Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="2old4this" data-source="post: 4457" data-attributes="member: 174998">Phew, that's a lot of questions!Here are some quick answers, but of course this whole subject could fill a book and I recommend a lot of research to bring you up to date.First, unless you face planning restrictions, don't get rid of your Sky dish. It's extremely useful to have multiple dishes - watch one thing while recording another, etc. And the Sky box is happier left pointing at 28.2 as uncle Murdoch likes to surprise us with the odd unannounced pressie (EPG updates, new digibox firmware, card activation pulses...)There are a number of good digital receivers, and the choice depends on what you want. For the ultimate hobbyist, who wants to externalise bit streams, encryption idents and so on, a Nokia 9600 CI receiver is hard to beat as it can be loaded with Dr.Overflow (dvb2000) firmware. The newer 9800 series can not. And the older 9200/9500 series is not a CI model.If you want an all-singing, all-dancing box, there are a number of alternatives, the most obvious being the Strong 4375 and the Echostar ad3000 series. There are also some Manhattan boxes but I forget the spec.If you want to really splash out and get the very latest, wait a week or two and plump for the Echostar 7000. It has everything the ad3000 has (analogue, digital, real positioner, magnetic&polarotor polarisor drives, twin CI...) but also a built-in Harddrive and MP3 player (plus advanced software). But it'll be picey - about GBP 800+ If you want a box that you can use "hobby" cards with, then there are again a number of alternatives. The Humax 5400 internal Irdeto CAM can be patched so it passes control to a card for Irdeto/Betacrypt, Mediaguard ("Seca") AND Irdeto. The card of course needs to be of the right type, and suitably loaded with the right files & keys.Similarly the CA CAMs of a Nokia 9200/9500 can be patched (but only by specialists) and the early series of CI Irdeto CAM can be reflashed by laptop - all then behaving essentially like the patched Humax CAM. But expect to pay GBP100+ for a suitable flashable Irdeto CI CAM.Most modern digital receivers that do not have proper integrated positioners do at least support DiSEqC v1.2 - which can drive a special DiSEqC motor by passing control pulses up the coax used for the LNB. And if you really want to use that in combination with your "old fashioned" motor, there are conversion boxes that convert DiSEqC control signals to traditional motor pulses. Talk to a knowledgable dealer. In fact, there are more and more possibilities arriving almost weekly. A new form of toroidal dish now allows lossless reception of half a dozen different satellites from a single dish (a line of LNBs) and any digital receiver supporting DiSEqC 1.1 will switch between them (you need some DiSEqC switches too). And yes, we are lazy these days. DiSEqC- & integrated-positioner-receivers indeed mean that the dish moves automatically to the right satellite as you zap through your channels.Most or even all premium D2MAC channels have disappeared. Canal+ & TV1000 no longer broadcast under d2mac as far as I know. But don't worry. They now use Mediaguard and/or Viaccess under digital. And those systems are cracked too...Card programmers are childsplay these days. Check out the forum "smartcards" on this board and look for an old post "How to/FAQ" - that takes you through the basics.Good luck2old</blockquote>

Verification