer you shouldn't attempt to use cable services as that would be theft.

As far as I am aware the FM hook up was a by product of analogue TV. I don't know if there was a special decoder needed as a separate connection to the analogue STB. YOu'd ned that rather than the redundant cable modem to connect.

As this thread is about ntl services, related to ntl tv services I'm moving it to the ntl TV area.

[spike7451]

By ILLIGALLY useing the NTL cable you could cause problems for other users around you.If you do & it's found to be the case,you could be liable to pay for any repair costs for your neighbours.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by Rob C

As far as I am aware the FM hook up was a by product of analogue TV. I don't know if there was a special decoder needed as a separate connection to the analogue STB. YOu'd ned that rather than the redundant cable modem to connect.

No, you didn't/don't need a separate decoder to hook-up the FM connection. NTL used the FM spectrum of the cable to deliver the channels straight to the FM tuner.

Although I would say...these days there's not much on there anymore - pretty much just the channels you can get in the area you live in anyway.

[altis]

If you don't know, this is the FAQs page that ntl customer is referring to.

Check inside the white box. If the isolator is a VQ330 or similar, with an FM output, then you are very unlikely to upset the signal to your neighbours. This is because this is a diplexor and will only pass signals in the FM band to and from that leg. If you are really paranoid then you could always add a high pass filter too (plenty on eBay) as a double backstop.

Things seem to change very slowly to the FM service. It obviously has a very low (zero ?) priority within NTL so that faults rarely get dealt with.

Sad, but there you go. I tried my best to get more people interested in this useful service but the world doesn't seem to be that bothered.

[rdhw]

Originally Posted by ntl customer

all of the cables are still in place, and as it's near the computer I'm thinking why not use the cable?

In some installations, the FM hookup feed cable and the TV/Broadband cable are split off from each other by filters, such that the FM signal would not be detectable on the TV/Broadband cable, and vice versa. So, even if your cable is still connected at the box in the road, do not rely on an FM signal being present on what used to be a TV or broadband cable.

[ntl customer]

Thanks for all the tips and warnings, guys.

Check inside the white box. If the isolator is a VQ330 or similar, with an FM output, then you are very unlikely to upset the signal to your neighbours. This is because this is a diplexor and will only pass signals in the FM band to and from that leg. If you are really paranoid then you could always add a high pass filter too (plenty on eBay) as a double backstop.

The NTL wall box has 2 outputs - an FM co-ax one and a TV/broadband co-ax one. I'll whip the cover off tomorrow and see what's inside.

No, you didn't/don't need a separate decoder to hook-up the FM connection. NTL used the FM spectrum of the cable to deliver the channels straight to the FM tuner.

Although I would say...these days there's not much on there anymore - pretty much just the channels you can get in the area you live in anyway.

I want some decent FM reception without the hassle of erecting an antenna outside and drilling through the walls. I am not a fan of digital radio at all - whether it's delivered through the Freeview STB or through a radio - radios; the bitrates are low and it sounds awful and through the STB it sounds a bit flat. R2 on FM sounds so much richer compared to R2 on DAB or Freeview.

In some installations, the FM hookup feed cable and the TV/Broadband cable are split off from each other by filters, such that the FM signal would not be detectable on the TV/Broadband cable, and vice versa. So, even if your cable is still connected at the box in the road, do not rely on an FM signal being present on what used to be a TV or broadband cable.

I'll bear that one in mind. Did they do this in certain areas only and was it done at the box in the road level?

Reading your post it implies you do not have ntl cable services anymore. Ideally the cable will have been disconnected, but perhaps not. However if you are no longer an ntl customer you shouldn't attempt to use cable services as that would be theft.

You're right; I no longer have any ntl services at all. But I am only trying to utilise the FM part of the feed and not attempting to connect any devices to the TV side of the box. I somehow doubt if the ntl police will come knocking on my door, however.

[spike7451]

NTL still class it as theft,tho

[andygrif]

Not that I am condoning it, but it's hardly the Great Train Robbery is it?

[Keytops]

Is this theft in the same sense as it would be theft to erect an aerial and recieve FM signals via that?

And as for causng problems 'down the line', well, if NTL's technicians can't be bothered to disconnect a cable when a customer no longer has services then its their own fault for allowing such problems to arise.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by Keytops

Is this theft in the same sense as it would be theft to erect an aerial and recieve FM signals via that?

I think people are taking both sides of the moral fence a little too seriously here!

If O/P plugs in his stereo to a cable that's already hanging out of the wall and can get Radio 1 great. If he can't then I wouldn't go ferreting round in the wall-box. It needn't be over-complicated.

[spike7451]

Originally Posted by andygrif

Not that I am condoning it, but it's hardly the Great Train Robbery is it?

Maybe not in your eyes,but thats part of the reason i'm out of a job on the 13th!We're no longer cost effective & contractors are cheaper.Put it like this,If a fm hook up is £1.0 per month & that 5,000 people are useing the service illigally,thats £5,000 NTL is loseing in revinue per month,Ad to that the number of people with chipped STB's & cloned C.M's it adds up!

[Nanook]

When I had ntl analogue TV, I paid ntl £10 (I think) for the FM feed & that was supposedly for life. Not had ntl TV for years bu the cable/splitter is all still there, not tested it to see if it still works though.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by spike7451

Maybe not in your eyes,but thats part of the reason i'm out of a job on the 13th!We're no longer cost effective & contractors are cheaper.Put it like this,If a fm hook up is £1.0 per month & that 5,000 people are useing the service illigally,thats £5,000 NTL is loseing in revinue per month,Ad to that the number of people with chipped STB's & cloned C.M's it adds up!

Sorry for your personal position, but you are very wrong on this topic.

The FM hookup was never charged for (under the terms of the franchises that were offered to cablecos years ago they were contractually oblidged to carry local broadcasts free of charge and this is a hang-over from those days).

So this is the reason why I say it's not the Great Train Robbery - as nothing is being stolen.

I do fully support your comments about people using chipped boxes on the network. That is theft and they should be prosecuted.

Like I said, sorry for your personal position - but the only people you can really blame for it is ntl - no-one else.

[jaycee]

All you really need is a piece of coax with a normal aerial connection on one end for your stereo, and an F connector for the FM outlet on the wallplate at the other. Can buy all the goodies for that at B&Q or Maplin. As long as theres an "FM" tap on your wall plate, it will work...

DON'T try it with the standard "TV" outlet. It most likely won't work and you'll probably cause network interference.

To be honest... if you have a disused TV aerial on the roof, use it. Works just as well as a "proper" FM aerial in my experience.