Identifying current cam/card

carled

Sorry if I make any tech mistakes in my question - I'm an utter novice at all this. I've had a 16x84/24lc16 Gold Wafer 'THRU' type card for about a year now with an Aston Cam. I have an Echostar DSB2110 receiver.

Firstly, how do I find out what 'version' cam I have? I've seen 1.03, 1.05 and 1.06 mentioned and there's nothing that I can see on the cam itself.

Secondly, I'm having hideous trouble getting hex files these days. I used to go to satdudez, d/load the hex, whack it into my VX multi programmer and off I went. I've just managed to get some working stuff of Beamers site but I'm getting worried that the system I have is going to become unsupported in some way... Are there any grounds for my concerns? I saw someone mention that you could manually enter the codes into the system, but I haven't got the first clue about how to go about doing this, so any guidance would be appreciated.

Lastly, just recently the first 6 Kiosque channels seem to have gone, to be replaced by some tat music & ad channels. I also have never managed to get Taquilla 12-15 and I'm wondering if I can sort of 'reset' my system and add new channels or retrieve the ones that have disappeared. Does anyone know the way to manually program in new channels and a resource on the net that will tell me where to get the frequencies I need?

Thanks for any help.

2old4this

Your receiver will have somewhere in its menus a "CAM" menu. If you insert the CAM and a valid working card, the CAM menu will report the version of the CAM you have. Indeed this is not visible externally.

To get "hex files" my advice is to follow the links through from any sites or boards you currently know of. Check out for example the many links posted on this board, and indeed in the links section reachable from the main satellites.uk site itself. Because thses sites move around regularly (they're always being closed down by ISPs fearful of legal actions) you need to be fairly active in keeping abreast of where they are, and very conscientous in bookmarking them when you find them.

One of the better sites whihc is still open and carries files for satellite as well as the UK terrestrial digital system (ITV Digital) is Phill's sat files:
http://www.satfiles.nip.net/

I can't comment on whether the particular files you need are likely to get scarse, since you don't say what files they are (for which equipment/CAM, provider, etc.).

The higher Taquilla channels no longer transmmit (they have reduced their offering).
The Kiosque channels have shuffled frequencies and PIDs. You need to rescan the satellite. Check the latest details at a site like Lyngsat ( http://www.lyngsat.com )

By the way, a standard gold card has a 16f84 PIC chip in it. And the "thru" is not a type of card - it is a way of programming the other chip (the eeprom, i.e. the 24lc16 in your case). To be more exact, it refers to the "through-PIC" technique. Have a read of our "how to/FAQ" in the smartcards forum.

2old