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Cable card and satellite tuner question
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Minnesota
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Dec 4, 2006, 07:34 AM
 
I finally got a flat screen tv which has a spot for a cable card. I have dish network and I noticed my satellite box has a credit card thing inside it. Is this a cable card? Can I put this in my tv and dump my satellite box?
     
OAW
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Join Date: May 2001
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Dec 4, 2006, 10:35 AM
 
That card in your satellite box is in all likelihood proprietary to Dish Network. Additionally, I don't think the Cable Card standard is applicable to satellite companies at all. It is a cable company thing only.

OAW
     
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
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Dec 4, 2006, 10:49 AM
 
The card in your satellite receiver is a "smart card" that authenticates you as a legit user. A "cableCARD" is a PC card that handles digital cable channel decryption for you (the smart card is just your user credential-the satellite box does the decoding and decrypting for you on a satellite system).
Glenn -----
OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Washington state
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Dec 4, 2006, 03:45 PM
 
Your cable company will be happy to give/rent you a cable card. In the Seattle area, they are no cost IF you have a subscription to Comcast digital cable. (They must be "authorized" after they are installed.) sam
     
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: FL Cape
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Dec 4, 2006, 04:35 PM
 
The internal tuner of a cablecard television is vastly different in technical functionality than a satellite tuner. A QAM tuner (HD cable spec) receives data typically in the 0-750 mhz range, and is rf only. A Satellite tuner has to first send electricity over the cable lines to your dish (13v/18v DC) to power the LNBFs and also a tone for satellite selection (22khz). After it has done this the dish sends the signal back to your receiver at a frequency between 950-2150 mhz (250-750 as well with directv ka-lo). They do both decode mpeg2 signals for now, but that too is changing in the satellite arena with the introduction of mpeg4.

Basically, even if you obtained a cablecard the tv's internal tuner can't power the dish or receive the much higher frequency signals used in a dbs system. Totally incompatible technologies.

Directv does have manufacturing agreements with a few companies (Humax, Samsung) to manufacture televisions with integrated Directv receivers. This is about the only way you can get a single unit solution with satellite television.
     
   
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