CATV

Community Antenna Television (CATV) began as a way to get communities

far away or in the shadow areas. A community antenna received broadcast
signals and relayed them via cable to viewers in the area. Today CATV has
developed into huge systems that cover large areas, even servicing locations
having good reception. Cable TV can provide many more channels than
broadcast TV, including premium pay services. HBO, Cinemax, The Movie
Channel, and other premium channels offer to cable viewers current movies
and sports events. These programs reach the cable operator via satellite
transmission.

Cable frequencies
Older cable systems distribute TV signals on the same VHF channel
frequencies that are used for broadcasting. The UHF channels are converted
to VHF channels for distribution, because cable losses are too high in the UHF
band. This method is a 12-channel system, including the lowband and
highband VHF channels 2-13. Subscribers of the system do not need a
converter. Direct cable connections are made to the TV receiver, where the
RF tuner can be used to select the desired channel.
ADJACENT CABLE CHANNELS
With a 12-channel system, some receivers may have adjacent-channel
interference because all the VHF channels are used.
In the cable system, interference is minimized by a balancing of the signals
for all channels at a common level. Also the sound carrier level, compared
with TV broadcast signals, is usually much lower than the picture carrier
signal.
MIDBAND AND SUPERBAND CABLE CHANNELS
Because the cable signal is not radiated (at least, not intentionally), cable
systems, without interference, use frequencies assigned to other radio
services. Therefore, midband cable channels are used, in the gap between
VHF channels.6 and 7. These frequencies (88174 MHz) include the FM radio
broadcast band, plus various aeronautical, marine, amateur, and business
communications services. However, the FM radio band (88108 MHz) is
generally not used for cable TV channels.
As listed in Table 1, the midband cable TV channels start with number 14 (or
letter A) for 120 to 126 MHz, with the video or picture carrier frequency set
at 121.25 MHz. Although not listed, the sound carrier frequency is
automatically 4.5 MHz higher, or 125.75 MHz. Included are channel numbers
1422 (or letters AI).

Additional midband channels are numbers 00, 01, and 5459. Channels 00
and 01 are above the FM radio band. (Double digits are used for all cable
channel numbers to allow for a digital control board for tuning.)hannels 54
5 9 occupy sppt frequencies in the gaps of the regular midband channel
allotments.
Superband refers to cable TV channels above the VHF broadcast channel 13.
This band starts with cable channel letter J (or number 23). The letters
continue to Z and the numbers to 53.
The use of VHF broadcast channels 213 and cable channels 1437
provides 12 + 24 = 36 channels in a typical cable TV system. These
frequencies are up to approximately 300 MHz. Systems using the higher
cable channels, up to 400 MHz, are more sophisticated. They require special
cable and better amplifiers, with closer spacing to offset greater losses at the
higher frequencies.
TUNING INTO THE CABLE CHANNELS
In older-model TV receivers, the RF tuner has usually not been made to
select the midband and superband cable channels. Therefore, the cable

operator provides the owner with a separate converter unit. This unit
converts all channel frequencies,to a designated VHF channel, such as
channel 2, 3, or 4. tJhe subscriber keeps the receiver tuned to the specified
channel, and all channel selection is done at the converter.
CABLE-READY TV RECEIVERS
Almost all current-model receivers have tuners that can select the midband
and superband cable channels directly, without the need for a converter.
However, there is another practical problem! The premium pay services
usually have a signal that is scrambled electronically. The circuits required for
descrambling are built into the converter or are attached to it. As a result,
the system-oriented converter would be needed anyway for the viewer to
watch the scrambled signal premium channels.

Coaxial cable for CATV

The conduit used for distributing the CATV signals at RF channel frequencies
is coaxial cable. It is an efficient wideband transmission line, having the
advantage of shielding. There are several types of coaxial line, but all are
constructed as in Figure. It is called coaxial because its two conductors share
the same axis TA central wire is sur rounded by a cylindrical or tubular
conductor, and these two conductors are separated by an insulator.

The type of cable generally used in a main signal route (called a trunk line. It
consists of a heavy central aluminum conductor that is copper-clad (coated
with copper). The outer conductor (or shield) is also aluminum and is shaped
in a solid tube. A polyethylene foam fills the internal space and supports the
inner conductor exactly at the center. The cable diameter is about 3/4 in.
[19.1 mm]. Some other types of trunk cable are hollow, the inner conductor
supported by plastic beads at regular intervals The larger the cable diameter,
the less the attenuation) However, large cables are not flexible and are
difficult to install.

Cable distribution system

Examine Figure. The starting point for cable signals is called the head end.
Here the cable TV company receives programming via satellite transmission,

microwave transmission, and local broadcast. Those signals are amplified,

adjusted for level, and fed into the trunk lines. The UHF channels are
converted to VHF channels.rhe video and audio signals modulate separate
carriers in a VHF channel not being used. The main routes of signal from the
head end are the trunk lines.
TRUNK AMPLIFIERS
The trunk amplifiers are inserted at regular intervals along the trunk route to
make up for cable losses. For example, in Figure a 20-dB amplifier is at the
end of a cable run with a loss of 20 dB. The decibel unit used for cable
signals is dBmV, which means decibels above 1 mV. Amplifiers are placed
at regular intervals to keep the signal up to the standard level of 13 mV.

BRIDGING AMPLIFIERS
A bridging amplifier is for a branch from the main trunk to feed a particular
neighborhood in the cable system. The typical gain is 2040 dB. The output
is for the branch lines to individual subscribers in many cases, the trunk and
bridging amplifiers are located in the same weatherproof housing. (An
additional attenuator may be used at the input to the bridging amplifier to
balance the signal levels.
LINE AMPLIFIERS
Long line runs from the bridging amplifier may require that line-extender
amplifiers be inserted in the branch line to make up for cable losses in that
branch. Such an amplifier extends the number of drop lines that can be used
on a branch Iine. The typical gain for a line amplifier is 2040 dB.

DIRECTIONAL COUPLERS
Signal power taken from the trunk must be kept very small so that the line is
not loaded by all the branches. The device used to tap off the signal is called
a directional coupler. Its construction is illustrated in Figure 1 99a, and its
symbol is shown in Figure 1 99b. It is a three-terminal device. One terminal
is for signal input. Another carries the signal through the trunk line. The third
terminal has tapped output signal for a branch.

Cable decoders
Cable TV companies multiplex their signals at the head end. Doing so allows
them to be able to send a larger number of channels over a single
transmission line.\he multiplexed signal (a mixture of the signals for all the
separate channels) is the signal transmitted to subscribers. In early cable
systems, the signals for the individual channels separated by a converter box
situated on top of the TV set. The converter box was an RF tuner used to
select the desired channel. The cable channel to be viewed was heterodyned
to a lowband VHF frequency, usually channel 3 or 4.
UP-DOWN CONVERTERS
Figure shows a double-super heterodyne circuit used for converting cable
signals. First the cable channels are heterodyned up to the IF value of 374
380 MHz in the UHF band. (The oscillator frequencies are not in any band for
cable TV channels.) Next, the IF signal is converted down to the frequency of
either channel 3 or 4.

Figure shows two mixer stages. The first mixer (with a varactor-tuned local
oscillator) converts all incoming channels to the IF value of the converter.
The IF band here is 374-380MHz but some converters use 608614 MHz for
the IF signal. A bandpass filter in the output circuit of the up-converter
selects only the IF signal, which is the desired channel tuned-in by the UHF

local oscillator. The second mixer, with a fixed-frequency oscillator, is the

doconverter to the TV receiver. It heterodynes the IF sigra1 at its UHF values
down to either channeL3or 4. An adjustment in this oscillator is set for either
output channel.)
Tuning the first LO frequency in the up-converter selects each of the
channels. Thus the frequency that is used in the second LO for down
conversion is the same for all channels. The IF signal is always in the fixed IF
passband of the down-converter. The up-converter heterodynes all the cable
channels up to the IF band.

Wave traps and scrambling methods

Basic cable service includes the local TV broadcast channels, some out-oftown stations, and local-origination programs. In addition, more expensive
premium services are offered, such as Home Box Office, Cinemax, and the
Movie Channel. Premium services feature special sports events and new
movies, uncut and without commercial interruptions. As just discussed, to
serve only those subscribers who pay for the extra service, cable companies
use two techniques. One somewhat outdated method was to insert, in the
feed line, a wave trap that attenuated the pay channel. Each subscriber
without premium service had a trap. The wave traps were sometimes
bypassed by tampering (at the subscribers tap on the feed line).

SCRAMBLING
Sync suppression at the head end scrambles the cable signal. The picture will
look like Figure. In this method, sync is compressed only in the RF modulation
envelope of the video carrier in the cable channel. Then the receiver cannot
lock in with the sync- suppressed signal. As you can see by the rolling and
diagonal bars, the picture becomes out of sync both vertically and
horizontally. The loss of sync upsets the receiver AGC circuit and can also
thus produce the affects of AGC overload distortion, in which the picture is
dark (possibly reversed in black-and-white values, like a negative) and out of
sync.
DESCRAMBLING

A descrambler reverses scrambling and restores sync to the RF signal .The

unit restores sync by means of a keyed RF attenuator, bypassed with a diode
switch (indicated as RA and S in Figure) In this method, the pulses needed for
the switched attenuator are sent to the descrambler unit by a separate
route. A pilot carrier signal, having a frequency below that of the channel, is
used by the company.