==Phrack Magazine== Volume Six, Issue Forty-Seven, File 16 of 22 [Editor's Note: This info and much more can be obtained from American Hacker Magazine, 3494 Delaware Ave., #123, Buffalo, NY 14217. 716-874-2088 (voice/fax) 716-871-1915 (bbs) snews@buffnet.net $29.95 for 12 issues, including BBS access. I you are into satellites, you might want to check this out!] DBS Primer (c) Scrambling News (TM) 1995 Preface This text lacks the photos and schematics which accompanied the article when it appeared in our newsletter. Constructive criticism, corrections, and suggestions for information which should be added are all welcome. We are snews@buffnet.net or 716.874.2088. As always we include information regarding gray and black market activity involving the RCA system. The big news is that we expect a pirate smartcard to become available soon. There is more information about that later in the second part of this article. Brand names and trademarks are used herein for identification purposes only and are the property of their respective owners. Use of same within this document definitely does not imply agreement with or endorsement of the material presented. Information published by Scrambling News is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only and must not be used for any other purpose. Introduction We in the middle of an advertising blitz by RCA, DirecTV, USSB and Prime star announcing that the age of digitally delivered entertainment has arrived. Major newspapers, magazines and cable channels are saturated with commercials featuring the new RCA DSS 18 inch satellite dishes and all media have done their job to promote the new systems. It is true that we are in the middle of a revolution. Other small dish satellite systems are in the development stage, the telco's are getting into the cable business, cable is testing interactive services, and C/Ku-band satellite TV has been around since the late '70s but it too, is in transition. In this article we will focus on some aspects of the new DirecTV 18 inch dish system. We covered the Videocrypt encryption system in a previous article. GM Hughes DirecTV is a venture involving GM's Delco Electronics and Hughes Aircraft. The two have put about $750 million into the business while Hubbard Broadcasting, a service provider has added $150 million, including $25 million from Dow Jones. RCA has pledged $100 million. RCA has exclusives rights to manufacture the hardware for the first 1 million systems. The DSS brand system is owned by Thomson Consumer Electronics of Paris. Sony will also manufacture the dish and receiver systems after RCA sells the first million. They expect to have their system on the market in June. The $699 list price of the basic system is currently holding firm, because of demand. Thomson Consumer Electronics has been offering the systems free to purchasers of TCE (RCA) widescreen TV's at Sears, Circuit City, etc. in the Denver, LA, Chicago and Atlanta markets. The Thomson/Hughes system is unique in offering movies in widescreen format. That is why the RCA CinemaScreen TV's have not moved well until now. GM Hughes DBS system launched this past summer and only rolled out nationally in September. By mid October over 100,000 systems had been sold. Over 3,000 are now being sold per day and Thomson has reported sales of over 500,000 systems as of the week before Christmas. This represents sales 10-15% ahead of projections. Hughes predicts there will be 3 million systems in use by mid 1996 and 10 million by the year 2000. The break even point is 3 million systems. RCA is currently manufacturing 100,000 systems /month. GM Hughes is a company which has survived the downsizing in the defense industry. Of its $14 billion estimated 1994 revenue, 41% is derived from its defense business which includes Tomahawk cruise missiles. About 37% comes from its automotive electronics business which includes air bag sensors, car radios and instrument panels, mostly for GM cars. DirecTV is only part of the telecommunications division which includes a mobile cellular business and the leasing of satellite transponders. When GMH has sold 3 million systems. DirecTV will be a $3 billion/yr business of which $1 billion will be operating profit. Programming Available Programming is conveniently divided between two separate sources, forcing most consumers to subscribe to both. The programming carried by DirecTV and USSB is unique to each and each has a monopoly. USSB supplies ANC (All News Channel), VH1, Lifetime, Nick, Flix, Cinemax, Cinemax2, Cinemax West, TMC, TMC West, HBO, HBO2, HBO3, HBO West, Showtime, Showtime2, Showtime West, MTV, and the Comedy Channel. The Essentials package for $7.95/month includes Lifetime, the Comedy Channel, Nick, Nick at Night, MTV, VH-1 and the All-News Channel. A package of all HBO and Cinemax feeds costs $10.95. A similar package with all Showtime /TMC channels plus Flix also costs $10.95. Showtime Plus includes the Showtime/TMC package together with Flix and the Essentials package for $24.95. Entertainment Plus includes all USSB channels for $34.95/month. DirecTV supplies the remaining channels and PPV (pay per view) programming. All subscribers receive ESPN, the Cartoon channel, USA, CNN, Trio (family entertainment and news), Headline News, Discovery, C-Span, TNT, TBS, TNN, TCM (Turner Classic Movies), Bloomberg Direct (financial news), and MuchMusic (Canadian MTV), Disney, and Music Choice (formerly Digital Cable Radio) which consists of 28 channels of CD quality commercial-free genre music ranging from symphonic to rap. Personal Choice subscribers may choose 10 additional channels from E!, the Weather Channel, Newsworld International (Canadian with BBC), Sci-Fi Channel, Court TV, Family and Travel channels, C-Span 2, CNN International, the Learning Channel, CNBC, the Learning Channel, Country Music Television, A&E, or the Encore multiplex which includes Encore plus six channels dedicated to love stories, mysteries, westerns, childrens' programming, action, and true stories. All the above channels are available in the Total Choice package for $29.95. Channels available la carte include Starz for $1.80, Playboy for $9.95 and TV Asia for $5.95. A new addition is the Golf Channel on channel 304 for $6.95/month. Subscribers to the sports package currently receive eight regional sports networks for $7.95/month. These include Home Team Sports, Home Sports Entertainment, KBL Sports, Pro Am Sports System, Prime Sports, Prime Ticket, SportSouth and Sunshine Network. DirecTV says it will expand the number of regional networks it carries but no definite plans have been announced. Packages including all NHL and NBA games are also available. A minimal package which includes only access to PPV and Bloomberg Direct costs $5.95 per month. Approximately 54 channels are devoted to PPV movies and there are preview and special events channels as well. Approximately 36 movies are available at any given time and they cost $2.99 each. Subscribers receive a $2.50 credit per month which may be applied to the cost of any PPV or special event. DirecTV has just signed an agreement with Twentieth Century Fox so its films will also be available on PPV. DirecTV plans to launch DBS-3 late this summer and it will add at least 30 more channels. The satellite was originally scheduled for launch in December but mechanical problems have caused a delay. The two existing satellites provide a total capacity of about 175 channels. Features The basic $699 system supports only one master TV. That means that all televisions in the house must be tuned to the same channel. Unlike cable, it is not possible to watch one channel in the living room, while the kids watch another in the recroom and the wife watches yet a different channel in her coven. The deluxe system consists of two receivers and it supports two independent television receivers or a TV and a VCR. It consists of a dual feed LNB mounted on the 18" dish and two receivers. The cost is $899 plus $650 for the second receiver. Both receivers have a wideband data port which will supposedly be used for HDTV. The deluxe receiver includes a slow speed 9 pin port for future data services and a second set of baseband audio/video output jacks. Other than these differences and the ability to subscribe a second receiver at reduced rates, the two receivers are the same. Those who wish to record programs must leave the receiver on the channel to be recorded. It has no ability to change channels and it cannot be programed to do so or even to turn on at a certain time. According to Thomson, the ability of the RCA system to change channels was omitted for legal reasons. The rights for recording through the on-screen guide belong to StarSight. Their system is available as a stand-alone box for cable or over-air use or as an integrated part of a television, VCR or C-band satellite receiver. It is expected that the time recording feature will be added when the legal problems are resolved. According to a company spokesman, the lack of the recording feature will not hurt initial sales since purchasers will be rural and will be more concerned with programming than with features. For now, those who wish to have two independently controlled TV's or a TV and a VCR must purchase the deluxe system. Even then, the second receiver must be left on the channel to be recorded. Local channels are not available from either of the DBS services or C-band. In the case of the DBS services, it is illegal for them to offer local channels. The FCC imposed this regulation so that DBS would not compete with over-air services. DirecTV does offer a package of the net works including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and PBS for $3.95/month. It is intended only for those in the "white" areas of the country where over-air reception is not possible. Those who have subscribed to cable within the last 90 days are not eligible to receive it, even if over-air reception is impossible. A loophole is that those who live in an area where over-air reception is possible may subscribe to the network package if over-air reception is not of acceptable quality in their own judgement. Typical problems include severe ghosting and having reception blocked by mountains or buildings, To the best of our knowledge, there is no verification process to determine whether a DBS subscriber is also a cable subscriber. Those who qualify to subscribe to the package will receive ABC from NY, CBS from Raleigh, FOX from Chicago, and PBS from Denver. This package costs 3.95/month. Both RCA and Primestar receivers include Macrovision copy protection chips. Neither system employs them at this time. Their use is dictated by copyright holder (movie studio) demands. In addition to the studios there is another force at work which could, in the future, limit the right of individuals to record programs. A draft paper from the Information Infrastructure Task Force recommends that digital transmission be redefined as a type of distribution like publishing, which should be controlled by the copyright holders. This proposal, if unchallenged could cause the Commerce Department to change copyright laws and make the recording of any programming illegal. All products which defeat copy protection schemes would become illegal. The right to purchase and use a VCR is covered by the first sale doctrine and was won in the Sony Betamax case in the '80s. Americans currently have the right to record programming based on both the first sale and fair use doctrines. If the ability of consumers to record programming is not supported in the future, for whatever reason, DBS subscribers will be the first to find out. The on-screen program guide is a user friendly feature. It provides program and movie descriptions up to 24 hours in advance using a dedicated button. There are two favorite program lists, each of which can store 10 channels. It is also possible to choose programs by categories which include sports, movies, specials, series, news, and shopping. Accessing program information several hours in advance is actually quite slow, due to memory limitations, but the feature is still valuable. Other major features of the system are sound and picture quality. The sound is of CD quality. Picture quality is superior to that available on Video CD's. During the fall there were problems with the system. These include freeze frames, which caused the picture to freeze for a few seconds, and digital artifacts during shot changes. At times the picture would break up, leaving large rectangular colored blobs on the screen. These problems have decreased considerably during December and January and are now infrequent. The DSS system is currently using MPEG-1 and will switch over to MPEG-2 later this year. This may improve signal quality even more. Changes will be made to headend encoders and not to subscribers' equipment. Installation The two DSS satellites are co-located in geostationary orbit at 101 west longitude. That is over the equator, south of Texas. There must be a clear line of sight from the dish to the satellite. The signals cannot pass through trees, leaves in summer or buildings. The dish may be mounted behind a glass window in a patio for example. This can cause reception problems during extreme weather. It should not be mounted less than 20 feet from overhead power lines. The dish may be mounted directly on a 1 1/4" I.D. Schedule 40 (1 5/8" O.D.) preferably galvanized pipe. The system includes a mounting foot so it may also be mounted on the side of a structure, on a roof or chimney or patio deck. The surface must be stationary. Mounting on a roof is least desirable. A roof mount can cause damage to the roof and cause leaks. Wind loading can cause hundreds of pounds of force on the screws securing the mounting foot. Chimney mounts kits are also available as an option. The dish must be grounded where it is mounted and the coaxial cable must be grounded using a grounding block where it enters the residence. One RG-6 cable is used for the connection between the dish and receiver. If the cable will be longer than 112 feet, a TVRO bullet amplifier is recommended though we have heard of 150 foot runs with no problem. Keeping the mounting pole or mounting foot plumb is the key to making dish alignment easy, especially for those who have no experience installing satellite systems. DSS uses an on-screen menu system and homing signal to align the dish. A dish which is not plumb negates the value of this user-friendly system. The single best feature of DSS is the setup system. It is so user-friendly that even a novice can set the dish up himself. It is also this feature which makes the system truly portable. No electronic test equipment except a television receiver is necessary to align the dish. According to DirecTV, more than 40% of purchasers are doing their own installations. There is no reason why an average person cannot install the system. There are no components which can be harmed or destroyed by a botched attempt. The worst that can happen is that it might be necessary to have someone complete the job. It is economical to install another dish with an LNBF (Low Noise Block amplifier with Feedhorn) at the cottage and simply transfer the receiver back and forth. Several companies are now manufacturing DBS related products. These include a patio style mount, a roof bubble so the dish may be aligned from inside the home, and portable DBS kits which, in conjunction with a Power inverter, allow the dish to be used nearly anywhere in North America. The setup menu is a sub menu of the main/options menu. The dish pointing menu allows the installer to receive elevation and azimuth settings based on either zip code or latitude and longitude. Entering the zip code produces a screen which provides the elevation setting as marked on the LNB support arm. The azimuth or direction setting is the compass reading used to point the dish. It is already corrected for magnetic deviation. When we installed the system in Buffalo, the screen said to set the elevation to 35 and the azimuth to 220. The computer will not calculate latitude settings greater than 55 or less than 20, corresponding to locations in Mexico and Canada. Some individuals in those regions who are installing systems simply project a north to south line on a map to the closest US town. Then they call the local U.S. Post Office to get the zip code, claiming that they recently moved there but can't find their zip code. This will provide the azimuth information but not the elevation. The elevation setting on the dish changes approximately 1 per degree of change in latitude. After the dish has been positioned, the signal meter menu is brought up. It is an option on the dish pointing menu. There is a homing signal which starts out as a short intermittent tone before the signal is locked. As the dish is zeroed in on the signal, the tone increases in length until it becomes continuous. When moving the dish it is important to wait two beeps in order to see and hear the results of the movement. It is a common error for installers to continuously move the dish around without waiting. In addition to the audible tone, the signal meter screen will state how many degrees and in what direction the dish should be moved. When we installed our dish the screen said to move it 12 west. Once the digital signal is locked the screen says "locked onto signal." Once the signal is locked on, the system must be fine tuned. This is done by moving the dish east until the signal is lost and then to the west. These positions are marked on the mounting pole. The dish should then be positioned in the center of these two marks. The same is done with the elevation setting. Some individuals simply watch the signal strength meter and obtain the maximum reading. We had a final signal strength of 85 when we set up our dish. The set up system allows for a large margin of error. The original dish settings don't have to be very accurate. It is because of the homing signal that anyone can easily do the installation. The installer guide which comes with the system is very well written and is very helpful. There is an accessory kit available which includes a videotape covering installation but we don't believe it is necessary. It is important to ground the system properly, for safety and insurance reasons. The only available free programming consists of DirecTV barker channels and Bloomberg Direct (business news) on channel 245. Having the board authorized takes only a few minutes. USSB provides the first month of programming free. Primestar Another option for some of those interested in a dish system is Primestar. One of the big advantages of Primestar is the low startup and maintenance cost. It isn't necessary to purchase their equipment. The rental cost is included in the monthly fee. Subscribers do not have to pay for future system upgrades which will include HDTV. Prices for installation and programming packages vary across the country because they are set by the individual cable distributors, not Primestar. It is possible to purchase a Primestar system for approximately $900 but there is no financial reason to. Do-it-yourself installations are not permitted and range in cost from $149-299. Primestar was founded in 1990 by GE, Continental Cablevision, Cox Cable, Westinghouse Broadcasting, TCI, Time Warner, and Comcast Cable. It was the first quasi DBS service and was launched on GE's Satcom K-1 Ku-band bird. By 1994 Primestar had only signed 70,000 customers in 48 states. Until last year it broadcast 11 analog video plus six audio channels in the 11.7-12.2 GHz FSS (Fixed Satellite Service) band. Currently, Primestar uses 14 transponders powered at 47 watts each. Late last year they swapped out their analog B-MAC decoders and replaced them with Digicipher 1 decoders. There are now more than 100,000 Primestar customers. Primestar Programming Packages The Economy Pak, for $29.95 is a 30 channel service which includes CNN, C-Span, Discovery, Cartoon Network, Family Channel, TLC (The Learning Channel), TBS, TVT, USA, Headline News, Prime Sports Network (14 regional sports channels),and where available, the nework stations including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS. The $36.95 Value Pak adds A&E, Country Music TV, Lifetime, TNN, Sci-Fi Channel, TCM, Weather Channel, and the Encore multiplex. The Family Pak is a 76 channel package which includes all of the above and adds three HBO's, two Cine max channels and Disney East and West. HBO, Cinemax, Disney TV Japan are also available la carte for $8.95 each. Prime Cinema PPV movies cost $4-5 each. X*Press Executive and X*Press Change, which offer computer delivered news, sports, stock, and entertainment information are also available for $59.40/year plus the cost of the computer interface. Primestar does not yet have contracts with Viacom so it does not offer Showtime/TMC, MTV and Nickelodeon. In March, Playboy, Starz, CNNI, QVC, CNBC, and the Golf channels will be added to the lineup. Other channels are being negotiated as well, including the DMX music service. Primestar is currently limited to about 77 channels. A network package from Primestar, for those who qualify to receive it, costs $5.95. The dish used by Primestar is approximately 36 inches in diameter while the RCA dish is 18 inches. This may matter in some neighborhoods where a dish is considered a blight on the community. The size of the Primestar dish precludes it from being mounted on a chimney, the side of a house or patio railing for example. The system is not portable. While the DSS satellites operate at 120 watts of power, Primestar operates at 47 watts so it requires a larger dish. On the other hand it does not suffer from rain fade problems or the glitches DSS has had. Primestar does not have an on-screen menu system like DSS does. It carries the Prevue channel which only provides basic pro gram information up to 90 minutes in advance. It simply scrolls through the channels, and displays only channel and program title. Primestar charges $3.95 for PPV movies and the system reports monthly purchases via modem, the same way DSS does. Primestar is somewhat more friendly to those who wish to record programming. It has several timers which can be used to program the receiver to change channels at a certain time. It also has one favorite channel list which can contain any number of channels. Both systems have data ports though Primestar currently has data services available. The service is considering a move from its current medium power satellite to one or more high power satellites, or it may choose to add a high power satellite to the one it has now. Either way is promises to offer 150 channels by 1996. Primestar uses the Digicipher 1 and the picture appears to be of slightly higher quality than the DSS picture. The sound produced by both systems is excellent. Both systems will be upgraded this year. Digicipher 1 IRD's (Integrated Receiver Decoders) will be upgraded to the Digicipher II in 1995. Customers will receive sidecar modules by mail and will simply plug them in. Digicipher II will allow greater and higher quality compression so more channels may be carried. While Primestar is using a proprietary compression system developed by General Instrument, GI claims that Digicipher II can be made MPEG II compatible. DSS is currently using MPEG 1 but they will soon upgrade their system to the new MPEG II standard. MPEG II is the accepted compression standard. According to DirecTV the all necessary modifications will be performed to encoders at the headend. How DBS may Effect C-Band C-Band systems receive more than just subscription programming. There are many channels in the clear (unscrambled) including Canadian TV channels offering American sitcoms. The Caribbean Superstation, NASA, Main Street TV, E! the Entertainment Channel, Court TV, C-SPAN 1 and 2, The Health Channel, Nostalgia, America's Talking, National Empowerment TV, The Learning Channel, and lots of religious and home shopping channels are all available free of charge. With a C/Ku band dish it is possible to receive at no cost approximately 120 FM stereo radio stations from across the country. This includes jazz from Chicago, Christian contemporary from LA, talk radio and nearly any other existing format. It is also possible to get backhaul feeds of most TV series. Episodes of these series are uplinked a week or two before they are broadcast nationally so the cable companies have time to insert the commercials which will be shown during broadcast. Dish owners who watch the backhaul feeds see a blank screen during the time provided for the insertion of commercials. In addition, there are live news feeds from all across the country. When there is a disaster anywhere in the world it is possible to view the live feeds sent to North America by CNN et al. In addition, local news departments will uplink certain local clips for other stations across the country. It is interesting to watch raw news feeds or press conferences in the after noon and then see the network anchors apply their spin when they narrate the story on the national news. Those who purchase additional equipment can receive additional services. An SCPC receiver costs about $400 and permits users to listen to approximately 1500 radio services which are delivered by SCPC (single channel per carrier) at frequencies lower than those covered by a conventional satellite receiver. These include syndicated radio programs like Paul Harvey, base ball games, muzak, etc. Using a short wave receiver in conjunction with a satellite receiver it is possible to monitor cellular phone calls. Usually only one side of the conversation is heard because the other party is on a different frequency. Other available services include WEFAX (weather fax) RTTY and satellite data. Using special receivers and paying subscription fees it is possible to receive services like internet feeds or real time stock market quotes. The entertainment programming available by C-band is essentially the same as that available by DBS but it is considerably cheaper. A VideoCipher II PLUS decoder and a subscription is required . There are some regional network affiliates from places like Denver, Chicago, Raleigh, LA, Dallas, Boston, and NY which are not available on DBS. This year the Digicipher II decoder will be introduced. It will be able to decode both analog and digital signals. This does not mean that the analog Videocipher II PLUS decoder will become obsolete. There are now over 2 million subscribed VC II PLUS units and that is not a market which any programmer would abandon. Current BUD (big ugly dish) owners and those considering buying one should know that space is scarce on C-band satellites. Hughes Communications has just sold the last of its capacity on two of its satellites, one of which has not been launched yet and there are several satellites scheduled for retirement in 1995. The shortage is even filling up Ku band transponders. This is happening at a time when there are literally hundreds of programming channels ready to launch. Transponder space on Galaxy 7 currently costs $180,000 per month. and because of the shortage, transponders which would ordinarily cost $50,000 are going for $150,000. The solution for cable programmers is digital compression. At 4:1 compression it is only necessary to rent 1/4 of a trans ponder and it is a new technology so compression ratios will improve even more over time. This will allow even more channels to be carried per satellite transponder. Many BUD owners who remember when a $150 Videocipher II was "the only decoder you'll ever need" and who have upgraded to a $399 Videocipher II PLUS within the past couple of years and who now face the prospect of upgrading again to a Digicipher II in order to receive digital programming are interested in any alternative they can find. One example of programming which is available in digital format but which is not offered to dish owners is the Encore Multiplex. In addition to Encore, there are six niche channels devoted to mysteries, westerns, love stories, action, true stories/dramas and youth programming. Several companies are betting that consumers will choose to add DBS receiving equipment to their existing systems rather than upgrade to Digicipher II. It is likely that the price of DBS equipment will decrease when Sony starts manufacturing systems this summer. It is hoped that programming prices which are now significantly higher than C-band may decrease slightly as well. Norsat is manufacturing a C-band/LNBF and so is Pro Brand International. They are also producing a C/Ku band/LNBF. These products will allow a BUD owner to continue to use his dish for all satellite delivered programming without having to replace his analog satellite receiver with a new digital/analog model. This will be the first time BUD owners will have had a choice in what decoding equipment they might purchase. Those now contemplating the purchase of a dish system can wait until Digicipher II is released this year, or they can consider a big dish with an analog receiver to receive the free programming, and a DBS system for subscription services. It is clear that an analog receiver with a Videocipher II decoder is, by itself, a dated product. Piracy While equipment manufacturer General Instrument claims that the Videocipher II data stream was shut off over a year ago, it is still being used for some services. These include regional sports networks including various feeds from Home Sports Entertainment, Sports Channel, ADC, Pacific Sports Network, and Sunshine, AMC, Nick E, Life E&W, WWOR, MTV, Discovery E&W, VH1, CMTV, ESPN E&W, CNN W, TBS W, WGN, CNBC W, TNT W, TNN W, USA E&W, CHN, A&E W, Youth (Canadian). These services are still being transmitted in VCII mode because not all cable companies have installed VCII PLUS decoders at their headends. The working keys for these channels change every few days and they are subject to an on-going ECM (electronic countermeasure) program so audio is not always available for all channels. There is software available on BBS's which allows users to receive audio and video on these channels. Authorized seed keys are necessary. The net effect is to clone the VCII to the decoder which is really using those keys. EPROM chips loaded with working keys are available for about $50 and they work until GI extracts the keys from them and shuts them off. The most practical way to obtain audio and video for these services is by connecting a modem to the VCII decoder. Every few days the user can push a button on his remote control to download the latest keys. This method has been abandoned by most individual users, because the long distance charges, hardware upgrades, and aggravation is not worth the cost. There are some satellite dealers who still use the system for their customers. Many of those who still use their VCII boards, employ them to obtain video-only on PLUS encoded adult channels. There are several available, ranging from softcore to XXX. They include Adam & Eve, Cupid, Exxxtasy, LVTN, Network 1, Playboy, Spice 1, Spice 2, and TV Erotica , Video-only chips are available and EPROM files are available on many BBS's. Some individuals pirate the 10 TVN PPV movie services on T3 on an 029 PLUS board by taking a "snapshot" of the RAM at the start of the month. They watch all the movies they want to during the month, and then at the end of the month they reload the data captured at the start of the month. When the unit is polled for PPV purchases it shows none so they are not billed. There is a period of approximately 10 days at the end of the cycle when no movies are watched. Many individuals misuse the Surewrit 9 test device for this purpose. We have a file on the BBS called Plusmap.txt for those interested in studying further. Oak Oak encrypted services on Anik include the network feeds from Detroit, and sports, movie news, and Canadian channels which offer mostly U.S. programming. Discovery is now Oak encrypted as well. The Oak board is available in a VCII cardcage and some sources are selling these for $299. What they are selling is stock boards which must be subscribed. In order to clone the board to a working ID, the micro- processor must be changed to a Mostek. Oak is not subject to the ECM's which affect the VCII datastream. B-MAC There is a relatively new B-MAC product. It is a keypad which allows users to manually enter working keys instead of using a modem system to download them. Unlike the system being sold in Canada, this system does not encrypt the basic working keys which are for the Hi-Net service. Individuals may obtain keys from any source, instead of having to rely on one supplier. Keys for special PPV events are encrypted. The complete U.S. system including decoder, software and keypad sells for approximately $1600. DSS According to RCA, the receiver must be connected to a phone line. Where the deluxe system is installed, they say each receiver must be connected to the same phone line via the 1200 baud modem. (The unit also has a 19,200 modem). The phone line is not used to transmit authorization data to keep the receiver running. The receiver calls out monthly to report what pay-per-view movies have been ordered. It is also used to verify the location where the system is installed. Some individuals install the units at remote cottages or RV's where there is no phone. In this case, DirecTV has a backup system so individuals without phones may order PPV events manually by calling their 800 number. There is a $2 charge in addition to the cost of the movie for this service. As long as the unit is not connected to a phone line, the system operators have no idea where it is, so it could be in Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. Some U.S. individuals who wish to obtain local blacked out sporting events use a billing address different from where the unit is installed, for this purpose. It is still necessary to purchase the NFL, NHL, NBA, etc. package and the unit must be connected to a phone line. Mail drops usually advertise under Mail Boxes or Telephone Answering Services. Those who purchase a deluxe system including a second receiver, obtain a programming discount for the second receiver. The primary receiver pays full price and DirecTV charges $1.95 extra and USSB charges $1 per month for programming received on the second receiver. The second receiver receives whatever programming is subscribed to on the primary receiver. Some dealers split systems. They place the primary receiver in a friendly location. The secondary receiver is typically sold to a Canadian. The dealer charges the full price for programming but only has to pay $1.95 plus $1. This can amount to a profit of $60 per month, every month per customer and is more profitable than VCII piracy was for many of them. We have heard that some installers have been requested to connect both receivers to the single phone line during authorization and that they have done that before splitting them up. We have also heard that some individuals have told DirecTV during the authorization process that the primary receiver would be located at their residence and the secondary would be located at a remote cottage and they have received the discount but they are not able to order PPV on the secondary receiver. Some individuals are selling a unit which intercepts the 800 number the receiver is programmed to dial and routes the call to a U.S. number where the 800 number call is then placed. These units will be necessary this fall when the football season begins, at least for those who don't have a pirate smartcard. The dialers being sold now cost $125 and Canadian consumers who purchase them are unaware that hundreds of their calls are being routed through the same US phone number. It is only a matter of time before this system is shut down. Advanced Technologies will soon market a system which allows the user to set up his own network. Another company is developing a system which allows the user to manually enter the phone number being used. The only other problems we have heard regarding this type of gray market piracy is when foreigners have ordered PPV events while having the receiver connected to a phone line. In some cases they have received mail messages to their dishes requesting that they contact DirecTV to verify that their systems are in the U.S. Then they have been told that if DirecTV receives calls from a foreign area code their programming will be discontinued. Some do not order PPV events for this reason and others order manually. The major news which occurred just before we went to press is that the RCA system has just been hacked. According to reliable sources a nearly six month effort on the part of a U.S.-European coalition has lead to the compromise of the system. Current plans involve the issue of 4 tiers of pirate cards. The Blue card will offer only basic programming and will cost approximately $150. The next level card will include the subscription movie channels, the next level card will also include the sports channels together with packages like the NFL etc. The Gold card will be a global access card which will allow access to all services and will include a limit of $500 in PPV program ming. Note that the pirates are now limiting the amount of PPV events their customers will receive. To prevent the pirate card from being pirated it will employ a kill routine so that once it is inserted into the card slot in the receiver it may not be removed without dumping the memory. It will be necessary for those who engage in this type of piracy to mail in their existing cards or otherwise supply their unit ID in order to provide necessary information. Each pirate card will be unique to a specific receiver. Programming will be done in Canada where it will ostensibly not be illegal, at least for now. Three Canadian companies will essentially have franchises and will receive the necessary hardware/software. Release of the cards is expected around April, depending on two factors. The developers want to wait for the release of the series 10 Videocrypt cards in Europe. At this time the 09 series pirate cards are being heavily ECM'd and a new release is imminent. One company supplies the encryption algorithms for both U.S. and European cards. The U.S. card is based on the 09 series card in Europe. U.S. developers don't want their card reversed and counter ECM'd in the 10 series so they choose to wait. They also want an installed base of about 800,000 systems to make it more costly for system operators to issue a new series of cards. They have said in interviews that it costs them up to $35/card if they have to issue a new series because of a breach of security. In the past, we have sometimes been able to alert our readers several months in advance to events which would transpire. When we have done that, some entrepreneurs would immediately offer products which did in fact not yet exist. This is March 11, 1995 and there is no pirate card for the RCA system available anywhere at this time nor will there be in the very near future. We will be allowed to see the system somewhere offshore and we will report our findings. Do not send money to anyone. We will have more DBS news next time together with more discussion of the issues involved. Do not send money to anyone. Resources Satellite dish dealers are experts in the reception of satellite delivered programming. hey are skilled in installation, maintenance and repair. Many now carry both DirecTV and Primestar. They are able to discuss the relative merits of each system. A bonus is that many satellite dealerships are "mom and pop" type businesses so potential customers are often able to deal directly with a proprietor who possesses knowledge and experience. Their biases: Some dealers have not been able to obtain dealerships for DirecTV and others refuse to carry it because they see it as a threat to their businesses. A dealer makes about 1/3 profit or $1000 on the sale of a $3000 full view (C-band) system. The profit on a $699 DirecTV system is about $120 plus a possible installation charge. Primestar is a little more lucrative for the dealer than DirecTV. Primestar dealers profit from the sale or lease of the systems, from installation (which is mandatory) and they also earn commissions from programming ordered by their customers. Commission Salesmen working at consumer electronics stores are useless as sources of information. Miniature Satellite Dishes is a Frank Baylin book which discusses the DirecTV and Primestar systems. There is information on the basics of satellite communications, the receive site, a comparison of DBS systems, signal security, programming, installation instructions, and connecting components to the system. There is some theory. The book is a good primer. It is easy to read and it is well worth the cost for those who want to know more. Baylin Publications. 303.449.4551. Orbit is a C/Ku-band programming guide. It includes both free and subscription programming, audio services and backhaul feeds. You can see what is available on a C-band system. The ads for various programmers allow comparison of the cost and availability of programming with DBS. C-band programming is substantially cheaper. VCRS decoders are available at a discount when purchased with programming. Competing publications include Satellite TV and OnSat. These are available at most magazine stores. Satellite Direct is a monthly programming guide. It divides each 8 hours worth of programming into two facing pages. It is cleanly laid out and easy to follow. It is available at most magazine stores. Consumer Hot Lines. DirecTV's answer line for those who have questions about programming or equipment is 800.264.4DTV. USSB's number is 800.633.2820. Those with questions about Primestar equipment or programming may call 800.932.2007. Bomarc Services is producing a set of schematics for the RCA receiver. They are contract reverse engineers and they have thousands of schematics available for all kinds of electronic devices including most cable boxes. A catalog costs 4 stamps. Bomarc Services, Box 1113, Casper, WY, 82602. No phone. S&J Electronics is one of the few companies left which still carries VCII test devices. They have video only chips for those who want to view PLUS video-only on a VCII. They also have chips which allow VCII users to receive audio/video on the 28 services which still employ the VCII data stream. They are also a supplier of B-MAC's and the keypad system. 201.728.3217. Triangle Products is the major supplier of Oak decoders. They are available in VCII card cages for those who don't wish to use free-standing units. They also carry SureWrit 9, which is a diagnostic test device for those studying VCII or 029 PLUS technology. They have raw B-MAC's as well. 616.399.6390. Travel Sat is advertised as a satellite in a suitcase. Included is a complete RCA DSS satellite system, a 16 inch fibreglass dish, hardware components made of stainless steel (to prevent corrosion) and a signal strength meter so a television receiver is not required to set up the system. They also manufacture a roof mount for RV's. 800.270.1692. Eagle Aspen DBS To-Go consists of a plastic case containing a 14 inch dish, a DBS compatible LNBF, hardware kit, compass, and cables. Options include a power inverter. It is suited for those who want to mount a permanent dish at the cottage and simply move the receiver back and forth, or for those who want a portable satellite system. 404.423.7072. TCC BBS is an originating source of satellite TV piracy information, test files and working keys for the VCII. The sysops are active in answering questions. They are also knowledgeable in other areas of hacking, electronics and computers. BBS 809.394.9001. New Advanced Technologies is another B-MAC supplier, they have test chips for the VCII and they will soon market a DBS dialer which will permit the user to set up his own network. 514.458.3063. (C) Scrambling News 1995. 716.874.2088. snews@buffnet.net