Hi, I'm new here and its nice to meet you all

[Shooter]

Hi Guys,

I'm new here and its nice to meet you all.

A newbie forum, this is the place for me, I'm so new I don't even have any hardware !!

I have done some lurking around and trying very hard to build up sufficient confidence to get into the scene.

Hopefully this post will answer many questions for others as well, so please bear with me if I start at the start.

1st off I'm in Perth, and would like to use Fox from B3 as the final short term goal.

To achieve this I need a

1. Receiver
2. Dish
3. LNB
4. Programmed Card.

Other accessories ie cable, card programmer, software etc. (+ brain)

I presently have my sights on a Humax 5400z but may change to a 5410 as I not sure if I need all the features of the 5400, I'm open to recommendations, but cannot see any C band 2m or 3m dishes in my back yard any time soon. Do I need a allcam mod ?

Dish size, I realise I can get away with a 65cm but then what about other sat services, What else can I access and is the program material worth it.

LNB Horizontal, Vertical Brand, type, Multiple, I don't know, please help !

And that's the easy part, now down to the nitty gritty.

All this hardware needs a access card, Gold seams to be the colour of choice. But is it ??
How do I get started ? Once I buy the hardware my wife's going to expect something on the box.

I can get a card from a seller, but then am I going to take it back every couple of weeks for an update (I don't think so) Self sufficiency in this area is a must, so what's the best (read bang for buck) programmer, is it compatible with published software used in tutorials etc. Where Do I get keys and codes from ? What else Do I need (apart from a fox subscription)

I realise I'm going to need some serious help from the group if I'm going to get this off the ground.

Thanks All

Shooter

[staticx]

The All-cam mod is only if you wish to view other services, most people use it for i701 satellite services along with B3.

65cm dish will pick up B3, I'd suggest go to a 90cm dish at the smallest, can pick them up with a universal LNB and roof mount bracket for around 150$ brand new.

Gold really isn't the choice, I'd suggest a Silver card is the choice as there are numerous codes you can use on this to your liking.

To get started, the best thing to do would be get a PayTV subscription, that way they come out and install a dish, lend you a decoder box and give you a card to receive the services you wish to subscribe to.

Do NOT go and purchase a card from a seller as this will only incite them to think that is a good way to make a living, these people are what is destroying this hobby, also the card will require frequent updates and not at all worth the money these people charge.

The best and probably easiest to use programmer is an Elvis, it does both PIC and EEprom and there are more than a handful of tutorials on the programmer and specific functions.

To get the keys you need a valid subscription card (which you get by paying for the service) and an Elvis programmer will do the trick superb aswell as lots and lots of reading of tutorials, documents written by many great authors and such.

So to sum up, all you need is an Elvis, a paytv subscription and a wafer whether it be gold,silver,emerald or a funcard.

[woollyfree]

Shooter, there's LOTS out there to see. Go for the 5400z as the price difference isn't that much. You'll be kicking yourself later if you decide, like I did, that there is more to life than Irdeto and B3. :wink:
As for the dish go with the one staticx recommended. Even if B3 is all you ever want, you can always amaze your mates with 100% signal and 100% quality

[Shooter]

Thanks for the feedback guys,

I have been head down ass up reading a heap over the last two days. And I'm now at the "little knowledge is dangerous point"

I note the recommendation by staticx to go for a pay tv subscription, but this will kill half the fun for me. I have a couple of friends who would loan me a valid card to get started with. So I guess the Humax 5400 is the beast. Is the Allcam mod contained within a CAM or a firmware upgrade ? Thinking of getting it done at the time of purchase. Or is this something I can do later myself ?

Looking deeper into the programming side also and I nearly bought a MasterA III programmer in preference to the Elvis yesterday. I like the copy feature of the MasterA but cannot find it at a sensible price in Aus. ~A$150. Which do you recommend ?


Going to check out a second hand fox dish now, back soon.

Shooter.

[Scooterpig]

First of all Shooter - the Subscription is your first priority as you obvioulsy get a working box,dish, card & install all in one..Then you have a working box that you can learn from...so first of all forget about free tv cause it doesn't exist...

After you get the sub you can then read your card details as a working set of details and play with them on another card...that's when the fun starts cause you start to play with it all and start to learn what it's all about...

By all means then go out and buy a hummy and play with that too and after getting that and a programmer will you learn about how it all works...

So first things first is ya subsription and then play time..