Satellite Watch News December 1996

They Take A Licking But Keep On Ticking....

They are up, they are down but like a Timex watch they take a licking but keep on ticking. I'm talking about the battery cards and the new programmer, Big Gun. The battery group found a new programmer to handle the battery cards at the end of October. After getting the cards running, they were up for over 2 weeks before being taken down with a ECM on November 14.
Well, Big Gun lived up to his word and had the program ready in less than 24 hours. It took less than 48 hours to get it to the dealers. The rub comes from promises by the dealers to pay Big Gun $20,000 for his original work and continued support. He never received the payment on the first fix but dealers are still gathering funds after the latest ECM. Also the L and T card groups didn't help, so the next Main file will be setup with special security to only run in Battery cards. Where does all of this information come from you ask? I have been monitoring the internet IRC chat channel #satellite.

What is IRC? IRC stands for "Internet Relay Chat". Nice, but what does that mean to me? IRC is a way to carry on a multi-person discussion via the Internet. There are chat rooms or channels with a certain topic of conversation. There is no restriction to the number of people that can participate in a given discussion or the number of channels that can be formed on IRC.
There are special servers that are interconnected and pass messages from user to user. There are three of these main servers. The largest one is called EFnet (Eris Free net), the two smaller ones are Undernet and Dilnet. These servers don't talk to each other so if you are looking for a special chat room or channel you need to know the server to use. Each of these servers consists of multiple servers (sub-server) that talk to each other. So you can log on to different sub-server which are connected to create a main server. It is usually best to try and connect to a server that is geographically close to you, even though that may not always be the best.
One thing that can get confusing when talking on IRC is trying to determine to whom a particular statement is directed, because the responses appear on the screen in the order received and there can be multiple conversations going on. There are great discussions on the internet in IRC chat areas about satellite tvro. I will give you some insight in how to get to these chat areas on the internet.
The two main channels that I go to at this time are #satellite and #fnl, but look for others like #dbs, #dss or #swn. The #satellite channel is on EFnet and the main topic is the battery card and support, and there are many knowledgeable people on this channel. This channel is up almost 24 hours a day. The #fnl channel is usually only up on Friday night and is a discussion of what is going on with the Friday Night Live radio show and is another great source of information.
How do you get on IRC? Well, first you must have Internet access. You will need to have a properly installed WINSOCK, which you already have if you are able to get on the internet. Remember the WINSOCK is the program that dials your local internet provider and connects you to the web.

The other item you will need is IRC software. There are numerous IRC software or Clients as they are called that you can use. A good site to get IRC software is http://www.crl.com/~claybo/irc/clients.html . The software that I selected was mIRC version 4.6 and can be found at http://www.mirc.co.uk/. This is shareware and the author asks for a donation of $15.00 for the software, and it is well worth it. When you send your registration and donation, mention Satellite Watch News and Rocky. If you would like more information than I offer here on IRC, I recommend that you download the IRC.FAQ file from the internet. SWN also has the software MIRC46S.EXE on their BBS at 517-685-2451.
Once you've downloaded and installed your IRC client, getting plugged into the chat area is a simple configuration box away. Use your winsock to dial your internet provider. After connected you launch your IRC client. A configuration dialog box appears that ask for Real name, Email address, Nicknames. The real name is the name other IRC users see when they request more info about you. The E-mail address and nickname are used to identify you on the IRC network. YES you can put anything you want in these slots to try and keep your identity secret. The one problem you may have is the nickname. If someone is using that nickname the server will notify you that the name is in use and to select another.
Now you must select your sub-server. In mIRC there is a list for each of the three servers. Select one and press the connect button. If you don't get a connection in about a minute try another. If you are asked for password, this is a restricted server, so stop and select another. You can also add servers to the list with the add command. If you need to find servers, try http://www.ual.cl/~burton/servers/ . I have put together a list of servers and loaded the file to the SWN BBS, the file is IRCLIST.TXT. After connection is made you will be prompted for the channel. The channel names start with # (pound sign). When you select a channel remember that any thing you type is sent for everyone to read when you press enter. To perform a command in IRC you type / (front slash) first.
The following is a short list of commands for IRC:

/HELP Shows general help or help on the given command.

/LIST Lists all current channels. You will see a list of all channels, except for those that are secret, with their number of users and the topic. The list may be quite long, so you can limit it by using flags or channel names.

/JOIN (#channel) Sets your current channel to the supplied channel. When in a channel you will see a window with the communication and another with the connected members nickname.

/PART (#channel) Makes you leave a channel, same as /LEAVE.

/QUIT Exits your IRC session. The same as /BYE and /EXIT.

/NICK (new nickname) Changes your nickname to the new nickname.

/AWAY (away message) Sets your status as away with what ever reason you use in the away message. This message is displayed when someone sends you a /MSG or does a /WHOIS on you. Using /AWAY with no parameters marks you as no longer being away.

/WHOIS (nickname) Shows information about someone.

/INVITE (nickname) (#channel) Invites another user to a channel you are on.

/MSG Sends a private message.

/QUERY Starts a private conversation.

Again the mIRC program (MIRC46S.EXE), IRCLIST.TXT, and the new BOOKMARK file are available on the SWN BBS at 517-685-2451. If there is enough response I will see if I can post the Realaudio file of the DB1 show or other TTN shows to the SWN BBS. This is a possibility for people that don't have internet access. The file would be in a format for download and you would play it from your hard drive using Realaudio.
The new bookmark file is on the SWN BBS and is called 1296.HTM. This file will have all of the addresses that have been used in my articles through December. Each month that new sites are listed in the Satellite Watch News I will post a new file, the file name is month (12), year (96) and the HTM extension. To add this list to your bookmarks, call up NETSCAPE and select GO TO BOOKMARKS. From this menu select file and you will see import. Then select the file with the new bookmarks (1296.HTM) and it will be added to your bookmark file. The advantage of this is you don't have to type the address.


BOOK REVIEW
The book review this month is on the set from Telecode called "Cable Hackers Bible". I got the Special, which is 3 volumes of the Cable Hackers Bible, Cable Hackers Video and three 1.44 disk with Master Chip Files. As with all of Telecode's books the printing is very professional and large enough to be easy on the eyes. The books are paperback with plastic spine binders. There are some reprints of hand drawing that are not as good as I would like but this is not the fault of Telecode.
I know that these drawings are "as received" by Telecode because, if you order these packages from other sources, they are the same as the reprint in Telecode's books. I have seen drawings from some sources for "test" boards with chip numbers removed and the authors will not reveal the chip. If you order the full "test" board from these less-than-reliable sources, they will also remove the numbers from the chips. I even had one bad source offer me the material in color for a higher charge. When I received the material it was in color, one page blue, one page yellow and so on. So the quality or omissions on some of the drawings in the books are no fault of Telecode, they only gather the material and reprint it. But even then Telecode's print quality is better than any I have received from these fly by night, working from their home, hackers.
The Cable Hackers Bible Volume 1 is 248 pages long and covers many cable scrambling principles. The contents (chapter listing) are : Warning, Introduction, Underlying Concepts, Basic Aspects Of Scrambling, Principles Of Scanning Sync and Video Signals, Scrambling Overview, Gated Sync Suppression, Telease/Maast System, S.S.A.V.I., Selectv, Multipoint Distribution System, The Zenith MMDS System, General Microwave Information, Miscellaneous Systems, Bypass Techniques, Notch Filters, Detection and Taps and Decoders,Countermeasures/Counter-Counter Measures, Decoder Substitutions.
The Cable Hackers Bible Volume 2 is 152 pages long and covers more cable scrambling principles. The contents (chapter listing) are: Jerrold Starcom VI Project, Jerrold 400 Manual, Pioneer BC-3300/10/11 Manual, Pioneer BC-3312/20 Manual, Er1400 Serial Eprom Programmer, Tocom 5503/5507 Vip Test Modification, Scientific Atlanta Modification Instructions 8500-311, Scientific Atlanta Modification Instructions 8500-312, Scientific Atlanta Modification Instructions 8500-321, Tri-Mode Tutorial, Starbase Modifications, SB-3A Dynamic, MC68705P3/R3/U3 8_Bit Eprom Programmer Plans, Sigma I Modification, Easyvc Video Only Digital Decoder Plans, Data Sheets.
The Cable Hackers Bible Volume 3 is about 100 pages long and is not divided into chapters. It covers EACH scrambling system with drawings. Volume 2 and Volume 3 have cross reference indexes that cover the previous books. Volume 3 is a set of Master Files for making Test Chips for the following listed boxes. Also included are Installation Instructions, File Editors Programs, Troubleshooting Tips, Disclaimers, Parts Sources, Guide to Cable and Satellite TV Hacking, Description of Terms, TV Frequencies Chart, How To Build A Cube Instructions, Zenith Decoder Modifications, Miscellaneous Modifications, Fixes and More.
INCLUDES MASTER FILES FOR THE FOLLOWING BOXES:

JERROLD CFT-2024/V5T1 SERIES. INCLUDING CABLE HEADEND SIMULATOR AND
TEST MODULE DIAGRAMS, PARTS LIST, CIRCUIT BOARD, AND MORE.
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA 8500-311
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA 8500-321
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA 8550
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA 8555
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA 8580-6 BUTTON Green & Red Chips
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA 8580-7 BUTTON "Spider Board"
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA 8590-8 40 Pin Micro
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA 8590-11 40 Pin Micro
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA 8600-11 BUTTON STAMP TYPE
PIONEER GENERIC CUBE (No Serial Number)
STARCOM 6
STARCOM 7 - 3-WIRE (2 models)
STARCOM 7 - STOCK ROM
TOCOM 5503 VIP
TOCOM5507 VIP
TOCOM5507 (NO VIP)
VIDEOCIPHER II+ (029) VIDEO-ONLY CHIP
ZENITH PAL AND GAL FOR 1600 TO 2600 BOXES

The CABLE HACKERS VIDEO shows Box ID, Descrambler Kits, Tech Test Chips, CM/CCM, Sync Boxes, Publications and More. 1:19 Running Time. VHS ONLY. This is not another talking head video it is well done and covers valuable information that complements the books.
This value packed package was only $150.00. This is an excellent value for anyone wanting to study scrambling systems. The methods are not only useful for cable "testing" but also provide good knowledge about video and audio scrambling methods. Each of these items are available separately; Volume 1 is $44.45, Volume 2 is $44.95, Volume 3 with software is $79.95 and the Video is $39.95 for a total of $208.80. So if you buy the special you save $49.80. Telecode can be reached at 520-726-2833 or E-mail telecode@primenet.com.
Well, I guess that is all for this month, if you have any questions or comments send them to ROCKY at Satellite Watch News.
ROCKY.

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