Have Austar Changed Encryption On Their Cards?

[Tassie Devil]

Were changes made last night?

We had one program from Bio recorded on the Topfield at 8.30 pm but it was corrupted within the hour + no stations were available - all gave the little red "not available " bar.

This morning I reinstalled the Austar STB and had no problems. But reinstalling the card into the Topfield gave no joy, even after rescanning. I even tried another CAM but still no stations.

So, my conclusion is that Austar has cleverly managed to make their card inoperable in anything but their STB or their new Mystar toy. Correct?

Most frustrating. It will not entice me into Mystar but frighten me away from Austar completely into the other service as soon as my contract expires in a month or so.

So, in the meantime it looks like reverting to the old unsatisfactory Austar STB/DVDR setup which requires manual channel change. A PIA but so was having to copy all recordings on the Toppy to secure them. There is still 200 mb of recordings on the Toppy to catch up on eventually so all is not lost except the inconvenience of manual channel changing.

John

[bh2001]

I had the same problem with my Mediastar and called up Austar. The word is they have made changes to "help stamp out piracy" and as they don't support their cards in third party boxes they aren't worried if that stops the legit cards working in non-Austar boxes. In other words -we want everyone to get a Mystar.

I did notice there are newer cams than the one I've got (purple vers. 2.20). I'm wondering if that might help solve the problem? Anyone know?

[morewood]

[same here ..............my Mediastar stopped decrypting last night, I wonder if it is just the Austar cards would the gamma cards still work? if so it looks like Austar are just trying to force the genuine subscribers on to Mystar

[DrP]

Check the piracy bust thread in the Foxtel section.

I did notice there are newer cams than the one I've got (purple vers. 2.20). I'm wondering if that might help solve the problem?

No it will not help.

[Stockman]

I have a purple cam H:w1.2.2 S:v3.3.0 (I believe its softcell v2.26). Lost contact yesterday afternoon.....

[Tassie Devil]

Check the piracy bust thread in the Foxtel section.

No it will not help.

Do you mean this one? http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=65354

One thread made reference to Austech forum discussions but Googling did not find it.

Last August Crikey had an article heralding changes were likely http://www.crikey.com.au/Business/20070806...ming-back-.html

Is there a Topfield forum out there somewhere for satellite PVRs?

John

[DrP]

Do you mean this one? http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=65354

Yes.

[Keepleft]

Dr P = 'yes', red warnings are wonderful.

Seems on the face of it to be an encrypted camkey. In one respect its good to know where people stand and this action sends a clear message to Austar subscribers (and to pirate card holders) 'no third party boxes'.

Austech folk say they couldn't kill off the white-card phenomenon, well all of them, but simply encrypted the camkey rendering not the cards, but the boxes, be they CI or embedded encryption units useless. (I heard the 'opentel' up to the change was opening up the provider without a card).

With 5.3 cards you can make them also not CS as was reported in the weeks leading up to all this.

Can't see that many would cancel though, and I'd hope (against hope) folk with third party boxes goto SelecTV/Aurora/FTA etc.

At leat folk know where they stand.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Keepleft

[sjsh]

Frankly speaking Austar is bloody disgrace. I have 2 outlets and hence 2 of their useless stbs....so i can still strain my eyes to see the shockingly inferior and totally unclear picture quality they deliver via the red white yellow analog connection!!!! Wonder if we could mount a class action against Austar (crapstar) for the damage their inferior stbs are causing to our eyesight together with the fact that they are an enforced monopoly - I aint jokin. Please don't anyone bother to suggest an upgrade to Mystar experts say it is "IQ inferior" and a waste of money. And why should we be forced to pay more to get a decent picture anyway? BTW an IQ sub is less expensive that the crapstar sub...go figure that rip off. I have been able to enjoy a superior quality pic using my wonderful Mediastar till yesterday. I can only re-iterate what i've written elsewhere that our prays for Foxtel to take over this fascist rip off go ahead. Selectv couldn't care less what unit u use (but they are not really an option for the vast majority of crapstar subscribers coz they don't deliver the full Foxtel product range we are after)...we are after all paying for a SUBSCIPTION card only coz the stb don't value add anything! It's EXACTLY the same as saying you can only use a GSM card in one particular mobile phone (and where that occurs you get a massive discount) a concept not known by crapstar. Think some contact with the ACCC might be needed as crapstar forces us to pay more that Foxtel for the same product delivered on an inferior stb which causes severe eye strain and headaches and is an enforced monopoly. Any suggestion that this latest crapstar trick is to stop piracy is fallacious. Phone GSM SIM cards don't require a specific hand set to stop piracy. This is just another slap dash lazy cheap crapstar gimmick. And no, there is no Harry Potter magic involved in the production and mainentance of sub cards, the principle is exactly the same as any other GSM/SIM card and to argue otherwise is total baloney. It's a case of feed the dumb masses who know nothing about this "magical satellite wizardry" crap to shut em up. It's a pull the wool over their eyes job. It's time we took action rather than passively sit back paying through the nose for a product clearly is not being delivered in an acceptible manner and form. To be expected to sign up for Mystar to have an acceptible picture quality is extortion.

[Tassie Devil]

Frankly speaking Austar is bloody disgrace. I have 2 outlets and hence 2 of their useless stbs....so i can still strain my eyes to see the shockingly inferior and totally unclear picture quality they deliver via the red white yellow analog connection!!!! Wonder if we could mount a class action against Austar (crapstar) for the damage their inferior stbs are causing to our eyesight together with the fact that they are an enforced monopoly - I aint jokin. Please don't anyone bother to suggest an upgrade to Mystar experts say it is "IQ inferior" and a waste of money. And why should we be forced to pay more to get a decent picture anyway? BTW an IQ sub is less expensive that the crapstar sub...go figure that rip off. I have been able to enjoy a superior quality pic using my wonderful Mediastar till yesterday. I can only re-iterate what i've written elsewhere that our prays for Foxtel to take over this fascist rip off go ahead. Selectv couldn't care less what unit u use (but they are not really an option for the vast majority of crapstar subscribers coz they don't deliver the full Foxtel product range we are after)...we are after all paying for a SUBSCIPTION card only coz the stb don't value add anything! It's EXACTLY the same as saying you can only use a GSM card in one particular mobile phone (and where that occurs you get a massive discount) a concept not known by crapstar. Think some contact with the ACCC might be needed as crapstar forces us to pay more that Foxtel for the same product delivered on an inferior stb which causes severe eye strain and headaches and is an enforced monopoly. Any suggestion that this latest crapstar trick is to stop piracy is fallacious. Phone GSM SIM cards don't require a specific hand set to stop piracy. This is just another slap dash lazy cheap crapstar gimmick. And no, there is no Harry Potter magic involved in the production and mainentance of sub cards, the principle is exactly the same as any other GSM/SIM card and to argue otherwise is total baloney. It's a case of feed the dumb masses who know nothing about this "magical satellite wizardry" crap to shut em up. It's a pull the wool over their eyes job. It's time we took action rather than passively sit back paying through the nose for a product clearly is not being delivered in an acceptible manner and form. To be expected to sign up for Mystar to have an acceptible picture quality is extortion.

Whew, you ARE annoyed!!!

But rather than blame Austar for all this we should blame the pirates. If they had not been taking for free what we have been paying for then maybe the cost might have come down because of the broader subscriber base & we might still have been able to use whatever PVR etc we chose.

But that is history now so it is not much use throwing sand in the sandbox about it all.

Bottom line, it is a business and Austar have been losing money until recently so their charges are not really a rip off. It is a free country - we do not have to subscribe.

However, as I posted above, I'll be shifting across to Select as soon as the contract runs out and will not be joining the Mystar fiasco.

John

[DrP]

Seems on the face of it to be an encrypted camkey

All I'll say on this subject, for a few weeks, is 'look further than camkeys'.

In one respect its good to know where people stand and this action sends a clear message to Austar subscribers (and to pirate card holders) 'no third party boxes'.

As has been pointed out numerous times already, Austars T&C left no room for any lack of understanding. Thou shalt not. How much clearer could Austar have made it?

[DrP]

so i can still strain my eyes to see the shockingly inferior and totally unclear picture quality they deliver via the red white yellow analog connection!!!!

All Austar STBs have svideo outputs as well as composite. Perhaps you should consider using the svideo output.

Any suggestion that this latest crapstar trick is to stop piracy is fallacious.

No matter how you contest it there is significantly less piracy of Austar going on today than there was yesterday, so perhaps not as fallacious as you suggest.

[Douglas]

...so i can still strain my eyes to see the shockingly inferior and totally unclear picture quality they deliver via the red white yellow analog connection!!!!

1. S-Video is available on most boxes, as Dr. P has said. Hell, my grandfather's old Omega has one!

2. I've always watched Austar through Composite video connected to the VCR, then to teh telly through both RF and Composite, and notice no picture degredation on the RF unless the Victorian antenna is being used. I have no idea why you're whinging, I've never seen any difference whatsoever between composite and component anyway.

[Tassie Devil]

1. S-Video is available on most boxes, as Dr. P has said. Hell, my grandfather's old Omega has one!

2. I've always watched Austar through Composite video connected to the VCR, then to teh telly through both RF and Composite, and notice no picture degredation on the RF unless the Victorian antenna is being used. I have no idea why you're whinging, I've never seen any difference whatsoever between composite and component anyway.

Differences will show up on some systems & displays. The scaled up video using the (now useless) Toppy 500 has been excellent on most material (and not so good on inferior material) and that was using component out (converted RGB). But the PQ was just as good from s-video -> DVDR -> component etc. So IMHO s-video is better than composite - it all depends on both the following processing and the display being used (in our case the signal -> iScan VP50 pro -> Sony VW200 projector via HDMI).

Horses for courses (and its looking like an old Grey mare at the moment).

Got to go

John

[own-goal]

Mystar box is ****

LET US USE OUR OWN AUSTAR

[mtv]

LET US USE OUR OWN AUSTAR

Meaning what, exactly?

[Douglas]

Mystar box is ****

LET US USE OUR OWN AUSTAR

I've never seen the reason why people want to use 3rd Party decoders. I like the MyStar (we're one of the lucky few, or lucky one, who don't have to restart it often), and wouldn't give it up for all the chocolate in the space-time continuum. Granted it has it's flaws, but, then again, pretty much everything has flaws.

And besides, on 3rd party boxes, you have problems such as these and the fact you can't get the Weather Active, etc., stuff would annoy me. And besides, the boxes they give you are free. Why fork out for something that does the job competently?

[DrP]

Why fork out for something that does the job competently?

The day that 'competently' can be truely applied to one of Austar's boxes is the day that I will agree with you.

[Douglas]

The day that 'competently' can be truely applied to one of Austar's boxes is the day that I will agree with you.

I define a competent Austar box as one that descrambles the channels and spits them out to the television. My old Omega did that, and my Mystar does that as well.

[Bijengum]

I've never seen the reason why people want to use 3rd Party decoders. I like the MyStar (we're one of the lucky few, or lucky one, who don't have to restart it often), and wouldn't give it up for all the chocolate in the space-time continuum. Granted it has it's flaws, but, then again, pretty much everything has flaws.

And besides, on 3rd party boxes, you have problems such as these and the fact you can't get the Weather Active, etc., stuff would annoy me. And besides, the boxes they give you are free. Why fork out for something that does the job competently?

What do you mean free' They want $50 install and $15/month.

[Douglas]

What do you mean free' They want $50 install and $15/month.

<bangs head on table>

Okay, the standard decoders are free(ish). the Mystar they want you to pay for. Stupid me!

[Jason_dinAlt]

All I'll say on this subject, for a few weeks, is 'look further than camkeys'.

DrP are you hinting it may be a 2 way marriage thing with the card? I cant see that for a couple of reasons.

my two austar cards, chucky and spongebob are both 4.1s which can not be two way married, 5.x yes, 4.1 no, and neither give pics in any of my third party boxes, all but the humax and topfield give a black screen, the humax and topfield say scrambled dispite showing EMM and ECMs being updated in the Cam status.

[DrP]

I define a competent Austar box as one that descrambles the channels and spits them out to the television. My old Omega did that, and my Mystar does that as well.

I define 'competent' as works properly. Safe to say that none of Austar's boxes actually work properly. Bugs of all types abound and lets not forget that regular automated restart to try to keep a lid on things either. Oh and its best you don't mention the mystar when it comes to 'competent' operation.

[Chappas]

What do you mean free' They want $50 install and $15/month.

Some of the people here could earn alot more than $15 a month if they were paid to post to this forum - all of our contributions individually could earn about $15 a month if we were all paid to post.

[Keepleft]

I define a competent Austar box as one that descrambles the channels and spits them out to the television. My old Omega did that, and my Mystar does that as well.

Good for sheep, yes.

But third party boxes, such as those used folk who take the card and use them in caravans etc when on hols (some along with Aurora too), will now have to lug the 'boxy' Austar decoder with them. No Signal or Quality meter for setting the dish, just BER etc that mum n pops simply do not savvy.

Then the PVR set such as myself I guess (Toppy PVR4000/5000-Mediastar, and thats not the Mediastar that upscales via HDMI btw, but its sister 'basic' PVR) used these waaaaayyyy before MyStar came along, these are much better products and whilst not usable for 'ACTIVE' and not that that is a big deal in my view, but are NOT simply restricted to the one provider, but opened up a whole new world of viewing from Al Jazeera International on the same satellite that carries Foxtel/Austar/Aurora, to multitudes of other chanels (Incl niche) on both C band and Ku;

VOA TV, NOW, Channel News Asia, NASA TV, Russia Today, Press TV Iran, News feeds unedited, English language Saudi channel, Arirang TV, Afghan and Iraqi channels, Indonesian channels, China's CCTV's, NOW TV, English Movie Channel on T18, heck- even X porn if you wanted it etc and so on. Even a few FTA high def IF you have a DVB-S2 receiver.

As much as I'd like to think folk would backlash and cancel, I'd accept only a small portion of folk used the boxes and would retaliate by cancelling. The provider banks on that of course.

But as we know, they have deliberately done this to kill off the piracy white-card phenomenon, but the move restricts trade to an effect, even though T&C's prohibit so.

SelecTV is the only domestic 'pay' option now, but they are consumer friendly and need support. Aurora is of course a one off fee.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Keepleft