foxtel satellite help

[dylan1980]

hi im new here hope im in the right place

im awaiting a new foxtel installation on satellite, new subscriber so dying of curiosity. i live in the shoalhaven/nsw and in a satellite area previously ran by austar. im receiving the iqhd. ive been told that the only fta channels i'll get is abc/sbs...

ive been researching as much as possible and have heard that it is possible to get the installer to find another signal and change some loader settings to pickup all the fta channels from a nearby region or whatever. is this possible? how could i do this myself? i found the lyngsat website that shows me all the frequencies for all the foxtel channels and stuff and i know about the installer code to access the secret menu. id really like to know how to do this.

is there anywhere i can find screenshots of all the installer menus so i can get an idea of what i'll be able to do?

thanks in advance if anyone can help

[OSIRUS]

There are FTA channels broadcast on Satellite (7, 9, & 10, & 7Two, GO & Eleven) but you have to have a Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane home installation address to get these channels activated for your Satellite IQHD STB,

It is not a setting in the STB that allows you to access these channels ....... it is what information is in your Account at Foxtel ...... & is then sent to your card (via Satellite stream) in the STB that tells the STB what channels are allowed to be shown,

Austar/Foxtel Mystar STB's have FTA tuners in the STB ...... but you need an antenna capable of receiving the Local FTA channels & connect it to the Mystar STB (don't know if you could still ask for a Mystar STB or not ? or if you would want one or not ?)

[dylan1980]

thx for your response

i understand its not just a setting, but a frequency that is tuned and scanned. my understanding is that foxtel doesnt offer the fta channels freely and easily due to localized advertising. but surely the channels themselves arnt locked or restricted if tuned to manually. lyngsat lists these channels as open or clear. really dont want a mystar box lol.

[OSIRUS]

The only Foxtel channels that are unencrypted are the Foxtel Help channel, & TVSN & Al Jazeera English, channel (I think) ..... & sometimes some FTA channel feeds .....

The FTA channels on Satellite are encrypted with Videogard &/or NDS (& Irdeto in some cases) last time I looked .....

Years ago some Third party STB's (non- Foxtel STB's) could use a Foxtel card to decrypt the FTA channels, but not any more The Foxtel IQHD card will only work in a Foxtel STB now,

But hey, we would like to know about it if you find a way to get it to work ......?

cheers

[gordon_s1942]

As far as I am aware the installer will 'loop' the terrestrial TV channels through the STB and then they will activate the STB to receive those channels if as Osirus says you are in a Terrestrial TV area.

From various reports this means that if you were to 'relocate' the STB to another area, you may NOT get the Terrestrial channels for that area if they use different frequencies than those you have in you area.
'Relocation' will NOT effect the PayTV channels in any way.

There are changes coming in the future with the type of STB's being given to new customers but I believe all new customers in the now defunct Austar areas will get a Mystar STB in place of the old Titan and Atlas STB which will be eventually phased out, whether or not you elect to have the HD channels which are at an additional cost per month.

By only providing either an IQ or Mystar they hope by having the STB there, you will add the HD option eventually.
Also only having one type of STB to service and supply makes it better for them too.

While it wont happen overnight, I think that eventually there will only be one type of STB used through out Australia.

[dylan1980]

just noticed they are protected, but wouldnt iqhd be able to decode it? would it be possible to tune into the unprotected fta channels from outside the foxtel package?
i cant imagine its as simple as an account block, if so im gunna be making a foxtel rep very unhappy on the phone...

hi gordon, not sure what would be looped, the iqhd has no terrestrial tuners so would have to be satellite channels.

i know its abit off, but ive seen videos of open/third party sat boxes tuning into a frequency and scanning available channels. surely iqhd does something similiar, likely from the secret installer menu.

[gordon_s1942]

I have just been watching ch 432 dealing with the Mystar SD and HD models and both have connections for a Terrestrial TV antenna to be connected.
I remember a friend who had the SD version said he could not tune the HD portion of terrestrial FTA TV.
It is my understanding your viewing area is determined by your Post code and this is set by Foxtel and not through by any menus on the STB.
This access is controlled the same way as when you want to add or remove program packages, order a Main Event or a Movie by commands sent by satellite to the STB direct from the Computer at Foxtel.

Being 'outside' Sydney I am sure you will NOT receive 7,9 or 10 from the satellite, only the ABC and SBS unless your on a shared Satellite dish which prevents certain channels from being received.
I am sure the IQ/Mystar remote control has a button that while you may not be able to record Terrestrial TV, it lets you choose between the Pay Channels and the Terrestrial channels without having to use the TV remote to select either.

[mtv]

If you don't want to accept the facts you've been told, that's your choice.
What OSIRUS has explained to you is accurate, that the 'access' to FTA channels is determined by the installation address.
ALL FTA (eg: Australian FTA network) channels are encrypted.
The installer has no say or ability to change access to FTA channels.
As explained, access is programed into your decoder's smartcard.
If you want the FTA channels, just use a terrestrial antenna and the terrestrial tuner in your TV or a terrestrial STB, or you could purchase a VAST satellite receiver and register as a traveller to gain access to FTA channels, but they are regional channels, not the metropolitan networks.

[dylan1980]

what facts havent i accepted? i was asking how to tune a frequency on the iqhd box, ive heard of people doing it. if its as simple as an address then maybe i could pretend to change my address or?

[mtv]

what facts havent i accepted? i was asking how to tune a frequency on the iqhd box, ive heard of people doing it. if its as simple as an address then maybe i could pretend to change my address or?

Well, you continue to ask how to do things you can't do, despite being told factual information here.

That would suggest you are refusing to believe what you are being told.

You ask for advice, but when you get it, you don't accept it.

The Foxtel boxes/smartcards are locked. You cannot tunedecode/display anything, including any FTA unencrypted satellite frequencies on Foxtel decoders.

How do you 'pretend' to change your address?

Even if you were to have Foxtel installed at a different address, which has commercial FTA channels available via satellite and you were to then physically relocate the decoder to another address, it would still only have access to the FTA channels available from the original registered installation address.

The only thing I can think of you may have heard and misinterpreted is with Mystar boxes, they also have a terrestrial tuner, which is set to receive 'terrestrial' channels from your local area.

As some areas may be able to receive 'terrestrial' signals from more than a single transmission site, it's possible to change the default 'local' terrestrial transmission site to another transmission site which covers the same area. Eg: exactly the same terrestrial channels, but with a more-reliable signal.

This scenario only applies to the Mystar terrestrial tuner..... not any FTA 'commercial' networks via satellite on ANY Foxtel decoder.

Hopefully that may clear up any misunderstanding.

There are a lot of people who would like to do exactly the same thing as you are wanting to do.

As OSIRUS said, if you do manage to find out if there 'is' a way, we'd love you to share it with us.

[dylan1980]

i thought i was just following up on stuff, not disagreeing with anything. about the address thing, i was given the impression that once activated one could move location and provided the satellite and cables are pre set the service would resume as activation is direct to the box/card. like you say the channels available are linked to the account/card so im gussing a simple address change in the online account management wouldnt work, was thinkin if i beg a foxtel rep strongly enough theyd allow and address change. or maybe the traveller thing?

im not confused with terrestrial tuners/signals. i read somewhere that an installer manually tuned in a signal and changed some loader settings. heres the link, message 7

[admin]

i thought i was just following up on stuff, not disagreeing with anything. about the address thing, i was given the impression that once activated one could move location and provided the satellite and cables are pre set the service would resume as activation is direct to the box/card. like you say the channels available are linked to the account/card so im gussing a simple address change in the online account management wouldnt work, was thinkin if i beg a foxtel rep strongly enough theyd allow and address change. or maybe the traveller thing?

im not confused with terrestrial tuners/signals. i read somewhere that an installer manually tuned in a signal and changed some loader settings. heres the link, message 7

All Foxtel channels, whether they are their channels or retransmitted free to air channels are NDS encrypted. NDS is the encryption system which Foxtel uses.

Its locked up tighter than a fishes arse, you cant request them, you cant hack them and you cant access them. As Osirus mentioned, the only way you can get them is if you are in a specified area.

You can move the box wherever you like, its not going to make any difference to the channels transmitted by Satellite. Which are different to channels received via Free to air terrestrial tuner.

There is no traveller thing.....terms of service state that your Foxtel box stays where it is installed. You may be confusing this with VAST.

[admin]

The person in the post you are quoting states they are in Gippsland which I am sure is an Austar area. They would have an Austar box with a terrestrial tuner....they are receiving their local FTA channels via their antenna and with some antenna fiddling you can access Melbourne channels as well. It has nothing to do with a loader setting, they could have the same scenario on their TV without an Austar box.

[OSIRUS]

We get regional channels in Gippsland vic and Melbourne channels to all the tech did was look at the strongest signal then got foxtel to change a loader setting so we can get prime southern cross ten win just get foxtel to set it up

Is this the (above) post you are referring to ?

The poster does not give enough details, like what STB he is talking about (IQ or Mystar) & if it is Foxtel cable or satellite ......

It really sounds to me like this poster is talking about a Mystar STB (which has a terrestrial tuner) because he says "then got foxtel to change a loader setting so we can get prime southern cross ten win" ......

There is no Foxtel IQ Satellite STB that can "get prime southern cross ten win" from the satellite ......

& to confuse matters even more the post before this post quoted above was about Foxtel Cable channels ....... evidenced by the fact he talked about getting 7 mate though the Foxtel IQ STB (only available on Foxtel Cable & a cable Foxtel STB)

Anyway ...... all you need to know is the only terrestrial FTA channels on Foxtel Satellite are for people who live in the Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane areas,

[dylan1980]

ok sorry for being such a newbie, thanks all for helping out.

how bout the hdd upgrade deal, ive read some really old posts about installing a 1tb hdd then a firmware update was released to corrupt the filesystem if more than 500gb was used. any recent news on this, is it safe to install a 500gb hdd now days?

[gordon_s1942]

You are keen to say the least as you havent even had the STB installed yet and you want to change the HDD already.

Just using my Rule of Thumb that it takes up 5GB per hour, that would give you 100 hours of recording on a 500GB HDD.
Now be warned that if your thinking of keeping everything recorded for ever, that is very risky as HDD's and STB's have been know to fail and loose EVERYTHING that was recorded on it and you can only watch the Simpsons just so many times............

[dylan1980]

yeah lol keen as... i dont plan to keep recordings, 100 hours would be awesome if the box will take to a 500gb hdd without corruption. the stock 320 gb is pretty lame, 30 hours of hd content isnt much with so many channels.

does anyone know if the iqhd can still be upgraded to a 500gb hdd without problems?

[gordon_s1942]

dylan, there is a well known saying that 'I have 500 channels and nothing worth watching' is sooooo true.
Also there are just so many programs you can watch before you dissolve into a gelatinous mass.

Again I say, get the stb installed, go beserk over the next few weeks with what you have and then you can see if really need for more recording space.
Also there is NOT 24/7 of NEW programs on all channels as they repeat if not later that day, the next day or even in the next month or months but, repeat they do.

[Seymour Butts]

and repeat and repeat and repeat - god know why I keep Foxtel, ohhh that's right My wife and Days of our lives - you can all see the thumb print can't you ?? (imagine me placing an imaginary thumb print on my forehead here)

[dylan1980]

i guess 320gb will do till iq3 is released, no point fixing what isnt broke... dont even have it yet lol.
thx for putting up with me being a pain in the butt haha, get it on wed so see what happens yet