How does it work when you pay for a digital channel (eg Setanta sport or whatever). How does it get to your telly?

[dingdongMegaLegsonhigh]

I was musing this last night as couldn't sleep. We have a freeview box, not cable or satelite it just works through the TV aerial. If we subscribed to a sports or adult channel how does the signal get to our telly and not the next door neighbours?

Please, thank you.

magic pixies bring it

Magic porn sports channel pixies?

dirty little pixies

Apart from the pixies, how does it work. Surely a randomn didtal signal can't be beamed to just our house.

Where are all the geeks when you need them?

So nobody knows. It must be pixies. I've made the mistake of bumping this at teatime now haven't I?

you get a card and put it in the extra slot

but what about the channels were you pay for a one off? (I am treading very carefully now)

The channel is always out there being broadcast to all the boxes, but your box normally has a lock to stop that channel being accessed.

When you pay to access it, they send an additional message with the code for your card, which tells it to unlock the channel. All the boxes will "hear" that signal, but only yours with the matching card will act on it.

Then later they'll send another code telling your card to lock it again.