17. What if my cable company upgrades or changes to a different cable converter? All cable companies eventually upgrade-as technology progresses and new sources become available older equipment becomes obsolete. The fact is that cable companies do not change quickly or often. It is a huge expense for cable company to swap out all of its customers cable converters and replace them with brand new ones and upgrade the system to support the new scrambling methods. It usually takes a cable company a year or longer to complete an upgrade. Most cable companies upgrade every 10-15 years. We allow previous customers to trade in their old converters that they purchased from us for credit towards new equipment, providing that it is in good working condition. 18. What is the difference between filtering and scrambling?

8. What is an addressable cable converter-descrambler? This is a converter-descrambler that can be controlled by the cable company from their office location. Through remote coded messages sent via the cable system, the cable company can "address" the customers’ unit to begin descrambling selected premium or pay per view channels. An addressable unit allows the cable company to access your cable box to change the descrambling configuration or program. This function provides the cable company the ability to add or delete descrambling on the channels that come in through your cable line. A non-addressable unit does not provide the cable company access to the cable box program. The program remains stationary and is unchangeable. Both cable box designs have the potential of receiving all channels, none or somewhere in between dependent on the box program.

The weak signal may cause a "snowy" or gray picture, or may even result in weak color or lack of color. Since most cable viewers use several different video components, it is recommended that an amplifier be used to restore the signal strength and the picture sharpens. In most cases, the amplifier brings the picture " back to life " and restores it’s original quality. Consider using a 10db amplifier to improve signal strength. 13. What happens when there isn''t a replacement for your cable company box? Most converter sources will carry the common brands. When your company doesn’t carry your brand then you need to find out if they either have it in stock or have a source for your uncommon make and model.

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