What set would I need for S.I.S horseracing

[Bill764]

I'm a complete novice to satellite equipment and just have Sky at the moment. There is a 2 second delay on the feed broadcast on Sky by the At The Races channel. I bet online in-running and so 2 seconds difference is a big bias either way. Firstly is it possible to get the feed direct from S.I.S. (without going directly through them, they only give contracts and kit to those who are licensed bookies)and if it is what equipment would I need to do this. I would be willing to pay a fee for someone who could help me create this set up. Cheers

[BGonaSTICK]

Hi Bill.

As you might expect, there is no easy or reliable way to do this, or everyone would be doing it. There have been many questions asked on this topic in the past, and many people have invested a lot of time and money to try and squeeze every last fraction of a second of delay out of the loop.

The bottom line is this. I'm afraid that either you get a subscription to the SIS feed as a bookie (which, as you say, is both tough and expensive) or you get good at picking up a live feed from the particular racecourse.

This latter option is not a reliable method, but is a bit of fun and potentially rewarding I suppose.

One satellite that used to cover the SIS transmission is 20W. The downlink is in what is known as 4:2:2 format, which is mpeg2, but carries more digital information than 'domestic' downlinks. There are very few receivers that can handle 4:2:2, but one of them is the cheap-as-chips Skystar2 PCI card for your PC. The QualiTV receiver also does it. 20W is a wobbly old satellite, and you would also probably need some complex inclined orbit tracking dish to hang onto the signal for more than half an hour or so. I believe that sometimes these downlinks are FTA, and sometimes encrypted.

The Skystars can be had for around £40, but you would have to be willing to invest some time learning how to use it for the purpose you intend.

We're not in the business of trying to make money out of such practices, but we'll be more than happy to help you with the technical side of your satellite setup if you want to give it a go.

STICK

[Bill764]

Thanks for your reply it was very informative. As you've said it doesn't sound easy but I will do some research on the equipment you've recommended. By the way is it illegal to intercept a feed like this and is there any way of them finding out? Cheers

[BGonaSTICK]

It's not illegal as long as you're not unofficially decrypting an encrypted stream, and no, it's not illegal to intercept that signal as the signal is being beamed straight down onto your property. It's not as if you're gaining access to something that's guarded. That's the job of the encryption.

No encryption, no problem. There is no way of anyone knowing that you're receiving that signal either, other than the more traditional measures. I think the TV detector van bloke might be scratching his head for a while!

Physically tracking the satellite in the sky is the most tricky thing, and that's where your unusual dish tracking components will come into play.

When satellites get old and past their sell-by date, the operators normally manage to eek out a year or two's extra service by moving the satellite to 'odd' locations like 20W running feeds, like the horses for example.

The satellites are often low on fuel, and tend to 'wobble' about a bit. This means that they don't stay in exactly the same place in the sky, and tend to oscillate slowly in a figure of 8 pattern. Your dish has to mirror this movement. If it didn't, then you would only be able to receive a signal when it was somewhere near the middle of the '8'.

Most dish motors track 'side to side' but you would need an additional motor to adjust 'up and down' too.

Have a search for 'inclined orbit tracking' in Google. If you wait a couple of hours, it will probably bring you back to this thread! :roflmao:

STICK

[johnwilliam]

bill are you trying to pull a fast one

[Bill764]

What do you mean by that John. I'm trying to get access to S.I.S for betting purposes.

[Analoguesat]

Originally Posted by johnwilliam

bill are you trying to pull a fast one

No - hes doing real time betting. Anyone who can find a feed from a particular meeting can find themselves at a huge advantage over the mere mortals watching & betting via At The Races or one of the other racing channels.

[johnwilliam]

you are right bill,


I myself have not had a bet on horses for about 3 years, i'm out of touch with all that now. I had one bet last year on my club hartlepool to win promotion from division 1, they ended up 4th from bottom and got relegated

[gamble]

Hi Stick,

I also am a complete novice to this game, can you tell me where to view details as regards where they are currently transmitting, ty in advance.

[Analoguesat]

The main SIS channels are currently transmitting off Sirius 2 at 5E. They are scrambled in PowerVu and theres absolutely no way of watching them apart from becoming a bookie!

As far as Im aware the feeds are still on the wobbly sat at 20W so have a look at Sticks detailed answer up the thread.