A little advice...

[mm1352000]

Hi everyone

First, let me say I'm aware that this is a bit of a "touchy" subject. I'm not trying to bend or break the rules on this forum (I'm sure you'll let me know if my post is out of line ) - I just need a little advice...

So the deal is that I'm a member of the development team - actually the lead developer for the TV Server component. Part of my role is to add support for new hardware and try and help out people with various TV related problems. One thing that really helps me do my "job" is if I can test with the same or similar hardware. In some cases that is not a problem - I have quite a collection of PC tuners now - however over in Europe it seems that the majority of services are encrypted and quite a few people raise issues about CAM compatibility, decrypting reliability, CAM menu functions etc. etc. etc. About the best I can do from here in NZ when it comes to that sort of stuff is to work with Aurora.

I have two CAMs:the first looks like , the second looks like .

I have 3 tuners with a CI slot: a TechnoTrend Budget S2 3200 with CI slot, TBS 5980 CI and a Hauppauge HVR-4400 with a WinTV CI. I also have a TechniSat Skystar HD2 - the CI slot is on the way.

I have one smartcard - a "silver" I *think*. It looks like .

Now the issue:

I know that it is possible to decrypt multiple channels simultaneously with a single tuner and CAM as long as the tuner driver and CAM firmware both support it. I'm trying to add support for this function for the Skystar HD2 (which is why the CI slot is on the way) and generally improve the reliability of the function in MediaPortal. Ideally I need hardware that supports the function in order to do that. My TechnoTrend tuner driver supports the function; the WinTV CI does not. I'm not certain about the CAMs. In practice:

- The first CAM works okay with the TechnoTrend tuner, however it seems that this combination can only decrypt one channel at a time. I'm putting that down to either a CAM or smartcard limitation.
- The second CAM doesn't work properly with the TechnoTrend tuner. For lack of a better description it seems like the CAM doesn't decrypt fast enough. The picture is partially decrypted however it is all pixelated with green bits here and there and TV Server is dropping TS packets like hotcakes.
- The first CAM does not work at all with the WinTV CI. It seems like the CAM blocks any TS packets from getting through.
- The second CAM works perfectly with the WinTV CI, however the WinTV CI
can only decrypt one channel at a time as mentioned above.

So what I need seems to be a CAM that will work with the TechnoTrend tuner to enable decrypting of multiple channels simultaneously. Either that or some advice that enables me to do that with what I already have - maybe a new CAM firmware or smartcard "image" (???). It seems to be quite hard to find reliable information about CAM abilities, and talk about CAM and smartcards flashing etc. does my head in.

Does anybody have any comments or advice for me? I'm sorry that the question is so open. Part of the problem is that I'm not sure what the right questions are.

Thanks in advance!
mm
PS: a second smartcard would also be helpful to me so if anyone can help with that please feel free to PM me.

[LeroyPatrol]

I was always lead to believe that you can't decrypt multiple channels with a cam! Is this not true?

Leroy

[mm1352000]

Definitely not true!



Note the options for the number of channels...

[Edit: I should say that usually this only works for decrypting multiple channels from a single transponder, however it is even possible that multiple tuners can share a CAM (see MTD).

[LeroyPatrol]

Ah yes I have seen them. Well that would be part of your problem, you need a better cam.
Obviously the consumer cams that we use I've found they can only decode one channel.

Leroy

[best4less]

The pricing is all off, as the 2 channel Cam is cheaper than the single channel one ,Go figure

[LeroyPatrol]

The pricing is all off, as the 2 channel Cam is cheaper than the single channel one ,Go figure

That's the price of the single channel cam + the 57EUR to make it 2 channel!!

Leroy

[mm1352000]

I don't think that such CAMs should always be that expensive. Check the prices of the CAMs . If only they had an Irdeto CAM that was that reasonably priced...

[best4less]

That's the price of the single channel cam + the 57EUR to make it 2 channel!!

Leroy

no wonder i always get ripped off LOL

[mm1352000]

So it seems like the verdict is that I need to spring for a professional CAM.

I'm still in need of a new smartcard or two so please PM if you can help me with that.