garlicbred
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UPDATED guide to dvb-c - Noobs please read!!!!
This is an updated version of Ixalons guide - some of the information Ixalon gave was outdated but this is still based on his work!
Guide to UK DVB-C
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guide to UK DVB-C
For educational purposes only!
What you definately need:
DVB-C PCI Card
Drivers and Software
What you probably need:
Common Interface Module (CI)
Conditional Access Module (CAM)
Funcard programmer
CAM programmer (ask nicely - forum members will do this cheaper than buying a programmer)
Funcard4 with AU software for your area
DVB-C PCI Cards
Ok, the main thing you need to get yourself is a DVB-C card for your PC. These are not sold in the UK (as there are no cable networks in the UK whom have T&Cs allowing you to connect your own equipment). However, all is not lost, on the continent (especially Germany) there's a large DVB-C card scene and a quick search should bring up a number of shops, all willing to send cards to the UK as there's nothing illegal about selling, buying, owning, importing or using DVB-C cards. DVBSHOP in Germany is a good place to start.
There are two main types of card, premium and budget. The difference between the two is that premium cards (TT2300) have a hardware MPEG decoder on-board and video outputs for connecting direct to your TV. On budget cards (TT1500 fireDTV/floppyDTV), your CPU needs to do the MPEG decoding, and thus uses more system resources. This isn't an issue with todays high power CPU's. Budget cards also use DBA drivers and are compatible with almost all software. You might struggle to find compatible software with premium cards and theres also the drawback of NO high def!
Plug in your card, install the drivers and software
At this point, download a services.xml file for your area which you can find in DBox forums. This will give you the frequencies and symbol rates for the transponders in your area - you'll find that just pointing your software to the frequencey and symbol rate found in the engineers menu of your STB wont get you all the channels, so it's best to give the software a headstart and provide it with the frequencies for as many transponders as possible. Youi probably won't be able to auto scan for channels - you will need to either enter each frequency manually or edit one of the transponder lists within your chosen software.
Fire these values into your DVB software and you'll be able to receive all of the Free-To-Air (FTA) channels available and get a list of all the other channels broadcast.
Now for the exciting stuff... As with STBs you need some way of decrypting the signal being sent your DVB-C card. This is done in one of two ways - software or CAM
Software Decrypting
The UK cable companies use nagravision, and there are a few bits of software available that can decode this encryption. Again, using software will mean a higher workload for your PC's CPU. You need to make sure you've got viewing software which works with whichever emulator you use. This usually goes into the plugins folder of your chosen software.
If the keyroll method changes then it will take down your softcam!
Recommended software:
Yankse/SoftCSA (for Windows) works with most software / cards - latest versions can be found for all areas on the forum
Hardware Decrypting
The alternative is to use a hardware solution, and provide a smart-card slot for your to put your card into. You need to make sure your PCI card has a Common Interface (CI) connector. Into the CI slot you plug a conditional access module (CAM), and into this, you insert your smart card.
In the nagravision system the CAM basically acts as an interface to the smart card. All the work is actually done on your smart card.
Setting up the CAM for use with a Smart Card
If you're using a multi-purpose CAM then your software should allow you to access the "CAM Setup Menu". On multi-purpose CAMs this lets you set things such as type (you want to select Nagra) and your IRD and boxkey (yes, you can define your own - anything you want!) Keep a note of these numbers - you'll need them for programming your card.
Next you need to make your smart card. I recommend that you simply program an AU fun4 for your area. When entering your IRD and boxkey, use the numbers you entered into your CAM setup menu.
Once you've made your smart card, insert it into your CAM and fire up your software. As with using STBs it may take a while for your card to update keys, but soon you should get access to the channels.
Recommended CAM - Joker 0.79 (Zeta CAMS and ICECRYPT cams can be reprogrammed with JOKER firmware. This is the easiest and cheapest method. Other CAMS can be used but the JOKER 0.79 seems to be the tried and tested method.
My recommendations would be.....
Card - TT1500 with CAM or FIREDTV or FLOPPYDTV
CAM - JOKER 0.79 (zeta or icecrypt can be flashed)
Smartcard - AU FUN4 with boxkey to match CAM for your area
This will give you full CAM decoding with access to the HD channels
SOFTWARE - This ones a minefield!!! I use mediaportal and vista MCE. Others inclue Mytheatre, dvbviewer and showshifter to name but a few
This is an updated version of Ixalons guide - some of the information Ixalon gave was outdated but this is still based on his work!
Guide to UK DVB-C
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guide to UK DVB-C
For educational purposes only!
What you definately need:
DVB-C PCI Card
Drivers and Software
What you probably need:
Common Interface Module (CI)
Conditional Access Module (CAM)
Funcard programmer
CAM programmer (ask nicely - forum members will do this cheaper than buying a programmer)
Funcard4 with AU software for your area
DVB-C PCI Cards
Ok, the main thing you need to get yourself is a DVB-C card for your PC. These are not sold in the UK (as there are no cable networks in the UK whom have T&Cs allowing you to connect your own equipment). However, all is not lost, on the continent (especially Germany) there's a large DVB-C card scene and a quick search should bring up a number of shops, all willing to send cards to the UK as there's nothing illegal about selling, buying, owning, importing or using DVB-C cards. DVBSHOP in Germany is a good place to start.
There are two main types of card, premium and budget. The difference between the two is that premium cards (TT2300) have a hardware MPEG decoder on-board and video outputs for connecting direct to your TV. On budget cards (TT1500 fireDTV/floppyDTV), your CPU needs to do the MPEG decoding, and thus uses more system resources. This isn't an issue with todays high power CPU's. Budget cards also use DBA drivers and are compatible with almost all software. You might struggle to find compatible software with premium cards and theres also the drawback of NO high def!
Plug in your card, install the drivers and software
At this point, download a services.xml file for your area which you can find in DBox forums. This will give you the frequencies and symbol rates for the transponders in your area - you'll find that just pointing your software to the frequencey and symbol rate found in the engineers menu of your STB wont get you all the channels, so it's best to give the software a headstart and provide it with the frequencies for as many transponders as possible. Youi probably won't be able to auto scan for channels - you will need to either enter each frequency manually or edit one of the transponder lists within your chosen software.
Fire these values into your DVB software and you'll be able to receive all of the Free-To-Air (FTA) channels available and get a list of all the other channels broadcast.
Now for the exciting stuff... As with STBs you need some way of decrypting the signal being sent your DVB-C card. This is done in one of two ways - software or CAM
Software Decrypting
The UK cable companies use nagravision, and there are a few bits of software available that can decode this encryption. Again, using software will mean a higher workload for your PC's CPU. You need to make sure you've got viewing software which works with whichever emulator you use. This usually goes into the plugins folder of your chosen software.
If the keyroll method changes then it will take down your softcam!
Recommended software:
Yankse/SoftCSA (for Windows) works with most software / cards - latest versions can be found for all areas on the forum
Hardware Decrypting
The alternative is to use a hardware solution, and provide a smart-card slot for your to put your card into. You need to make sure your PCI card has a Common Interface (CI) connector. Into the CI slot you plug a conditional access module (CAM), and into this, you insert your smart card.
In the nagravision system the CAM basically acts as an interface to the smart card. All the work is actually done on your smart card.
Setting up the CAM for use with a Smart Card
If you're using a multi-purpose CAM then your software should allow you to access the "CAM Setup Menu". On multi-purpose CAMs this lets you set things such as type (you want to select Nagra) and your IRD and boxkey (yes, you can define your own - anything you want!) Keep a note of these numbers - you'll need them for programming your card.
Next you need to make your smart card. I recommend that you simply program an AU fun4 for your area. When entering your IRD and boxkey, use the numbers you entered into your CAM setup menu.
Once you've made your smart card, insert it into your CAM and fire up your software. As with using STBs it may take a while for your card to update keys, but soon you should get access to the channels.
Recommended CAM - Joker 0.79 (Zeta CAMS and ICECRYPT cams can be reprogrammed with JOKER firmware. This is the easiest and cheapest method. Other CAMS can be used but the JOKER 0.79 seems to be the tried and tested method.
My recommendations would be.....
Card - TT1500 with CAM or FIREDTV or FLOPPYDTV
CAM - JOKER 0.79 (zeta or icecrypt can be flashed)
Smartcard - AU FUN4 with boxkey to match CAM for your area
This will give you full CAM decoding with access to the HD channels
SOFTWARE - This ones a minefield!!! I use mediaportal and vista MCE. Others inclue Mytheatre, dvbviewer and showshifter to name but a few
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