A system and method of the present invention revives a catastrophic code used for channel coding data. A data receiving circuit receives a digital input data sequence to be coded with a code having a distance spectrum containing an infinite component that corresponds to a finite hamming weight such that the code may cause catastrophic error propagation. The circuit is operative for periodically inserting known symbols into the digital input data sequence. An encoder, such as a convolutional encoder, is operatively connected to the data receiving circuit and encodes the digital input data sequence.