On June 9th, at 5:30pm EST, the long awaited card-killing ECM took place. This ECM was unlike past 99 ECM's, and may have a devastating impact if underground engineers cannot devise a technology to restore devices corrupted by this countermeasure. When the June 9th ECM took place, the programmer sent a new command that FF'ed the illegal access card, rendering the device unrepairable as of this article.
Most users of these devices know that past countermeasures only 99-looped the device's microprocessor and did not corrupt any data contained in the access card. The 99'ed access cards could be restored to normal operation by utilizing UN99 technology developed by a couple of clever underground engineers. Presently, there is no device available that will restore an access card that suffered the FF ECM.
Engineers within the underground told SWN, "This ECM was designed as a computer virus which corrupted several bytes of needed control data programmed into the access card by the manufacturer. This virus is very similar in design to a virus that destroys data on a computer hard drive. We are working around the clock in an attempt to devise a technology that will restore the FFed access cards to normal operation and we will let our clients know when this has been accomplished. Our number one priority will be to develop new software that will allow our customers to return to normal operation."
Howdy
While the engineers in the underground are still trying to figure out how to fix all the cards that were FF’ed during the June 6th ECM, others have been developing new software to get as many back on line as possible. From what I understand the Predator group has released version 2.0. The group claims that the 2.0 version should be very reliable.
I have had the pleasure of chatting with a few folks who purchased NorthSat Tech- nologies Card Condom. These people did not even know that the June 6th ECM occured. Amazing, don't ya think?. Them smart Canadians, first a Space Shuttle robot arm that can pick satellites out of space and stow them in the cargo bay and now a Condom that allows for ECM-freeTV viewing. Great Job Canada.
Should the engineers within the satellite underground not be able to devise a technology to restore FF’ed cards to normal operation, they claim that there is still a good supply of working cards available. "At this point it is far too early to say if we will have to use our surplus stock, it is just good to know that if we do need the cards they are available".
You can find all your favorite Wokie radio shows on SBS-6 transponder 3, 11786 Mhz 6.2 Mhz wide band audio. The network will be located here from now on unless another satellite decides to quit before it's time.
Until Next Month
This time we'll look at 1st generation RCA DSS video and Audio circuits.
The video circuit is very, very difficult to troubleshoot and repair. Compressed digital video is converted to analog video and the process is complex, so I will only mention the common problems and easy stuff. ·
Freeze-frame/Artifacts: Y3301, Y3302, U2701, U3301, Y1601, Y2701. Fortunately this symptom is usually thermal and freeze spray and a heat gun will isolate the problem. Also look for cracked solder at crystal legs and IC pins. Run a service test by pressing "Display" and the down arrow at the same time. If anything other than "OK" is displayed next to VDRAM, one of the VDRAMS is bad. ·
Bring up the signal meter screen and if the audio tone is loud, clear and normal, U1601 is probably causing the program audio trouble. If the code TMXB is printed on U1601, it has a high failure rate. Keep in mind the modulator can cause a problem with audio and/or video. Use the output jacks on the back of the receiver to verify modulator operation
Till next time,
Gene