Re: Sirius "Never Pay Another Bill" Plan

> I'm planning on getting set up with a Sirius system sometime in the near
> future, and while on their web page looking at pricing plans, I note that
> you can pay them $500 up front, and never have to pay them anything else,
> for as long as you continue to use that same radio.

They are depending on these radios not lasting very long, and I thought it was a
lot more than $500 too. For $500 for lifetime service, I would get a good
home unit (if they have anything like the Polk that XM has) and use the lifetime
service on that unit, rather than a tiny portable that may only last 2 or 3
years anyway.

> It wouldn't exactly break my bank to shell out the $500 now, knowing that
> I'd come out even after a little under 4 years.

Make sure you get the most solid built unit they make. Don't get the small
tiny ones, but a unit that you will use only indoors that you know will last at
least as long as the years this would cover for cost. Then, any years over
that time will be bonus.

> Of course I'd buy the receiver unit that offers the most flexibility --
> one that I could easily use in the car, home, and boom-box.

See, that is what they are HOPING people will do. And that it will break in
the meantime, or that you will see a cooler unit in a year or two and want to
upgrade your unit and lose the years you paid for.

Another very important thing to think about is this....

What if Sirius goes out of business in a year?? The $500 was not such a good
deal then, right?

Before going with any deal like this, it would be best to wait another year and
see how both companies are doing.

> 2. Is Sirius even starting to make $$ yet?

No. They keep borrowing more money too.

> I'm sure sales will increase
> once Stern starts up on their air

That means they have to survive a year on their own first. WITHOUT having
Stern on as a selling point.

There is talk about Sirius trying hard to get Stern sooner, but if Viacom is
smart, they will NOT let him out of his contract. If Viacom keeps him for
the rest of the contract, Sirius may not be around by the time he is ready to go
to them. Unless Mel Karmizan really changes their channel line up
drastically in the meantime.

> , but if they're shelling out half a
> billion $ for him & his team... I wouldn't want to shell out the $500, and
> then have them go bankrupt & shut down on me!

Right. This is no different than spending $500 in Las Vegas. You could
come out ahead, or you could lose your $500. You are GAMBLING with this
offer. Are you a gambler, or a level headed person who spends his money
wisely?

> 3. I realize that for this $500 deal to actually be worthwhile, I will need
> to use whatever Sirius receiver I buy soon for over 4 years. What sort of
> technological advancements for Sirius receivers are predicted to come out in
> the next 1, 2, 3 & 4 years?

The radios that will be out next year will make whatever you get this year make
you very sad to know you are stuck with it for another 3 years! This is why
they make such a deal. The odds are in the house's favor. Just like in
Vegas.

> capacity & the new channels use a new CODEC, requiring people to buy a new
> receiver...

As it is, for XM, the roady2 and Skyfi2 DO have different codecs than the roady
and skyfi original versions, and the sound IS better. So yes, what you buy
today is not going to make you happy next year.

This is why I tell people that want to get Sirius to listen to Stern, to WAIT
until Stern is ACTUALLY ON Sirius, so you can choose a better and cooler radio
than what they have available today, especially since what you get today, will
not pick up Stern for another year yet anyway, if you get Sirius now, instead of
waiting for this to actually really happen first.

What if Sirius gets bought out or merges with XM in the meantime, and Stern ends
up on an XM channel and you are stuck with a Sirius radio?

> 4. Any ideas on or experience with warranties or insurance? Seems like if
> I'm going to shell out the $500, I should also shell out a little $$ to get
> insurance on the receiver, so that if it gets stolen, dropped by me, or just
> goes DOA on it's own in a year or two from now, it's replacement would be
> grandfathered into the $500 plan I'd already paid for.

If mine breaks for any reason in the next 3 or 4 years (or how ever long it is)
I get a new replacement radio for free the same day. But since it is a new
radio, the service could not be transferred. If it could, then everyone
would just say their radio was broken or lost and LIE so they could transfer
service to another better radio and keep the lifetime service for ever.

If you really think about it, if Sirius or XM were smart, they would offer
lifetime service that you could transfer to any one radio at a time for your
lifetime, because it really doesn't cost them anything in the future to the
companies, they are sending out the signal anyway, and getting new subscribers
all the time. Many magazines have done this offer, and they have to
actually print up those extra issues every year which do take up resources, but
the satellite has to keep transmitting anyway, and the cost to operate them are
the same no matter how many freebies are out there picking it up for free.

As if their own executives do not have free service with their radios.

"John A. Weeks III" <john@johnweeks.com> wrote in
news:221120041600429941%john@johnweeks.com:

> In article <Xns95A9AAF7179F7yarightmicrosoftcom@199.45.49.11> , Dyna
> <yaright@microsoft.com> wrote:
>
>> Why would anybody bother to try and hack a radio when it is so easy
>> to get a receiver activated through the callcenter at no charge?
>>
>> Hm, maybe that's a decent secret I could get money for O_o
>
> Are you serious, or is this a troll? Assuming you are serious,
> the reason is that once you active for free, you have to pay
> every month. If you hack the radio, there is no monthly fee.
> If I want 10 radios, it costs $75 or so a month, whereas 10
> hacked radios would be $0 a month. Please tell me that you
> didn't have to have this explained to you.
>
> -john-
>

No, I'm talking about activating a radio and then forgetting about it. No
radio hacking involved. No activation fee, no monthly fee.

In article <Xns95AABE9C77F0Eyarightmicrosoftcom@199.45.49.11> , Dyna
<yaright@microsoft.com> wrote:

> "John A. Weeks III" <john@johnweeks.com> wrote in
> news:221120041600429941%john@johnweeks.com:
>
> > In article <Xns95A9AAF7179F7yarightmicrosoftcom@199.45.49.11> , Dyna
> > <yaright@microsoft.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Why would anybody bother to try and hack a radio when it is so easy
> >> to get a receiver activated through the callcenter at no charge?
> >>
> >> Hm, maybe that's a decent secret I could get money for O_o
> >
> > Are you serious, or is this a troll? Assuming you are serious,
> > the reason is that once you active for free, you have to pay
> > every month. If you hack the radio, there is no monthly fee.
> > If I want 10 radios, it costs $75 or so a month, whereas 10
> > hacked radios would be $0 a month. Please tell me that you
> > didn't have to have this explained to you.
> >
> > -john-
> >
>
> No, I'm talking about activating a radio and then forgetting about it. No
> radio hacking involved. No activation fee, no monthly fee.

OK, I give up. How do you do that?

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ==================

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 17:33:03 -0330, "Mark S." <vo1one@gee-mail.com>
puked:

>"lab~rat" <chase@cheese.net> wrote in message
>news:h5g4q094o5lqtvhmvb5ifirtb5lni984pe@4ax.com.. .
>> On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 19:23:52 GMT, Truth <yenc@sucks.com> puked:
>>
>> >> What enables the radio? My dish unit has a credit card-like thing
>> >> that has to be programmed. Is there some kind of flash chip or
>> >> something that can be hacked?
>> >
>> >Yes, there is already info on how to do this on the web, but you require
>> >equipment that not everyone has. Once your chip is turned on, you
>> >remove the chip and put it into another device and program it to not
>> >accept any more instructions, so it can not be turned off.
>> >
>> >However, when they change channel line ups and such, I have not heard
>what
>> >happens to these radio mods that can not update the info anymore.
>>
>> The satellite credit card can be hacked. It uses a device that you
>> rerecord on the card, and when they shuffle channels or something, the
>> card needs to be reprogrammed.
>>
>> That's why I never fucked with it. I'd hate to be without tv when
>> something I wanted to see was on. It might be worth it with the
>> radio.
>
>Not all satellite access cards can be hacked, but some can. There's no
>current access card on DirecTV that has been hacked, at least if it has it
>hasn't been released to the public. The older access cards will still allow
>for audio, though. Some Dish network cards are hacked and are still active.
>Legal implications aside, I wouldn't recommend someone getting into hacking
>access cards just to get free TV. If you're doing it for experimentation
>purposes, then whether or not you get free TV all the time isn't important.
>

Mine is the old card that can be hacked. A friend of mine does it and
said he'd hook me up, but I told him I was good...

--
lab~rat >:-)
The less you care, the more it doesn't matter.

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 17:34:30 -0330, "Mark S." <vo1one@gee-mail.com>
puked:

>"lab~rat" <chase@cheese.net> wrote in message
>news:s7n4q0l4bmefvcq7ta8r14tf0em2kghpa2@4ax.com.. .
>> On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 16:22:36 -0330, "Mark S." <vo1one@gee-mail.com>
>> puked:
>>
>> >"lab~rat" <chase@cheese.net> wrote in message
>> >news:8s94q0dksimrnrhur3ufmqbvideo7nqeak@4ax.com.. .
>> >> On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 17:29:33 GMT, Truth <yenc@sucks.com> puked:
>> >>
>> >>>lifetime service
>> >>
>> >> What enables the radio? My dish unit has a credit card-like thing
>> >> that has to be programmed. Is there some kind of flash chip or
>> >> something that can be hacked? That would be something Stern fans
>> >> everywhere would want to know. Especially the ones with the new free
>> >> radios.
>> >
>> >The smart card with ASIC I believe is embedded into a surface mount chip
>in
>> >the receivers. In the Sony DRN-XM01's (the originals) for XM, you could
>> >unsolder that chip, place it into a Dish network receiver, use a Jtag to
>> >read the info off the chip and place the chip from another DRN-XM01 in
>its
>> >spot and write that same data to it, therefore cloning a subscription. I
>> >haven't heard of anyone doing this with any other model XM receiver or
>any
>> >Sirius receiver, but it seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through
>to
>> >steal a $10 or $13/mo service. Besides, we'd all like to see XM and
>Sirius
>> >both break even in the future, not to see their SAC's go sky high and
>both
>> >go bankrupt.
>> >
>>
>> That sounds like the hard way. Aren't they activated and changed by
>> signals? Why couldn't you read the signal and emulate it with a
>> different device somehow?
>
>Well sure you could buy a Sirius or XM test signal generator and authorize
>your box, or build your own somehow to do the same, but you'd only have the
>radio "activated" on the test generator. Once the radio is exposed to the
>real stream, it will realize the lease has expired or it will find it's
>radio ID in the rolling blacklist and be shut off rather quickly.
>

Ok, here's the part where I say I don't know what the fuck I'm talking
about. Maybe I'll spend the weekend researching it and come up with a
brainstorm.

I was hoping it was gonna happen in this thread.

--
lab~rat >:-)
The less you care, the more it doesn't matter.

"lab~rat" <chase@cheese.net> wrote in message
news:gj29q0hjqf0ii4a6bp4fuhk8t8vkjes0l8@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 17:33:03 -0330, "Mark S." <vo1one@gee-mail.com>
> puked:
>
>>"lab~rat" <chase@cheese.net> wrote in message
>>news:h5g4q094o5lqtvhmvb5ifirtb5lni984pe@4ax.com. ..
>>> On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 19:23:52 GMT, Truth <yenc@sucks.com> puked:
>>>
>>> >> What enables the radio? My dish unit has a credit card-like thing
>>> >> that has to be programmed. Is there some kind of flash chip or
>>> >> something that can be hacked?
>>> >
>>> >Yes, there is already info on how to do this on the web, but you
>>> >require
>>> >equipment that not everyone has. Once your chip is turned on, you
>>> >remove the chip and put it into another device and program it to not
>>> >accept any more instructions, so it can not be turned off.
>>> >
>>> >However, when they change channel line ups and such, I have not heard
>>what
>>> >happens to these radio mods that can not update the info anymore.
>>>
>>> The satellite credit card can be hacked. It uses a device that you
>>> rerecord on the card, and when they shuffle channels or something, the
>>> card needs to be reprogrammed.
>>>
>>> That's why I never fucked with it. I'd hate to be without tv when
>>> something I wanted to see was on. It might be worth it with the
>>> radio.
>>
>>Not all satellite access cards can be hacked, but some can. There's no
>>current access card on DirecTV that has been hacked, at least if it has it
>>hasn't been released to the public. The older access cards will still
>>allow
>>for audio, though. Some Dish network cards are hacked and are still
>>active.
>>Legal implications aside, I wouldn't recommend someone getting into
>>hacking
>>access cards just to get free TV. If you're doing it for experimentation
>>purposes, then whether or not you get free TV all the time isn't
>>important.
>>
>
> Mine is the old card that can be hacked. A friend of mine does it and
> said he'd hook me up, but I told him I was good...

You certainly don't have the old card on DirecTV, so you must be talking
about Dish. Dish is in the process of doing a card swap for the upcoming
Nagra2, so soon you will have a card that hasn't been hacked yet, and so
will your friend :-)

"lab~rat" <chase@cheese.net> wrote in message
news:gl29q0hiqmd25k1cfrm3bo3uh9h41kui4u@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 17:34:30 -0330, "Mark S." <vo1one@gee-mail.com>
> puked:
>
>>"lab~rat" <chase@cheese.net> wrote in message
>>news:s7n4q0l4bmefvcq7ta8r14tf0em2kghpa2@4ax.com. ..
>>> On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 16:22:36 -0330, "Mark S." <vo1one@gee-mail.com>
>>> puked:
>>>
>>> >"lab~rat" <chase@cheese.net> wrote in message
>>> >news:8s94q0dksimrnrhur3ufmqbvideo7nqeak@4ax.com.. .
>>> >> On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 17:29:33 GMT, Truth <yenc@sucks.com> puked:
>>> >>
>>> >>>lifetime service
>>> >>
>>> >> What enables the radio? My dish unit has a credit card-like thing
>>> >> that has to be programmed. Is there some kind of flash chip or
>>> >> something that can be hacked? That would be something Stern fans
>>> >> everywhere would want to know. Especially the ones with the new free
>>> >> radios.
>>> >
>>> >The smart card with ASIC I believe is embedded into a surface mount
>>> >chip
>>in
>>> >the receivers. In the Sony DRN-XM01's (the originals) for XM, you
>>> >could
>>> >unsolder that chip, place it into a Dish network receiver, use a Jtag
>>> >to
>>> >read the info off the chip and place the chip from another DRN-XM01 in
>>its
>>> >spot and write that same data to it, therefore cloning a subscription.
>>> >I
>>> >haven't heard of anyone doing this with any other model XM receiver or
>>any
>>> >Sirius receiver, but it seems like an awful lot of trouble to go
>>> >through
>>to
>>> >steal a $10 or $13/mo service. Besides, we'd all like to see XM and
>>Sirius
>>> >both break even in the future, not to see their SAC's go sky high and
>>both
>>> >go bankrupt.
>>> >
>>>
>>> That sounds like the hard way. Aren't they activated and changed by
>>> signals? Why couldn't you read the signal and emulate it with a
>>> different device somehow?
>>
>>Well sure you could buy a Sirius or XM test signal generator and authorize
>>your box, or build your own somehow to do the same, but you'd only have
>>the
>>radio "activated" on the test generator. Once the radio is exposed to the
>>real stream, it will realize the lease has expired or it will find it's
>>radio ID in the rolling blacklist and be shut off rather quickly.
>>
>
> Ok, here's the part where I say I don't know what the fuck I'm talking
> about. Maybe I'll spend the weekend researching it and come up with a
> brainstorm.
>
> I was hoping it was gonna happen in this thread.

You'd never see a thread like this on XMFan or Sirius Backstage ;-) Great
to have a sat radio newsgroup!

> >Not all satellite access cards can be hacked, but some can. There's no
> >current access card on DirecTV that has been hacked, at least if it has it
> >hasn't been released to the public. The older access cards will still allow
> >for audio, though. Some Dish network cards are hacked and are still active.
> >Legal implications aside, I wouldn't recommend someone getting into hacking
> >access cards just to get free TV. If you're doing it for experimentation
> >purposes, then whether or not you get free TV all the time isn't important.
> >
>
> Mine is the old card that can be hacked. A friend of mine does it and
> said he'd hook me up, but I told him I was good...

Years ago, I knew people who would get the cards from sources on the internet and
back of magazines, and the cards would work for a real long time, then eventually
they would just get another card, but saved a lot of money this way.

Now everyone I know has cable instead.

On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 13:27:09 -0330, "Mark S." <vo1one@gee-mail.com>
wrote:

>You certainly don't have the old card on DirecTV, so you must be talking
>about Dish. Dish is in the process of doing a card swap for the upcoming
>Nagra2, so soon you will have a card that hasn't been hacked yet, and so
>will your friend

A couple of years back those H-cards were going for 250-350 bucks on
ebay. You could go into a pawnshop or search the want ads for old sat
systems. Buy em for $50, trash the system and sell the card. Heheh.

I never did this, of course.

Thing about it is you can't leave them plugged in or DTV will send
down the "death ray" and fry the chip in your card. Plus, you have to
get a smartcard programmer. More trouble than it's worth. I wonder if
they still hack those systems.

> You'd never see a thread like this on XMFan or Sirius Backstage ;-) Great
> to have a sat radio newsgroup!

It sure is. Those website based message boards really suck. First, they are
censored and moderated, second, it takes too long to go from one page to
another and follow a thread after your post, they all go together in one big
pile.

Both are all about selling products too.