Your cam is locked so send it out to a dealer to be unlocked as this is the favoured method of testing at the present time,all AVR& Atmega's are easy prey to being hit and are being at the present time.
As for locks,this is your personal choice as there are many opinions about these devices floating around.

My 2¢....

if you have a jtag, locks are not that important...

Jtag is more valuable than the d/lock.

flagg,

Your next step is actually getting a Jtag. That is the #1 tool you'll need. Whether you're going plastic, ATmega, or anything for that matter. The first time you get ECM'd and you don't have a jtag, you'll know what I meant...


Darnat, I tried to attach a .zip file (Mega Volts Buffered) but can't seem to do it. Be a gent and post it for him...

[t160hq]

The advantage to a buffered jtag is writes and reads are right the first time everytime. Especially if you are writing or reading just one sector of the TSOP.

A simple jtag will work but if you are running without digital locks then a buffered is prefered. Just my opinion. The difference in cost and time to build is well worth the reliability.

Oh and you can't put a eeprom lock on a 3900. You will get a serious error nag.

If you want a fix and forget solution go with a EMU system like CEMU. No card required. No locks needed. Much more labor and hardware intensive but once set up very stable and long lasting.

t160hq

At this point I am still entertaining all options. I am assuming that an emulator would require a PC to be hooked up to the IRD?yesIs there any documentation you would recommend reading on emulation?yes,will upload relevant files when I get time Also what makes EMU a "fix and forget" solution? Are they not also capable of getting ECM'd?it's not a fix and forget solution ,it's just that they haven't been hit on the CEMU side alot,but on WINVU they are getting hit

[t160hq]

Darnat is right. Now that I think about it fix and forget was a poor choice in wording. Of two EMU's I know of one a Bev setup with CEMU hasen't been touched in the last year and half. The second a DN system same CEMU has been up for the same time but the PPV's had to be fixed twice. New string.

t160hq

External rs232 is great,am running one for the last year,never been hit.
Never bothered with the internal as I want to leave ird open to mods,for whatever comes our way.
BTW ...CEMU is your best option,but doesnt log stream,winvu has been hit many times .

bought

[t160hq]

Externals are nice if you ever want to mod the receiver later for something else.

I like the internal max mel myself. Being inside the receiver it cuts down on the interference on the tv produced by the rs-232 interface. It only interfears if your watching on channel 3 on your tv and the receiver is close to the set. No interference at all if your running video or s-video cables with a external.

Mine are both home built max mel internal units. Bear in mind with a home built you also have to build a simple Atmel programmer for programming the mel part of the max mel.

Without some experience with building electronic projects I wouldn't jump into this one. Buy em already assembled and ready to go with detailed instructions.

t160hq