As for interfering with a cable head end, not likely since the wanted signals are very strong as compared to unwanted due to professional high gain antennas at high altitude.
NOT TRUE! It seems like you are thinking about cable head ends in metropolitan areas. These days many signals are not aqcuired off-the-air but are fed directly by the broadcaster via fiber or other links.
HOWEVER, in rural areas the station which is being received by the cable head end may be quite some distance away and quite weak. Yeah they're using directional antennas, but what happens when the CB is in 'front' of that antenna?
Additionally as I wrote earlier I've seen CB audio (running legally) get into audio mixing consoles and other poorly designed equipment. Cable head ends are usually not just receiving sites, they do a lot of processing as well and a legal CB signal could easily get where it is unwanted.
roadranger said:
... Besides, if you buy cable service, you are still subject to the same reception problems as if you received them for yourself at home. I don't think the quality of television is increased by such a concept, anyway. Just an increase of channels, and the addition of an unnecessary bill.
The concept of 'cable' TV is to receive a signal that you can get yourself for free. Convert the signal to change its channel and/or reduce its bandwidth (to get as many signals onto the cable as possible). Run the signal through a cable for several hundred feet to attenuate it. Then amplify the signal (which adds noise) and run through more cable.
I worked for a cable company for a few years. It was "interesting" to see what a signal looked like after going through many miles of cable. In older days tricks were used to block convert a band of signals down (to frequencies below channel 2), run them through the cable, and then block convert them back up before getting to the subscriber's home. Oh the processing involved.
With digital-over-the-air we can now acquire the best signal available to consumers at home for free. I've always said cable TV is about QUANTITY, not QUALITY.