Digital Descrambler, True or False? Well... Both.

If you're a long time cable subscriber similar to myself, you recollect the pre-digital age with "descramblers". This isn't that. What we have here is from top to bottom different and fortunately so. All digital and without the necessity for considerable boxes of the past, this fresh machine is completely legal to use and be the owner of, though legally you'll want to let your cable television provider know you are using it for testing reasons only.Elegantly known as a Cable Filter, this doesn't attempt to hack cable communications for unauthorized stations. This is one of its nice elements. The cable filter does not descramble or unscramble anything. All it does is filter the signal leaving the box. The filter allows the incoming signal, while delaying the signal exiting the box for as long as it is applied. Seeking for the reason of all this?Well, special events such as PPV and On-Demand orders are automatically authorized by the box while the box then sends a signal to a server making it aware of the purchase. If you have a cable filter in place when this is done, the signal won't reach the company. Get it? Since it is not attempting to unscramble channels and is only dealing with the signal, it is protected by federal law because it is deemed "testing equipment". As long you're a tester and you make your provider aware of the testing you are doing, you're in the clear.So up until now this all sounds pretty easy. Throw it on the back of your box and proceed to order up a storm with all the OnDemand and PPV stuff you like. Sound like a good idea, but there's a bit more to it then that.The memory built into the box stores purchases made and will attempt to send the data stored in the memory, out. As was said earlier, the filter can only delay the signal, not stop or delete it, which means as soon as the cable filter is removed from the box, the transmission carrying all of your purchased data will be sent to your cable provider. Really, just a couple things to know before proceeding.The memory that holds this type of data is very limited and is not meant to be used for long term data storage. Because of this, boxes react differently to the buildup of data.Filling the memory completely is a common thing and can happen with or without a filter. Spend a bunch a money ordering events and you'll see what I mean. your box will continue to work, you just won't be able to place anymore orders. When this happens, boxes will normally clear themselves in 60 days give or take a month depending on the box. If you don't want to wait then you would clear it manually, using either your remote or options in the menu.If you decide to take the manual route which I would suggest because you at least want the option should the need ever arise, different companies and different boxes do it in different ways. So many ways in fact it's beyond the scope of this article. That information does however come with the cable box filters if you decide to try it for testing purposes. If not made clear before, clearing your box memory is completely legal as long as your provider is aware of the testing you are carrying out.With this information in hand, you should save some money in your pocket. Seems like prices continue to go up, least now you have some control over the process.For more information, run a search for “cable box filters” or simply go to http://www.cableboxfilters.com for more details.