Stupid hackers

[lumpkin666]

It amazes me how ridiculously lazy/stupid dishnet hackers are. I've bought two used FTA receivers from eBay so far, and both of them came to me with what appears to be hacked firmware. They really didn't think I'd notice that? They couldn't reflash them or at least clear out the dishnet stuff before shipping.

The first one I bought, the guy made it clear that he was selling it for "his buddy" and he had no clue about it except that he was assured it worked. It worked fine, but I had to reflash it with some real firmware since the stuff that was on it wouldn't even control a motor (yet it seemed to like the dish sats according to what was programmed in - wouldn't you know that it only had a few standard dish channels + all ppv + all porn channels programmed into the memory!)

The 2nd one I just bought for the blindscan ability, I got for $2. This guy assured me that he had used it for quite some time, and it works great. Of course, I power it on, and it only has 3 sats programmed in - 110/119/61.5. I thought about hassling him about it, but figured that was fruitless.. just reflash it and enjoy cheap blindscanning...

 

[Claude Greiner]

What else would you expect from ebay?

 

[SatinKzo]

Laff, every receiver I have ever gotten ebay was loaded with non-factory firmware. But what I like is when they are ready to sell, I can usually get a nice price and it only takes a few minutes to reload

 

[digiblur]

Can't beat those $2 deals though! Wish I could find some of those.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Its some stupid idiot. They get the receiver programmed from a friend, the FTA crap goes down and now they don't know how to reflash the box to get their illegal channels back.

So they think the box is worthless to them so they sell it on ebay.

 

[Mr Tony]

Can't beat those $2 deals though! Wish I could find some of those.

ditto

 

[VinceT3]

I need another receiver with blind scan, I'm gonna have to keep an eye on ebay

 

[stogie5150]

ditto

Third.

 

[lumpkin666]

I guess I should have expected such results from eBay, but I really thought that someone who would do something like that would at least have the smarts to not sell evidence that undeniably links them to illegal activities...

Oh well.. I got a blindscanning receiver for 2 bucks, so I can't complain much. I was ready to pay $30+ for this receiver, but I guess nobody else was... so I got lucky for a change

 

[qwert1515]

What receiver did you get for such a good deal?

 

[lumpkin666]

What receiver did you get for such a good deal?

Its a pansat clone.. a lava 3200.. $2 and some change.. but it was less of a deal with shipping.. although i did get a better deal on shipping than listed... so I suppose I can't complain

 

[Tron]

Wait a sec... So are the hackers down now and dumping receivers?!

Now may be my chance to get a Visionsat/CS7k/Conaxsat on the cheap

EDIT: Nah, prices are still the same as they've been

 

[qwert1515]

Wait a sec... So are the hackers down now and dumping receivers?!

Now may be my chance to get a Visionsat/CS7k/Conaxsat on the cheap

Thats what I was thinking too

 

[Anole]

price ?

I think it depends on the brand, and the speed of their "support".

But, from what little I've seen, one brand which would be on our short list of "good FTA receivers to recommend", has had no support for months, and it holds its price fine.
Maybe we FTAers are keeping the price up....

Those brands we never heard of, might have "support", but their prices fluctuate wildly.

Probably has to do with the stability of the dealer chain moving any given brand/model.
Take a no-name, sell 10 to some shady dealer, and if he can't move 'em at the end of the month, he might have a clearance sale.
On the other hand, you take a previously unknown brand, put it in the hands of some dealers with money, and reqardless of market fluctuations, the sellers won't blow up their warehouse at the slightest sign.

So, if we are naming names, Coolsat, VisionSat, Conaxsat, Mercury II, and Viewsat... those all have money behind them.
And I'd be surprised at them having large market fluctuations.

 

[Corrado]

I was looking at some "deals" on ebay, I noticed a Fortec Lifetime Ultra that displays a screen shot. It's clearly shows a non-factory background on the menu with lightning as a picture.

 

[digiblur]

I was looking at some "deals" on ebay, I noticed a Fortec Lifetime Ultra that displays a screen shot. It's clearly shows a non-factory background on the menu with lightning as a picture.

I will have to say I love my Ultra. I've seen a few other boxes and still love the layout of the FLU with its motor control and satellite setup options.

 

[lumpkin666]

Scored another "stupid hacker" special this week. $25 bucks shipped for a "dead viewsat ultra clone". I put together a jtag to attempt to revive the clone, but when it arrived there was no need, as it was not dead. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for the smudge on the case, nobody would even know it was ever used.. the remote control and all accessories were still in their original plastic in the original viewsat box... and the unit powered up and worked fine (except that it had hacker-bait firmware on it and all the echostar sats programmed)

I did the visual checks and even checked the power board and connectors inside and cannot find anything that would cause concern that this is a clone either. It passes all the tests that I have found for proving it to be an original. So either the hacker was so stupid that they shipped me the wrong unit, or it quit working on their illegal signal interception scam, so they assumed it was "dead" and must be a "clone" since a real viewsat would never have let them down

 

[Stargazer]

In other words, it was dead to them, but not dead to the true FTA user.

 

[Tron]

Hmmmm.... I may have to check EBay for more of these dead, worthless receivers. Especially Visionsats and other receivers with a nifty PVR function. I'll offer them $20 for these "worthless" boxes, and take them off their hands

 

[lumpkin666]

I'll offer them $20 for these "worthless" boxes, and take them off their hands

I offered $20 for this one, but he wouldn't budge until I offered $25.. I should have bought all 3 of the ones he had offered, given that this one ended up being a terrific receiver (my favorite receiver so far!)