Equipment
The installation:
What do you need in order to receive satellite images on your TV:
1. A satellite dish which captures the satellite signals.
2. A LNB(also sometimes called converter) which converts the satellite signals into TV signals.
3. A receiver which functions as a tuner for the satellites TV signals.
Then there are a few options which can increase the possibilities:
4. A CI / CAM to decode coded signals.
5. A smart card which enables you to view certain coded channels.
A little bit of theory:
1. The dish:
Choose your dish carefully. The size of the dish should be optimized for the satellite(s) you wish to receive signals from. Don't choose it too small, but don't choose it too large either. In both cases the TV image will suffer. With a too small dish, you don't get enough signal, with a too big one you get too much. And too much isn't good for the quality of your TV image either.
2. The LNB:
A LNB (converter) captures the signals which are projected by the dish and sends the signals to your receiver. There are many different types of LNB's available. If you just want to comfortably watch satellite programs, choose a universal LNB. They are suited for the reception of most frequencies used by the majority of the popular providers on Astra and Hotbird.
3. The receiver:
The simplest type of receiver is the pure FTA receiver. FTA stands for Free To Air. Do you have such a pure FTA receiver, then all you can do is hope that there will be free satellite providers for a long time to come. Especially Germany has many free satellite providers to offer. For the most part however, the satellite providers code their signals.
If you want to be able to view those coded channels, you will need a decoder. Such a decoder is called Conditional Access Module (CAM), also sometimes called Common Interface (CI).
4. The CI/CAM:
The terms CI and CAM are often used interchangeably as if they would mean exactly the same. That is not really the case though. To be very precise: A CAM is a PCMCIA module - as they are found in laptops too - especially adapted to work in satellite receivers. A CI is the slot in the receiver into which the CAM can be put. However, CAM's are not always inserted in a receiver via the use of a CI. Sometimes a CAM is built fixed into the receiver. If that's the case, the CAM is called embedded CAM.
A CAM is needed whenever a coded signal is to be decoded. Some examples of coding systems used in satellite TV: Alphacrypt, Conax, Cryptoworks, Irdeto, Nagravision, Seca, and Viaccess. There is a dedicated CAM version for every one of the mentioned coding systems.
5. The smart card:
Decoding the basic coding system alone however doesn't always open the channels for you. You will need the correct key. If you don't have the correct key, you are offered a nice black screen with an error message telling you that the channel is scrambled. That's exactly what happens. The provider uses a basic coding system which is universal to all providers who use that system. On top of that every provider uses his own private scrambling system.
That's where the smart cards come in. The smart card contains the key(s) that is needed to unscramble the signal.
How does it work (in a nutshell):
Signals transmitted without any coding, can be received by every (suitable) receiver and turned into a proper TV signal.
Coded signals that are not scrambled, can be viewed if you have a receiver capable of decoding that code system. So if a provider broadcasts in Seca for example and they decide to offer a unscrambled preview, you can watch that broadcast if you have a receiver capable of decoding Seca. However, if you have a Irdeto receiver, you will not see a proper image on your TV screen.
If a signal is broadcasted in Seca coding and with a specific provider scrambling on top of that, you will need not only a proper Seca receiver, but you will need a valid smart card too in order to display a proper TV image.
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