Newbie question - SkyTV

F

froowstie

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Heh all,

I assume this has been asked a million times before, and it makes me sounds like a complete tosser, but anyway. I've just moved to the UK and encountered the wonderful world of Sky. Ive come across this site and I get the distinct impression that is possible to avoid subscription to the Murdoch empire using a combination of some sort of 3rd party receiver and rewritable smart card?? So can someone just give me a definitive answer on the folling questions:

1) Is it possible to decode the Sky signal without subscribing?
2) What exact equipement do I need?
3) From where can I purchase said equipement?
4) What else do I need to be aware of?

any answers would be much appreciated.

cheers, froowstie
 

rolfw

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Answers to questions.

1) Is it possible to decode the Sky signal without subscribing?

No


2) What exact equipment do I need?

Not applicable


3) From where can I purchase said equipement?

Not applicable


4) What else do I need to be aware of?

Not applicable.


Rolf

PS. Don't know if you're confusing Sky Digital with ITV Digital, the latter is hacked, not the former.
 
F

froowstie

Guest
No I wasn't confused... in fact I hadn't even heard of ITV. That's fine, i was just interested to know if it coule be been done.

Is the content on iTV as good as Sky?

thanks for the frank answers anyway.

cheers, froowstie
 

rolfw

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[updated:LAST EDITED ON 28-Feb-02 AT 04:15 PM (GMT)]No not really Froowstie, which is one the reasons that ITV Digital has only 1.3 Million subscribers, compared with Sky's 5 million plus.

Nothing wrong with what they have, just not enough of it.

Rolf
 

Channel Hopper

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The reason that ITV digital has so few subscibers is partly because it has been hacked

The official figures for subscibers if based on the boxed issues is probably closer to 2.2 million, leaving some 700k units either unaccounted for, or due for collection.

Once you add the systems that have gone overseas, or are being used in blockes of flats for multiple household distibution (Manchester and Hull seem to be rife with blocks sharing a single box, with or without a proper card), then the user figure is probably closer to 2.5million for ITVD
 

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Whats the point of having the itv box overseas ? I thought it only worked inside the UK ?
Methos.
 

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@ Channel Hopper, You're surely not suggesting that there is a pirate viewing figure of 1 million are you?

Even if that were the case, which I doubt, those viewers would not subscribe if the system were not hacked. They would almost certainly opt for Sky on the basis of both quality and quantity, or simply go without.

Rolf
 

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Just got back from pub and mate of mine reckons, a college of his got a box with a battery in it which plugs in between the cable from dish and the box, this provides every channel free, just choose a channel and up it comes!! My mate hasnt seen it working but says his college definately says it works!! Thers some bloke selling them in Cardiff apprantly!!
 

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Sounds suspiciously like the old 9 volt battery on the phone line PPV scam to me TB. Not really a hack at all, just a delaying tactic, even if they've discovered a reliable way of clearing PPV orders off the internal Eeprom, it would still only give free PPV not regular channels.

Rolf
 

Burnt Chips

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Hey grasshopper ARE U trying to imply that all of us in SUNNY MANCHESTER R ALL CROOKS.(OR R U JUST PEEVED ABOUT R FOOTY TEAM.)
 

Burnt Chips

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I KNOW WOT IT IS.It always raining so nowt 2 do.cannot go out som1s nicked the car(not taxed anyway.)public transport sh*te(get mugged)thats just the driver.so only thing left it TV.Honest? people like me
have 2 suffer.Didnt know i could link the box to diff homes.(might charge the neighbours).i think i`ll link box in my house then have 2 spare.
 

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Hi, does anybody know if ITVDIGITAL can be watched abroad ?
Methos.
 

rolfw

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Only in coastal areas of Nederlands, Belgium, France and ROI, where they can I believe pick up the Ulster signals.

Rolf
 

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Rolf I said to my mate, your college guy, gets the ppv channels, and he said yeah but all of them, name a channel and you can watch it, said $ky sports going like a good 1. He said though that you have to have a minimum subscription to $ky, and that the box goes between the input cable from the dish and the box, and somehow regulates the current and this allows viewing of all channels, needless 2 say I'm gonna be investigating more, thing is my mate wont do anything thats remotely illegial, even steeling of uncle rupe, if you can call it that, so it's gonna be hard to get him to do some more investigating!!
 

rolfw

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This is a strange one TB, between the box and the LNB there are only two elements that can be changed/controlled by basic equipment. They are, polarisation H & V, which is the 14/18v switch and Upper and lower band, which is the 22Khz tone switch.

Aside from them, the signal would need to be QPSK demodulated and the MPEG stream decoded, before any thing could be done to override the videoguard encryption.

Just can't see how any device that contained anything less than the above facilities could work, you would basically be buildig the best part of the receiver to strip out the encryption data.

I'm sure somebody more technically adept than myself will be able to explain in a more precise manner how the box would need to operate. I'm not saying that it's impossible for any hardware hack, just that I don't believe the solution would be cheap.

Rolf
 

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Sorry Burntchips

I was looking at the total number of manufactured and distributed boxes from the subscriber records

Manchester - the region around Manchester is included of which Liverpool is wihtin the 20 or so mile radius, besides Merseyside has a plethora of smaller towns and villages vying for the space, you could almost be Welsh !

Hull - includes many of the smaller towns to a radius of 35 miles.

These are where most of the e-bay and Loot for sale boxes go

Plenty of viewing for nowt but a small programmer and half hour of your time.

Sky is a different story but then again the sports are on ITVD and thats all the footie fans want
 

Channel Hopper

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Sorry Methos - forgot you in the last post - Yes it canbe picked up overseas, you need to strengthen your roof and put a 50' pole in Rotterdam to get the channels

Rolf - The 1 million unofficial viewers ( I though the sums added up to 800k) are through distribution of a single box output into a cable network, in a block of flats, similar to what went on in sunny Eire twenty years ago.
 

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Yeah Rolf the box thing I mention, is probably a load of shit, people have great imaginations, but with most things there's normally an element of the truth there somewhere!!
 

dishdoctor

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Can ITV Digital be watched abroad?..Well...I was in the UK 3 weeks ago and i thought i was abroad...........Afghanistan comes to mind
 

dishdoctor

Hmm, now what seems to be the problem?
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But then again the government of afghanistan are not as corrupt as your lot
 
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