BajaNomad

Baja TV

MrBillM - 11-15-2008 at 06:27 PM

I read a release dated 11-10 that said Bell Express-Vu had almost completed their switchover to Nagra 3 encryption rendering their service unwatchable by FTA. Dish is said to be watching and waiting to see the result before their changeover.

Anybody in Baja watching Express-Vu via FTA ? Is it gone ?

Wondering ??

If it ain't it soon will be

Dave - 11-15-2008 at 07:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MrBillM
Anybody in Baja watching Express-Vu via FTA ? Is it gone ?


I keep telling friends who will listen NOT to buy a FTA receiver. The fat lady will soon sing.

gnukid - 11-15-2008 at 08:07 PM

ha ha

CasaChristie - 11-17-2008 at 12:57 PM

Korean technos are already working on the descrambling codes and think there they will breach the new codes within weeks of the change. It will be interesting to see. The forums on FTA all feel this is only a temporary problem since there are millions of these systems out there and no decline in production (most made in Korea). It definitely will be interesting to see what happens.

msteve1014 - 11-17-2008 at 01:31 PM

when they scramble the signals, do you lose everything? or is it just the "good stuff". I thought a lot of the stations (satellites) were always up

losfrailes - 11-17-2008 at 01:53 PM

Msteve,

When they scramble them, they are all down except for the advertizements by Dish Network telling you to subscribe.

They've had three years

Dave - 11-17-2008 at 02:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by CasaChristie
Korean technos are already working on the descrambling codes and think there they will breach the new codes within weeks of the change.


That's how long nag3 has been up, has not been compromised and becoming more robust. Throw enough computing power around and anything's possible... But weeks? :lol:

They said the same thing about DTV cards 5 years ago. Still not hacked.

Living in Interesting Times

MrBillM - 11-17-2008 at 02:14 PM

It will, indeed, be interesting to see IF there is an FTA solution. While it might be that existing FTA receivers won't be adaptable to Nagra 3 decoding, it makes one wonder IF the various manufacturers might simply come out with a revised unit. That, of course, would play into Echostar's previous argument in their lawsuit that the VOLUME of FTA receivers being sold isn't justified by the actual FTA market and cause the courts to take another look at the question of customer lists.

I copied this "simple" explanation of the theory behind the various Nagra encryptions from dssgeeks.com. I have no experience in this area, but the essence of the explanation "seems" to be that the latest version (3) simply makes the calculations enormously more complicated for the processor.

For What it's Worth:


NAGRA 1….. this works on basic addition (not really.. this is the part where I am makin’ it simpler)…. You start off with someone leaking that there was originally 3 apples in Johnny’s bucket…. The only mathematical process Nagra 1 knows is addition….. so… the provider sends down the number 5 in the data stream… through basic addition your formula tells you to add 5 apples to the original 3… you get eight and boom….. you know the answer…. A simple calculation like this would be done millions and millions of times by your receiver in seconds….. this produces your tv pic using binary language…. When the provider uses addition to change the amount of apples originally in the basket you need a new bin file to help your receiver decrypt the signal….

NAGRA 2…… Now you introduce subtraction into the mix… now the provider can change the number of apples originally in the basket both ways… add more or take some away….. the equation is twice as complicated and your receiver has to work double time…… every once in a while the equation gives you a previous number used because due to subtraction you can go back to a previous number…. This is what happens that causes a previous bin file to work…..

NAGRA 3… Ok… let’s say this bad boy can do multiplication….. now your equations are 3 times as difficult… it is harder for coders to find the formula…. Your number of original apples can now go from 100000 to 2 in a flash of a second due to multiplication…… your receiver is working triple time…… it takes the coders longer to learn how many apples are in the basket……

Bottom line… the bad news is that you may not have any apples in your basket for a while since the coders will need time to figure this out……. The good news is that they are geniuses and a whole lot of rich folks will be losing a pile of money until they get some apples back in your basket……LOL….. no worries….. we will get some downtime but we will be back up and running….