Skystar Info

[DrOtter]

Hello!

I'm new to this, and having read the sticky I'm very interested in the Skystar PCI card - but I've got a few questions first...

1. My flat has a minidish outside, presumably from previous tenants. If I plug this into the Skystar PCI card, will I be able to receive the free to view channels on my PC? Or is the dish inactive and in need of some kind of activating?

2. Is it possible to get an extension to the wire coming from the satellite dish?

Thanks for any help!

[Robbo]

Hi and welcome,

If the LNB is OK and the dish is still pointing the right way, yes you will be able to view the Free to Air channels on your PC.

To extend the cable, a length of satellite cable such as wf100, a couple of F-connectors, and a F-joiner will do the trick. B&Q and Wickes to a small kit with 2 f-conns and a joiner in it for a couple of quid. Or you can go on ebay for any length of cable plus the connectors.

Robbo

[DrOtter]

Thanks for the reply! I think I'm going to go ahead and buy a Skystar 2 card, plug the satellite wire into it and see what happens.
I found this one on ebay. Does this look ok, or is there something bad/wrong about it?
Once I've got my new card... what do I need to know then? I presume I need some software - I've read you need ProgDVB, vplug and some kind of emulator? What software is most widely recommended?
Thanks again for any help!

[jontydog]

That card is fine. If you are using XP it should be fine but if you are using Vista then you will have a lot of problems from what I have read on this forum. There are 3 main programs used for viewing tv

ProgDVB AltDVB and DVBDream they all can be used with Vplug which is an emulator. The best thing to do is get the free stuff sorted first then introduce vplug

[Jimdefruit]

Unless your PC is very slow, you should have no problems getting the SD chanels on both XP and Vista. BBC HD is a bit more difficult but it can be opened with a fast processor and a bit of hard work/luck.

[DrOtter]

Thanks guys. I've ordered the card and it should be here within a few days. Looking forward to trying it out already. I use XP, but I don't think my computer is fast enough (1.8GHz) for the HD channels - I'm not that bothered about HD though. I've downloaded ProgDVB, so hopefully everything will be ready to go when the card arrives. Just got to hope the satellite dish is still working / aligned!
I'll let you know how I get on...

[leeds6]

dont want to pour cold water on this m8 i started with a skystar2 its very good but it only gets what the dish is pointing at to use vplug you need to be pointing at 13east or 19 east there are a few more but a minidish aint big enough to capture the signal from these sats. so unless you only want to watch freesat i think your gonna have to turn your dish some degrees to the west.

good luck

[DrOtter]

I got my card today and have successfully got the free channels working! Unfortunately, I'm having issues with vplug...
I'm pointing at 28.2 Astra and I'm using ProgDVB. I installed vplug 2.3.6 (with latest keys) into the plugins folder.

I can see all the free channels fine, but not the other channels.

When I try to view these other channels, I get these errors in vplug monitor:

Plz rescan this transponder to update some invalid data
Pid: $0500 Ignored!

I've been searching all day, but can't work out what's wrong and it's driving me nuts . There doesn't seem to be any guides on how to set up or configure vplug. Does anybody know what's going on?

Thanks

[DrOtter]

I got my card yesterday and have successfully got the free channels working. I'm pointing at 28.2 Astra, which I think is the default Sky satellite (I haven't touched the satellite). I'm using ProgDVB, and have installed vplug 2.3.7 into the plugins folder.

I got vplug (including latest keys) from this site:
_http://www.cardserver.org/cardsharin...29/page18.html

The problem is I can't view the decrypted channels.
There are some errors in vplug monitor when I try:

Plz rescan this transponder to update some invalid data
Pid: $0500 Ignored!

I couldn't find much info on these errors, so I tried installing an older version (2.3.6), and copied over the latest v_keys.db, and I got different errors:

Incorrect hash -> AutoECM started
S 0000 Key0B is missing.

I've been searching all day yesterday and today, but can't work out what's wrong and it's driving me nuts .

Does anybody know what the problem is?

Any help would be much appreciated as I'm completely lost and don't know what's going on!

[Analoguesat]

There is no way to view the 28E encrypted stuff using any method apart from using a valid subscription, so you are wasting your time trying to open the pay channels