Transmodulators

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MrCritical

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# 213872 16-Apr-2017 16:26

I would appreciate comments on DVB-S to DVB-T transmodulators.

Are these devices a valid choice for transmitting Sky content across a home network, and is this action actually legal.

Assuming a 30-34mbit bandwidth, how many channels would the device be able to transmodulate?

Would the Mysky videoguard card operate OK in the CAM provided?

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# 1765118 16-Apr-2017 19:20

No such a setup is not legal. Putting a card in another decoder is not permitted, and using CAM's is only permitted in strictly controlled environments such as hotel head end.

I doubt you'll get much help on here as those who engage in the use of 3rd party hardware or activates such as card sharing tend to keep to themselves rather than bragging online about their feats.

raytaylor

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# 1765215 17-Apr-2017 00:15

Supplimentary question...

One of my customers today said their TV has a built in sky decoder. They just take the card out of the mysky box and put it into the side of the TV in their motorhome. Apparantly its a new model tv from harvey norman.

How legal would that be?

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PhantomNVD

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# 1765218 17-Apr-2017 01:12

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raytaylor:
Supplimentary question...

One of my customers today said their TV has a built in sky decoder. They just take the card out of the mysky box and put it into the side of the TV in their motorhome. Apparantly its a new model tv from harvey norman.

How legal would that be?

I've been hearing of this on the MHome forum for a while now.

IANAL but AFAIK it's a T&C issue rather than "illegal" as you don't break any NZ laws of communication by doing so. Rather like paying for US NetFlix and watching it here (as many on here have done for years!)

As long as you aren't cloning your own cards, I can't see the issue with this?

Apsattv

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# 1765222 17-Apr-2017 03:09

Not illegal only a breach of Sky term's and conditions. They are not strict on it and are ok with things like people relocating a 2nd room decoder to a holiday home etc

wingbat45

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# 1765236 17-Apr-2017 09:22

PhantomNVD:
raytaylor:

Supplimentary question...

One of my customers today said their TV has a built in sky decoder. They just take the card out of the mysky box and put it into the side of the TV in their motorhome. Apparantly its a new model tv from harvey norman.

How legal would that be?

I've been hearing of this on the MHome forum for a while now.

IANAL but AFAIK it's a T&C issue rather than "illegal" as you don't break any NZ laws of communication by doing so. Rather like paying for US NetFlix and watching it here (as many on here have done for years!)

As long as you aren't cloning your own cards, I can't see the issue with this?

Right up to the point the sky card fails and catches fire, then sets the tv on fire. Run that one past your insurance.

The cards are designed to work ONLY in the sky decoders. Anything else is a ticking time bomb really.

Ge0rge

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# 1765244 17-Apr-2017 09:58

wingbat45:
PhantomNVD:
raytaylor:

Supplimentary question...

One of my customers today said their TV has a built in sky decoder. They just take the card out of the mysky box and put it into the side of the TV in their motorhome. Apparantly its a new model tv from harvey norman.

How legal would that be?

I've been hearing of this on the MHome forum for a while now.

IANAL but AFAIK it's a T&C issue rather than "illegal" as you don't break any NZ laws of communication by doing so. Rather like paying for US NetFlix and watching it here (as many on here have done for years!)

As long as you aren't cloning your own cards, I can't see the issue with this?

Right up to the point the sky card fails and catches fire, then sets the tv on fire. Run that one past your insurance.

The cards are designed to work ONLY in the sky decoders. Anything else is a ticking time bomb really.

Is that a common occurance? A passive item such as a card catching on fire?

PhantomNVD

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# 1765245 17-Apr-2017 10:00

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It's barely more than a sim chip that has your specific code on it, "catching fire" is a rather looong stretch of the imagination. If the device you put it in is designed properly, you have no worries 😉

sbiddle

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# 1765252 17-Apr-2017 10:27

Ge0rge:

Is that a common occurance? A passive item such as a card catching on fire?

Cooking cards is incredibly common when you're trying to do dodgy things with them. Remember it's not actually passive - it's actually a mini processor on board the card and if you start running it at higher speeds it will overheat, and eventually burn out. There is a certain GZ user who could tell you all about this if they're willing to own up to doing dodgy things.

rlevis

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# 1765264 17-Apr-2017 11:40

You can select the voltage and speed in most card reader settings so only if you don't know what to set them to or don't have settings to control could there be an issue.

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MrCritical

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# 1766416 17-Apr-2017 20:54

Exactly what I was asking. If it's illegal, then I'm not in. Wife asked the question about Sky boxes in the house, and why it can't be operated more like FTA terrestrial. My response was 'because it's pay TV'. Her response 'we're already paying, why is the system so antiquated'.

Anyway, interesting replies, some say illegal, others claiming a twist on T & C's. I have also heard that the Sky card will overheat when asked to decrypt multiple services (like what I'm talking about). However, hotels, motels have Sky operating in this manner without problems.

For my part, I'm not interested in 'illegal' or house fires.

fe31nz

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# 1766450 17-Apr-2017 23:35

The only way you will get a Sky card to catch fire is if you put the wrong (too high) voltage on it, or overclock it to an extreme. If you use a card reader that is designed to read smartcards, and set it up in the manner described on lots of web pages, there will be no problem at all. Once it is working, no, it will not overheat if you decode as many channels as you like with it. It is just a microprocessor on a card, nothing special except that it is set up to be unable have its memory be read back - you have to talk to it with the right protocol to get it to do anything. Like any microprocessor or electronic chip, you can get it to catch fire if you seriously abuse it by using it way outside its specifications, but there is no reason to risk that as the correct settings are readily available.

If you want access to Sky via your network, all it takes is a DVB-S/S2 card or two in a PC, a smartcard reader, and the right software. I have mine set up so that I have SAT>IP access to my 8 tuner DVB-S2 card using a Linux box. I use an Omnikey 3121 smartcard reader (highly recommended), pcsc drivers for the card reader and Oscam run the Sky card. Recent versions of Oscam handle the new Sky cards. The TBS-6909 DVB-S2 card (8 tuners from one input from the LNB) is run by minisatip, which uses Oscam to get the keys to decrypt the Sky channels, and then provides access to the 8 tuners using SAT>IP protocol over the network. My MythTV boxes (one for me and one for my mother) can record using SAT>IP, but are unable to scan the channels that way (as of MythTV v0.28), so I also have DVBViewer (payware) on my Windows 7 box that can do the scanning (and also record). I am fairly sure that my MediaPortal setup on my Windows 7 box is also capable of recording from SAT>IP using an IPTV plugin, but I have not tried that yet. There is Android software to use SAT>IP on your phone or tablet, and I think Kodi can handle it now too. I have seen my MythTV box recording from six Sky channels at the same time, with one of those being an HD channel. The Linux box running it at the moment is an older one I have reused and only has a Core2 Duo processor, and has no problems handling that and also running MythTV at the same time.

MrCritical

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# 1766491 18-Apr-2017 08:15

Good response FE31NZ. Unfortunately wife would not be able to (or interested enough to) operate this setup. With a DVB-S to DVB-T transmodulator, I wind up with DVB-T on the house TV cable network and it's simply a matter of assigning a Logical Channel Number and setting the TV to that channel.

With the proliferation of DVB-T recording devices (Dish TV have a good one), recording and time shifting are not a problem either. And, if you want to get that recording onto the network, then HDMI to DVB-T modulators are available, again assigning another LCN to that mux.

I appreciate your comments on the card heating issue, as I have heard of this problem from other sources.

One issue with the setup I'm contemplating, is finding the right CAM for the CI slot, can you recommend one?

sbiddle

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# 1766494 18-Apr-2017 08:29

MrCritical:

Exactly what I was asking. If it's illegal, then I'm not in. Wife asked the question about Sky boxes in the house, and why it can't be operated more like FTA terrestrial. My response was 'because it's pay TV'. Her response 'we're already paying, why is the system so antiquated'.

Anyway, interesting replies, some say illegal, others claiming a twist on T & C's. I have also heard that the Sky card will overheat when asked to decrypt multiple services (like what I'm talking about). However, hotels, motels have Sky operating in this manner without problems.

For my part, I'm not interested in 'illegal' or house fires.

When I said illegal in my first post it wasn't "illegal" per se, simply that it breaks the T&C of your Sky service.

A Sky card won't overheat decoding multiple channels if you configure things correctly. Mess around with things and you run a very high risk of cooking your card, and asking Sky for a new card can be an interesting discussion.

Most hotels and motels do not have Sky operating in this manner - most have banks of STB's feeding via RF or composite into a headend (typically the ones who have terrible picture quality) or have a STB in each room. Over the past year or two there have been a growing number with high end headends such as Triax that have moved to a CAM based setup however this is strictly controlled by Sky.

MrCritical

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# 1766582 18-Apr-2017 10:05

The plot thickens. It's not illegal, but breaches T & C's, which another poster says Sky does not strictly enforce.

However, this from WikiVisual probably kills the idea .... "VideoGuard is unusual in that legitimate external conditional-access modules are not available, the encryption system instead being built into the hardware and firmware of platform-supplied set-top boxes.

fe31nz

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# 1766765 18-Apr-2017 14:57

There are no CAM modules for Videoguard encryption as far as I know. There is no need for them, as it is easily decrypted using CAM software. A number of the boxes that offer a CI slot also allow you to set up software decryption from a server on your network. So you just set up a smartcard reader with Oscam and use one of the protocols like Newcamd that the box can understand to talk to Oscam. And there are boxes that have a smartcard reader slot and run Oscam internally themselves, and can provide network access to Oscam. You do need to ensure that the Oscam version on the box is up to date or able to be updated, as Oscam only supports the new Sky cards from when I submitted the patch for them, after I had my decoder upgraded.

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