cranz: Excellent I have the right card! Will have to give this a go..



One question, I've heard rumors of cards deactivating themselves if they haven't been in the STB for a long time (or is it that Sky pushes an update to the card, and if they're not in the STB they stop working) - are any of you aware of this or encountered it? specifically the guys using Fiji :P

Satch:

Well, the Sky installers just been.  I was told earlier that it was an actual Sky employee and not a contracter to Sky.  So my hopes of talking him into a 45XX card decreased slightly.

He came in, pulled out two Sky Cards (one was blue, the other was gold) saw my little silver Pace DS230 decoder, and turned over the blue one to write down the details on the job sheet.  I glanced over his shoulder and saw the magic numbers 45 on it!!

I didn't have to say diddly to him, and decided not to say anything else but "thanks mate".  He charged me $29.90 for the trouble.

I have a 45XX card now!!!!

Funny thing was though, as soon as he left, I managed to find my old 17XX card.  If only I had found it before he turned up.  Oh well, at least I can return the old card to Sky and get a full refund on my $29.90.

Asmodeus:
Also, can anyone tell me if this Jaycar card reader is internal and can be hidden away inside a htpc case or is the manufacturers intention to be able to insert and remove the card without opening the case? (ie: does it stick out?)

Cheers

Asmodeus:

I see :) Have you had a chance to have a crack at this yet?

Suppose you did have to discuss the card with him, are there any reasons why one would want a 45xx card over a 17xx card apart from this that you or anyone know of?

Also, can anyone tell me if this Jaycar card reader is internal and can be hidden away inside a htpc case or is the manufacturers intention to be able to insert and remove the card without opening the case? (ie: does it stick out?)

Cheers

We strongly suspect that this maybe due to persons unknown some how using these products to make unlawfully generated access codes for the latest cable T.V. set top boxes.

We also wish to advise that we discourage this activity. For those legitimate users, the KC5361 Programmer kit & ZZ8800 Smart card are back in stock.

Once again please be reminded that we cannot accept any responsibility for the use of these devices in other than legitimate activities.

Satch: It's a pain in the arse to put together if you are not used to soldering electronics together like me.  Just make sure you spend some time first sorting out all of the components like resistors etc, and count them off against the counts in the (albeit limited )instructions.  A soldering iron is all I used (the kit even comes with enough solder) along with a pair of pliers and a philips head screw driver.

Try telling the Sky guy that you want a 45XX or new light blue card as a replacement, as you are trying to integrate it better into your HTPC.  Tell him you've heard it changes channels faster to the benefit of your IR blaster or something like that.  I don't think that these guys really care as much as we might think they do.

Let us know how you get on.

Asmodeus:
 Other thing was, will this work with any smartcard reader (eg: the infinity)?
Pardon my noobness

Asmodeus:

Satch: It's a pain in the arse to put together if you are not used to soldering electronics together like me.  Just make sure you spend some time first sorting out all of the components like resistors etc, and count them off against the counts in the (albeit limited )instructions.  A soldering iron is all I used (the kit even comes with enough solder) along with a pair of pliers and a philips head screw driver.

Try telling the Sky guy that you want a 45XX or new light blue card as a replacement, as you are trying to integrate it better into your HTPC.  Tell him you've heard it changes channels faster to the benefit of your IR blaster or something like that.  I don't think that these guys really care as much as we might think they do.

Let us know how you get on.

Thanks for the info Satch.

I was thinking about saying something to do with my htpc but couldnt think what and didnt want him to think I was gona be reprogramming or anything dodgy (wouldnt know where to begin anyway). I suspect you're right about them not caring too much though.

One last little question(s).... :) With the TV pack installed with native DVB-S support for VMC, Do I still need to use one or both of DVB-S bridge and ProgDVB as per Rusty gonad's instructions? Other thing was, will this work with any smartcard reader (eg: the infinity)?

Pardon my noobness

RustyGonad: You still need DVBSBridge with the TV pack.

What DVBSBridge does is get ProgDVB to tune and decrypt the channels before passing them to MCE as a psuedo DVB-T channel.  This means that MCE only needs to tune a display the channels.

What the TV Pack does is let you use the Over the Air guide, ie you don't need Bladerunner or anything else.  It also deinterlaces and displays the channels alot better than the old version, which is especially important with some of the lower bit rate Sky channels.

It also lets you use multiple tuners ie 1 for Sky, 1 or more for Freeview, along with a single guide, however there are still some bugs which I haven't got my head around yet  - some of these are a carryover from the Fiji beta.

I'll try to write up a dummies guide in the next few days if I can find some time.

RustyGonad: I'll try to write up a dummies guide in the next few days if I can find some time.

I know the Jaycar card reader works, but what about other card readers? Some of the cheaper ones just specify ISO7816 support. Is this enough?

Asmodeus:

RustyGonad: You still need DVBSBridge with the TV pack.

What DVBSBridge does is get ProgDVB to tune and decrypt the channels before passing them to MCE as a psuedo DVB-T channel.? This means that MCE only needs to tune a display the channels.

What the TV Pack does is let you use the Over the Air guide, ie you don't need Bladerunner or anything else.? It also deinterlaces and displays the channels alot better than the old version, which is especially important with some of the lower bit rate Sky channels.

It also lets you use multiple tuners ie 1 for Sky, 1 or more for Freeview, along with a single guide, however there are still some bugs which I haven't got my head around yet? - some of these are a carryover from the Fiji beta.

I'll try to write up a dummies guide in the next few days if I can find some time.

Great, thanks for that Rusty, still getting my head around alot of this but Im getting there. A dummies guide would be right up my alley and would be extremely appreciated!