On March 26th, 1997 the Satellite Watch News received a certified letter from the law firm of Yarmuth Wilsdon PLLC. The letter stated that DirecTv and News Datacom demand that the Satellite Watch News and editors immediately cease any further participation in illegally assisting, aiding and abetting the sales and use of counterfeit DSS access products by publishing articles and advertisements, vouching performance, intervening in user complaints by publishing letters, and our internet site contents.
Yarmuth Wilsdon are the attorneys representing DirecTv and News Datacom. This law firm is the same law firm that also on behalf of DirecTv and News Datacom, filed a civil action against test card dealers in the U.S. and throughout Canada in June 1996, naming several test card dealers and 1 to 100 John Does, for the alleged selling and distribution of DSS tm test devices.
Our position is much different from those selling test devices, We are a publication. A publication that tells both sides of a story, not just one. Our most valuable asset is our readers and advertisers. As a right guaranteed under under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, It is, and will remain, the policy of the Satellite Watch News to:
The reason people subscribe to the Satellite Watch News is a simple one; We Tell The TRUTH about an industry that has been built on corporate monopolies, and blatant lies.
If, for no other reason than the constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom of the press, it is the intention of the Satellite Watch News, a wholly owned division of Morgan Aerospace, Inc. a duly authorized corporation, incorporated in the state of Michigan, within the boundaries of the United States of America, to aggressively defend it self should any litigation be formally filed in any district, circuit or federal court.
Please visit our web site at http://i-star.com/dmorgand/ for the full text of the letter.
On March 18th DirecTv's signal security department, News Datacom, launched an "all out attack" on the cloned DSS access cards. At first it was believed that access cards loaded with the Tornado program were the only cards being hit, however, later reports indicated that cards loaded with other software were being hit as well.
The Toronto Star reported that 50,000 illegal DSS access cards were deactivated by this ECM, which is felt to be an exaggerated figure. Sources claim that a figure of 10,000 to 15,000 access cards would be a more correct figure to report.
According to sources within the underground, new software to combat this problem is ready. The only holdup for the users is the time it will take to get their plastic card restored, or un99'd, so the new software can be loaded into the card. If your card is still up and running it is advised that you remove it from the receiver until you obtain new software that has an "Anti-99-routine" incorporated into it.
March 22nd was not a good day for many battery card users and dealers that purchased battery card test devices from V-Cipher. It was reported that V-Cipher had obtained a copy of Big Guns new battery card V-3 boot strap program from an unlocked dallas RAM on a battery card, then started loading and selling Big Guns V-3 software to their own battery card customers. Since each distributor's copy of the V-3 software contains its own serial number, finding a copy of the V-3 boot strap program that was not obtained through agreed-upon terms would be no problem for the developer. After several warnings to V-Cipher, the copy of the V-3 software used in the battery card sold by V-cipher was deactivated. Big Gun said that this action is in no way directed at the end user of a battery test card purchased from V-Cipher.
Big Gun said, "We will make every attempt to help those individuals who's battery cards were shut down due to this action."More Piracy Suits Filed By DirecTv
DirecTv has filed suits against more individuals and entities for alledged signal piracy activities. Named in the suits were David Bird of American Satellite, San Bernardino, CA, Donald McLeod of Starlight Satellite in Phelan, CA, Charles Chism and Joe Garza of Home Satellite(an authorized DirecTv dealer), Riverside, CA, Steven White of Omni Satellite Systems, Los Angeles, CA. According to DirecTv, these individuals allegedly were involved in distribution of counterfeit DSS cards.
This recent action is an continued effort by DirecTv which has settled two suits stemming from last summer's 28 other suits filed in Seattle federal court. Texas-based American Mechtronix and Max Martutani, owner of Nevada-based Sierra Ventures settled their cases with DirecTv for a "six-figure" undisclosed amount. According to reports, the two parties provided vital written testimony in regards to the "operation of the conspiracy". News Datacom reportedly, has joined DirecTv as a plaintiff in the complaints.
According to reports, a tentative agreement has been made between the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and EchoStar, PrimeStar and Netlink to resolve problems on distribution of national TV networks into local markets. The agreement calls for determining elegibility of a dish owner to receive distant network signals based on local topography maps and zip codes. The maps will mark zip codes which fall within the signal strength of a local station, those that fall within that area would be ineligible to receive the distant signals from satellite vendors. A waiver may be issued for an ineligble dishowner who can not receive a clear local picture. According to an attorney for the NAB, they will be looking at whether most people in a given zip code get a grade-B-intensity signal of the local network station.
At the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association's show in Las Vegas DirecTv President Eddy Hartenstein announced that his company is working with DSS manufacturers over integrating an antenna with equipment. The off-air antenna is an option already available to consumers.
Hartenstein also spoke out about white area issues, saying consumers living in areas where affiliate signals can't be reached should be allowed to receive network programming
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Howdy All,
Are we having fun yet? Well, as you can see from the front page story, things may be starting to get a little interesting for us. Information that is published in the Satellite Watch News is intended to educate and inform the reader, it is not intended to cause any harm or loss of revenue to anyone, including TV signal providers and programmers who freely dump their signals across the boundaries of our property.
I would like to thank all of you who ordered our latest film entitled Pirate Video 9 - The DBS Story. Your phone calls telling us how delighted you are with the video is every filmmakers dream. It makes the three months of 12 to 15 hour days producing the video all worth it.
Dan is back on C-Band! Yes, folks on Thursday evenings I will be hosting the Home Satellite Radio Show. The show can be found on GE-1 transponder 7, 7.56 Mhz wide band audio and will air from 9:00 to 11:00pm est.
We still will be on the Wokie Satellite Radio Network, Wednesday nights, 9-10 p.m. on Ku-band satellite SBS6, trans. 13B
We are planning 4 great radio shows from the Orchard Lounge during the Dayton Hamvention. If you are going to the Hamvention please make it a point to stop by the Orchard Lounge or our flea market booth which is located at 3327 3328 3329 and say hello. We always like meeting our readers and radio show listeners.
Until Next Month
Dear Howard,
Please find enclosed a check for $42 for another year of your fine magazine. (SWN).
Question: I purchased a VCII big board which has a socket that a 28-pin test device can be plugged into. The epoxy, green in color, was chipped away in order to attach small wires to the U-7? (next to battery). Where can I send the board to have the battery replaced and the memory or whatever it needs to get it running with a video-only test device?
Thanks for being there for us - 1st Amendment!
Thanks
O.M.
Crawfordville, FL
Dear O.M.,
Thank you for your renewal and continued support to the Satellite Watch News. I'm sure it was a memory lapse, but Howard sold the magazine back in 1994 to me, Dan Morgan, Morgan Engineering Co., so that we may continue to keep you informed on the happenings in the satellite underground.
As to your question O.M., at this point in time there is no one that I know of doing VCII repairs. If you need the battery replaced on the VCII module we have them for sale here. If you know how to solder, changing the battery is no problem. The only working software still floating around for the old VCII modules in known as the Auto Roll. Contained in the Auto Roll are seed keys that will allow the user to get audio on some basic VCII services, such as CNN, WTBS, etc. The neat thing about the Auto Roll software is that it allows you to view video on all the VCII, VCII Plus/RS encrypted programming. The wire that is attached to U-7 could have been installed to either repair a broken trace or was required for the use of certain software. Hope this helps.
Dan
Dear Dan,
I've tried viewing the satellite pages on the internet. It really gets aggravating to wait 10 minutes to load a page because these people use so damn much graphics, or some other format such as Java Script. If these guys would spend as much time writing good reliable card files as they do these elaborate home pages, maybe the cards would stay going a little longer. They don't stop to think about the people that can't afford to buy a new fancy computer with all of the latest software. How about it, guys keep those home pages a little simpler. One example is the DR7 home page.
Thanks R.J.
NY,NY
Dear R.J.
You are correct. Some web sites do seem to take a while to load. You will find that the more elaborate web pages take longer to load than those with less on them. However, I have never waited 10 minutes for a page to load. I am running a 486/40 at 14,400 baud and the DR7 page loads in about 2 minutes. If you are running anything slower than a 368/33 and a 14,400 baud modem on the net, snail speed is what to expect.
Dan
Dear Dan,
I'm renewing my subscription for first class mailing of Satellite Watch News for another year; enclosed is payment. Your efforts to make SWN interesting and informative have not gone unnoticed. Thank you.
I have a couple of questions about the Dayton Hamfest. What are the dates of the hamfest? Is it limited solely to amateur radio? My interests are more in the area of TVRO, scanners and television dxing and to a less extent in amateur radio. Additionally, is there a person to contact in the Dayton area to get more details about this event?
Lastly, while I listen to your radio program regularly, I think it has significantly changed since you moved to KU band. It seems like your audience is smaller and perhaps less technically oriented. I realize the C-band is prohibitively expensive, but wonder if there's any way you could get back there. I'm curious to know if you have investigated or tried to find a sponsor in order to make the move back to C-band.
Respectfully,
Mike in Minnesota
Dear Mike
The Dayton Hamfest will be held May 16th, 17th and 18th. Now you ask, what type of electronic equipment is offered at the hamvention? Well, you name it and I will bet that you can find it there. For more infomation on the Dayton Hamvention refer to the ad on page 23 in this issue.
As far as getting back on C-band, it has happened. I will be hosting the Home Satellite Radio Show Thursdays, from 10-12 midnight on GE-1 transponder 7, 7.56 mhz audio. Tune in and join in on the fun....
Dan
Hi Dan,
This past summer a gold card was introduced to several of us here in the New York state area. This is a good idea know that it can be reprogrammed, however just within the last few months we were asked to mail these cards to a place in Oregon to be boot-strapped. It was explained to us that this process would make it easier to program and also that they would last longer in between hits. Please explain if the present gold cards are going to be compatible with the new generation II systems or will we have to fork out more dollars.
Thanks
Art & Dave
NY
Dear Art and Dave
From what I understand, you have not been mislead. Oregon seems to be the place. When the card change does take place, there may be software available that will work with the current battery card. However at this point this is only speculation. We will just have to wait and see.
Dan
Dear Dan.
Just a note to let you know that I did receive my 99'd cards back from North Sat Technologies.
There are a lot of rumors going around that these cards cannot be fixed, but I can tell you first hand that they can, and North Sat is the one that can fix them.
I am told that the fix rate is between 60 and 80%, but North Sat was kind enough to send me the full amount of cards I originally sent him, although they could not all be fixed. And, yes - the cards that could be fixed were the same serial numbers that I sent North Sat.
I do understand that North Sat has had some customer service problems, and that many people were upset at the length of time waiting for their orders. Well, I do know that they are very busy and are trying very hard to catch up now that the technology is complete. My advice? Hang in there, the wait is worth it.
Sincerely,
BAC
Dear BAC
Thanks for the letter. I will pass it along to Eddie at NorthSat.