Hi, Thinking of getting a Technomate 1000ci Super as a replacement for my S*y box in Ireland. Can it be programed to work just like my (cable) Starview Box? Will it autoupdate? Is the Technomate 1000ci Super a good choice or should I get a different one?
Technomate boxes will only decode non-scrambled Sky channels as far as I'm aware. Unless you've got a sky viewing card and a valid subscription you'll just get the "freesat" channels on Astra 28.2E. If you patch it you can point the dish at Astra 19.3E or Hotbird (13.0E I think) and pick up scrambled off-shore channels, but not the scrambled Sky ones.
Just to clarify, it's not just technomate boxes that don't work. I don't think any of the boxes can decode the Videoguard signal that BskyB broadcast without a valid card. Most of the foreign networks use Nagravision or Viaccess which are emulated on the boxes when you patch them (Starview uses a Nagra emulator to unscramble the N*L channels).
Unfortunately not. NDS (who run Videoguard) only supply the smart cards to decode them through sky and directv. There's actually a bit of contraversy surrounding NDS and VG. It was "apparently" NDS who first broke the Nagravision, Mediaguard and Viaccess codes and distributed them on the internet in an attempt to get the satellite companies to switch to Videoguard (which hasn't been cracked). If you search for "Canal+ NDS Lawsuit" you'll probably be able to find something about it. NDS is in Rupert Murdoch's back pocket, they get a lot of money from New Corp (BskyB) to keep one step ahead of the hackers. There is a small glimer of hope though, apparently the older Pace and Amstrad Sky boxes can be reverse-engineered in order to make a CAM. Nobody's done it yet but I'm sure lots of people are trying.
