Satellite Receiver Advice

[esto]

Latest key files should have the biss keys in them.

Thanks, but I don't have my receiver yet, and my level of understanding of how to go about this is about zero. Can you explain the steps I need to take? As you said, the Kathrein doesn't need a patch like the TM does, so I can skip that part. But then I still need a "softcam" (for example CCCam), is that correct? And then once the softcam is installed to the Kathrein, then I need to enter the keys to it somehow? (Via remote control or load a file to the softcam?) I did find some BISS hex keys in plain text on another site, and all I really want is the ESPN, so I guess I can just load that in the softcam directly?

Am I going in the right direction here?

Also I think I read elsewhere that ESPN was listed as having encryption, but was actually open on some channel or satellite? Is that correct? Or maybe it was just refering to the weak encryption that can easily be opened?

[Manic01]

cccam is not a softcam.
I would go for a better supported receiver to be honest.
You need to have a good read in the linux sections to decide what receiver is best for your needs.

[esto]

cccam is not a softcam.
I would go for a better supported receiver to be honest.
You need to have a good read in the linux sections to decide what receiver is best for your needs.

You're probably right, Humax or DreamBox seem like they are very versatile, but I really like the Kathrein hardware-wise, plus I can get a really good deal on it. I read everywhere about people complaining about lack of support for Kathrein, but I see some things out there. If I understand correctly, it looks like this image has a softcam support?
Forum Gateway - Sat Universe

sh4 Duckbox Team:
- stm23_0123
- Player 179
- eplayer3
- a lot of good work


Added by the PKT:
- Bringing fashion to the Kathrein UFS912
- PKT Emu Manager v1.0.1
- New Skin Setup POINT
- Update POINT Basic & Silver Skins
- inclusion of accelerations / off cam / cs
- added detection of installation InfoCenter
- added support for gbox Vizcane and emumanagera
- HDMI format set to 422
- Update SoftCam feed
- Accelerate InfoCenter
- Update Picon
- list of channels to djcrash 2011-02-03

[Manic01]

They all have softcam basically. CCcam is an emulator.

[esto]

They all have softcam basically. CCcam is an emulator.

Ah, so that firmware for the UFS912 does have a softcam then! Ok, that's good to know

Maybe a noob question, but I'm a noob: what's the difference between a softcam and an emulator? And which is more relevant to BISS?

[Manic01]

Do you need a linux stb?
Just buy a spider hd for ?169 and get loads of espn channels.

[mdt]

Ah, so that firmware for the UFS912 does have a softcam then! Ok, that's good to know

Maybe a noob question, but I'm a noob: what's the difference between a softcam and an emulator? And which is more relevant to BISS?

if i understand it correctly then a emulator, emulates or copys a cam(conditional access module) and a softcam is software containing roms/keys to decrypt the signal. i would have a good read about linux stb,s before parting with your cash and although the katherein reciever is well made (german quality), support is a little thin and if its going cheap then ask yourself why!. as you stated previously you are looking for fta channels and what ever is available via softcam then stick with your tm reciever for the moment as this will give you what you require in sd and then gather as much info as you can so you can make a informed choice and dont end up with a linux stb with no support. regards mdt

[esto]

Do you need a linux stb?
Just buy a spider hd for ?169 and get loads of espn channels.

What does a Spider receiver have that others don't? And how many ESPN channels are there? I thought just like 3 of them or so. I really only want ESPN America.

if i understand it correctly then a emulator, emulates or copys a cam(conditional access module) and a softcam is software containing roms/keys to decrypt the signal. i would have a good read about linux stb,s before parting with your cash and although the katherein reciever is well made (german quality), support is a little thin and if its going cheap then ask yourself why!. as you stated previously you are looking for fta channels and what ever is available via softcam then stick with your tm reciever for the moment as this will give you what you require in sd and then gather as much info as you can so you can make a informed choice and dont end up with a linux stb with no support. regards mdt

Thanks for the reply. I think you got me mixed up with the original poster tho, he has a TM. I am in the midst of getting my set-up together right now. I do have an old Samsung 9500 that I haven't used in over 5 years (last time I looked at SAT stuff). But I plan on getting a new one mainly to get all the cool features that came out in the last 5 years (HDMI, recording to hard-drive/USB, LAN, etc.). I don't really have any other requirements, except to get ESPN America. So the quality of Kathrein appeals to me, and if I can do the BISS or whatever to get ESPN, then I think that's enough for me.

I'll do some more research, to find what other feature I may want in a receiver, but it's really like sorting thru a rubbish bin. Can you guys maybe say what features you like in your set-ups that would not be available in a Kathrein? Brand-wise, I might consider Humax, possibly Topfield. But things I never heard of, like Spiderbox, I would hesitate to buy because I don't know anything about it's quality (despite it probably having lots of good support software-wise)
Thanks.