Can I hijack regular television channels?

January 17, 2005 8:55 AM

Is it possible to set up a television transmitter which could 'hijack' regular terrestrial channels? How difficult would it be? If possible, how much do you estimate such an enterprise would cost to set up?
posted by gravelshoes to Technology (4 answers total)

I shouldn't imagine it would be too difficult, but you're almost certain to get busted by the feds (or your local variant thereof).
posted by veedubya at 9:03 AM on January 17, 2005

Aside from the obvious legal trouble, the real problem with this kind of thing is that you'd need to get around the interference caused by the original, very powerful signal. This is no small feat.

It would be a lot easier to jam the TV station than it would be to try to broadcast something of your own, because the two signals would render eachother useless.

For something powerful enough to cover more than a city block I'm sure you're already in the hundreds of dollars- to do more than that, thousands in equipment alone. Not to mention the fines...

I think if you really wanted to do something like this, getting a job at the TV station you want to interfere with would be a better idea. Then you can just switch tapes or feeds or whatever.
posted by fake at 10:06 AM on January 17, 2005

Analog TV is broadcast using AM, so unless your transmitter was massively more powerful than the real thing, the best you could do is overlay your image on top of theirs, and even then you'd have to get the timing the same, which may be impossible. A ghosted text message like Captain Midnight's might be doable.

In terms of cost, you might be able to get hold of a secondhand transmitter, but setting up the mast is going to be your biggest problem. No idea about cost.
posted by cillit bang at 10:09 AM on January 17, 2005

You could also try overpowering the microwave link between the station and the transmitter if such a thing is used in your area.
posted by @homer at 12:15 PM on January 17, 2005