need help changing

[madd71]

i'v decided i wanna change 2 satellite from cable. i brought my cable box ready chipped, is it possible 2 do that with satellite or is the whole process harder? what set up would i need? thanx

[madrat]

you can get them ready patched but I believe patching is easy, You need to go for a technomate as they are the most supported.

[Robbo]

The actual 'chipping' as you call it is no harder, depending on what box you get of course. Leaving the Dreambox and other similar Linux boxes out for the moment, all you need is a software patch, a PC to download it and a null modem cable.

Unlike the cable box however, it is not simply a matter of connecting to the socket on the wall, you also need to stick a dish up as well.The dish of course has to be aligned to the correct satelite also.

Also with satellite you have a far greater number of providers, not just Virgin Media ( and the original companies that were part of it) so the encryption side of things is far more complex, but there is also a great variety of free to air channels available.

A real beginners system would consist of something like a Technomate TM1000D or a TM1500CI+, and an 80cm dish with a monoblock LNB on it to pick up the Astra1 sats (19E) and hotbird (13E). And of course any free to air stuff from Astra2(28E) ( I have a separate dish for that).

Also you can motorise the dish for about £45, and get a whole host of channels from a number of satellites.

Anyway, that's all from me for now, you don't want to get overloaded with info.

Robbo

@ madrat, wtf is a Technocrat?

[madd71]

thanx 4 that. do i need a veiwing card?

[Robbo]

Originally Posted by madd71

thanx 4 that. do i need a veiwing card?

For the p@tched receivers, No. BUt you can buy an official one if you wish, for some of the foreign packages.

[madd71]

thanx robbo71 u'v been very helpful

[Robbo]

Originally Posted by madd71

thanx robbo71 u'v been very helpful

That's Ok.

The best thing to do is to have a good look around the forum in the sat section, in the Technomate section, and the FAQs section. Also there is a lot of good info on the satellitesuperstore website. There is also some info to pick up from the satcure website.
Another good reference site is LyngSat - Lyngemark Satellite, to see what channels are on each satelite.