[mythtv-users] OT: DirecTV STB, Lease vs Own?

Robert Johnston anaerin at gmail.com
Sat Apr 8 03:33:07 UTC 2006


On 4/7/06, Kichigai Mentat <kichigai at comcast.net> wrote:
> > No, I'm positive that we can use one dish for multiple boxes, unless
> > they put 4 dishes on the roof (we already have 4 STBs, and one of them
> > is a DirecTivo with 2 tuners). I was just curious if we could add more
> > boxes with no fee if we own them, but I see that is a resounding no
>
> Just out of curiosity, how did you come up with that "resounding no"?
> I'm kind of curious how DirecTV can track that, or enforce it.
> ComCast can't do it, and they run physical lines carrying data (in
> some cases, two-way data) into the house.

Satellite is limited by the number of "LNB"'s on a dish. The most you
can get in one satellite reciever (The bit that points at the dish) is
a "Quad LNB" (4 channels), but with some juducious juggling and a
special adapter you can fit 2 recievers onto 1 dish (It means a slight
hit in signal quality for both recievers, but the capability of up to
8 channels).

The way that DishTV (And other satellite providers) can track how you
are using the system is by the simple expident of requiring a physical
smart card (The CAM - Conditional Access Module). If you are renting 2
boxes, you get 2 CAMs. And unless you partake in any illegal
activities, that means you can have a maximum of 2 boxes running at
any one time.
--
Robert "Anaerin" Johnston


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