Hi

I can't see the Humax 9200 listed on the topuptv website: http://www.topuptv.com/equipment_stb.htm

Is anybody using this box with topuptv? If so how did you get it enabled? Do topuptv know about this and just haven't updated their website or are there problems?

The following suggests that when the topuptv key changes (each month?) then there are big problems: http://www.pvrworld.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=75.15

Is anybody actually mangaing to use the Humax with topuptv successfully? Any caveats I need to be aware of?

thanks!

In case he doesn't see this post (gone strangely quiet lately so perhaps emigrated to PVR World ) I do recall rhubarbe posting that he had successfully viewed, recorded and played back TUTV. I seem to recall also his saying that he managed to do this using the CAM that he already had for another box so it hadn't been necessary to buy another.

You just need the buy a CAM card holder/caddy to go in the slot of your 9200 - as far as I know they're fairly generic rather than product specific - and then your monthly card.

We are succesfully using the 9200T with Top up TV, no problems encounted, either with recording from or watching any channel on TUTV. My daughter watches UK Gold all the time, we have also recorded from it, we have the Top up TV Cam installed.

Hey youngbaz! No, I'm still here. I have TUTV CAM in both the Toppy nad the 9200T. They both record and play TUTV with the card installed. You don't ned two cards though. With the CAM in place either box will record TUTV even without the card being inserted.

If you have a Toppy and a 9200T (or two Toppies, or two 9200Ts, etc) you don't need to buy a second TUTV CAM. You can of course just move the CAM and card from one to the other, but since this is a pain you could buy an Aston (Seca) CAM 1.05 on eBay (I bought one last week for £10), and use this either without the card - to record TUTV, or with the card - to watch TUTV.

I have read that it's risky to use the Aston CAM alone (without having a TUTV CAM) since the monthly updating of keys may be disabled in future if not using an official TUTV CAM, but OTOH many IDTVs are out in the wild with CAMs other than an official TUTC one, so it's a case of watch this space.

Yes, it works

I haven't been looking for problems though. I just bought a cam from Comet (£29.99, despite what some liars are saying on eBay), plugged in the TUTV card (currently registered with a pace ex-ondigital box) and it worked straight away. Don't know what will happen when the subscription needs updating, but the 9200 box clearly states it will work with TUTV, so unless you really are paranoid.......

Would the Argos £27:99 package do the job?And do the extra listings show in the TV guide.

Why is a CAM so expensive- isn't it just an interface or adapter?

I mean on the TUTV site (breaking down the individual parts of the package although they cant be purshased separately) a CAM comes out at £23 and a set-top box is £27!

No, you need the package for intergrated TVs as this includes a cam - £49.99

And yes the listings are fully intergrated into the EPG

By set top box you mean the card for one, plus advance subscription?

You could ask why they are charging £10 for a piece of plastic...

The cam is a pcmia card, the same as you fit into the side of a laptop, has a slot for the card and intergrated electronics. When you consider the retail cost of, say, a pcmia USB 2 card, and the fact that there is only one manufacturer I don't think the price is outragous. There is probably a royalty to pay for the mediaguard technology, as well.

i see, would any usb 2 pcmia card do the trick then?

No, I was quoting that as an example of the complexity of the adaptor.

You might be able to get other cams to work, such as the Astoncrypt, but they will be more expensive.

If you mean the one at the top of page 883 'Top up TV starter pack cat no 532/0596 then no, you will need the other pack (536/1043) for IDTV's, as that pack contains the cam and card, also one month's viewing. We originally bought ours when we used to own a Nokia 221T ( I think!) and needed the cam for that, and yes the extra listings show in the TV guide. p.s. When we bought our cam, you had to buy them from the people who were making them, and if I remember rightly it cost about £45.00d!!!

Any one shed any light on this please;
I have TUTV cam & Card, recorded every episode of American Chopper on Discovery for the last 2 weeks or more, the recordings that are 2 weeks old don't unscrammble, is there a time limit on the recordings so you can't watch them after so many days ? I could watch them a day or so after when they recorded .
Thanks.

AFAIK the TUTV codes are changed once a month so you have to watch the programs you've recorded while the codes are still valid. Does your work/don't work divide span the 31stOct/1st Nov boundary by any chance?

Cliff

yes I think so,
Are they changed at the end/begining of each month ?

Sorry - did I read this right, that I can just get a CAM and watch TUTV without needing a card ? Or you only need to insert the card initially, then it can be removed and TUTV still works ???

EDIT: Just realised, you mean you only need the card for playback, so can record without it inserted !!
Last edited by jblackmore : 09-11-2005 at 14:54

Nope it's the *watching* when the stream is descrambled and the card is needed. But you CAN *record* without the card in place cos this is just recording the scrambled stream onto the HDD still in the scrambled state.

(but you have to watch/archive the thing before the descrambling key on your card expires!)

Cliff

That does seem to be the likely implication of what you've found - no doubt TUTV could confirm?

Cliff

Does the Humax not decrypt the stream while it's being recorded? Seems a real downer if anything you record on the 31st is effectively wiped a day later, whether you've seen it or not.

Nope most content providers who use CA insist on stuff always being held scrambled. Equally you should find that it you transfer a TUTV stream up the USB to a PC there's no way to play it/record it to DVD either. The whole point of CA is to prevent duplicating copyrighted material without the "key to the door". But the keys have to expire as a further part of the security.

Cliff

I thought the Topfield (at least) could decrypt as it recorded, provided it wasn't having to decrypt something else at the same time - ie, you weren't watching another TUTV channel? I can understand the broadcasters wanting to keep things secure, but the whole point of timeshifting is surely that you can watch programmes when you feel like it, not just within some arbritary window of time that could be a month, a week, or even less than a day... if you really wanted to record TUTV shows you'd be better off sticking with a box and a VCR, wouldn't you?

I agree. I have some isues with the way Sony handles MY music - i.e. I cant play MY music now other than on my original computer and Sony MP3 player nothing else.

I understand the TOPUP TV system but surely they need to think about what consumers are going to do with their recorded programs.

I suppose you can always archive straight to DVD recorder. But this time limit is lame

Hi

I have succesfully recorded programmes from Discovery Real Timeand TCM - which are both TUTV Channels, uploaded them to my laptop and watched them using VLC Media Player.

However I've also found a couple of recordings on the Humax which when played back just display a notice saying "This channel is scrambled or not available" even though my TUTV card is in the slot.

Stoker

I'll have to try this myself and see what happens. Whose damn-fool idea was it to out the usb port of the 9200 on the front? 0/10 for waf.

Did you have your TUTV card in while transferring? Sounds like it may de-scramble "on the fly" during a transfer then.

Cliff