Introduction
Brief description of how they work:
If a signal is broadcasted without any coding, everybody who has a FTA receiver can watch the transmission.
When a signal is broadcasted in coding (let's assume Seca), but without further scrambling, everybody who has a Seca receiver, will be able to view the transmission. FTA receivers or receivers suited for other coding systems, will not properly decode the transmission.
Providers sometimes do this to attract new viewers.
The more normal procedure is however that the provider will scramble the signal in such a way that you will only get a clear viewable picture if you have the necessary keys. Those keys are contained on your smart card.
What Smart card types are there:
Below you will find a brief description of some of the many variations of card types available. There are even more types around, but this gives a nice insight of the diversity you can come across.
Every card type has its own specifications, largely dependent on the processor type. All PIC- and MultiMac cards use PIC type processors. Both Jupiter cards and the Fun card use AVR type Atmel processors. For use in the satellite hobby (i.e. decoding of coded and scrambled signals) any of these cards will do the job, provided you have files for them. There is a well argumented preference for certain card types, depending on what you are going to decode with them, but we will come to that later.
There are 2 terms/techniques which will be used on the following pages that I want to explain here first:
- HMD (Hole Mounted Device) this is an older technique where relatively
large components are mounted and soldered through holes in the PCB
- SMD (Surface Mounted Device) a newer technique utilizing smaller
components which are soldered on the same side of the PCB that they
are mounted on.
The memory:
There seems to be some confusion regarding the size of the memory on Smart Cards. That probably has to do with the way the memory is mentioned. The memory type is generaly indicated in Kilobit size. So 24C16 means 16 Kilobit. And because each Kilobyte (Kb) consists of 8 Kilobits, a 24C16 has 2Kb.
Cleaning:
On the enlarged view of the cards contact points you can see the drag marks. Those tiny horizontal and vertical lines are seperators. They seperate the individual contacts. Over time, the drag marks can collect so much dirt that the contact between the card and the programmer or CAM/Receiver suffers from it. If that is the case, you should clean the contacts. You can best use a simple pencil eraser for that purpose. Rub the contacts well. You will see when the dirt is gone.
TIP:
Generally Smart Card types are easily recognisable. Allmost every plastic card carries some tekst by which you can identify them. But if that is not the case with your card, or if the type designator doesn't mean anything to you, then you better mark the card yourself. Just write the type at the back of the card for instance.
If a signal is broadcasted without any coding, everybody who has a FTA receiver can watch the transmission.
When a signal is broadcasted in coding (let's assume Seca), but without further scrambling, everybody who has a Seca receiver, will be able to view the transmission. FTA receivers or receivers suited for other coding systems, will not properly decode the transmission.
Providers sometimes do this to attract new viewers.
The more normal procedure is however that the provider will scramble the signal in such a way that you will only get a clear viewable picture if you have the necessary keys. Those keys are contained on your smart card.
What Smart card types are there:
Below you will find a brief description of some of the many variations of card types available. There are even more types around, but this gives a nice insight of the diversity you can come across.
Every card type has its own specifications, largely dependent on the processor type. All PIC- and MultiMac cards use PIC type processors. Both Jupiter cards and the Fun card use AVR type Atmel processors. For use in the satellite hobby (i.e. decoding of coded and scrambled signals) any of these cards will do the job, provided you have files for them. There is a well argumented preference for certain card types, depending on what you are going to decode with them, but we will come to that later.
There are 2 terms/techniques which will be used on the following pages that I want to explain here first:
- HMD (Hole Mounted Device) this is an older technique where relatively
large components are mounted and soldered through holes in the PCB
- SMD (Surface Mounted Device) a newer technique utilizing smaller
components which are soldered on the same side of the PCB that they
are mounted on.
The memory:
There seems to be some confusion regarding the size of the memory on Smart Cards. That probably has to do with the way the memory is mentioned. The memory type is generaly indicated in Kilobit size. So 24C16 means 16 Kilobit. And because each Kilobyte (Kb) consists of 8 Kilobits, a 24C16 has 2Kb.
Cleaning:
On the enlarged view of the cards contact points you can see the drag marks. Those tiny horizontal and vertical lines are seperators. They seperate the individual contacts. Over time, the drag marks can collect so much dirt that the contact between the card and the programmer or CAM/Receiver suffers from it. If that is the case, you should clean the contacts. You can best use a simple pencil eraser for that purpose. Rub the contacts well. You will see when the dirt is gone.
TIP:
Generally Smart Card types are easily recognisable. Allmost every plastic card carries some tekst by which you can identify them. But if that is not the case with your card, or if the type designator doesn't mean anything to you, then you better mark the card yourself. Just write the type at the back of the card for instance.