INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY!

This guide describes actions that may or may not be legal in your location. I do not advocate, condone, or practice satellite TV piracy. It is not my fault if you use this information illegally.

Should you choose to watch signals from a "bird" with pay channels, and decrypt them, you legally can only watch the channels you pay for, meaning you have a set top box hooked up to your TV as well. I suggest deleting the channels you don't pay for from the channel list in the program I discuss below, so you aren't tempted to watch them illegally. By reading below this bolded text, you agree the author, Matt Parnell is not responsible for any illegal actions or consequences you face for doing otherwise.

This is aimed at Dishnetwork, but will work with other providers. I do hope you only use channels/provider(s) you pay for, and have legal rights to watch! It isn't my fault if you break the law.

That said, there are a few things you need:

1. A computer, at least 1ghz or so, and 512megs or more ram suggested
2. A DVB satellite card. eBay is a good source for these. Mine is a Twinhan VisionDTV, USB model 7021. Anywhere from $50 on up.
3. A satellite dish that is pointed at a DVB supplying bird in your view of the sky, with at least one KU band LNB. See http://www.lyngsat.com. If you are having trouble, see Dish's guide here.
4. ProgDVB - http://www.progdvb.com/
5. vPlug (to be extracted in progdvb/plugins) - DVB Skystar Has the Newest versions
6. DVB Stream Demuxer (install k-lite codec pack, make sure to select 'Main Concept's filters checked in the installer's checklist)
7. Key files for Decryption - You can find the updated files for decryption on the last page of this thread. You can get the keys from the Dish Keys menu item on the left. Just place the files into the progdvb/plugins directory, as well as the Progdvb root directory. If for some reason these files don't work, get the new set of keys from the menu to the left or by clicking here. Then, use vPlug's built-in editor to enter them. When a new key set comes, just use vPlug's built in editor. Note: If you don't pay for Disnetwork service, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT DECRYPTING THEIR STREAMS, IT IS HIGHLY ILLEGAL, WITH UP TO 5Yrs in PRISON, and a Felony!

Note: The ProgDVB Manual has screenshots illustrating many of the steps below.

Make sure your DVB card, whether internal, or external USB, is already installed, and connected. If it is a TwinHan card, download the newest version of TwinHanDTV at their site, and install it while your card is connected.

Make sure that the coax going from your switch/LNB is connected to the coax plug on your DVB card!

Install ProgDVB to the default path in C:/ProgDVB, and extract the vplug.zip file into the ProgDVB/plugins directory, and place a copy of the key files inside as well, making sure to put a copy of them in the root progdvb directory as well. Once complete, run ProgDVB, and make sure it recognizes your card (for the TwinHan 7021 select TwinHan (WDM). Then, go to Settings > DiSEqC. If your satellite dish has a switch with two or more lnb's, choose accordingly. For my Dish 500, I choose mini, because a mini switch has two LNB's, as my dish does. One is pointed at Echostar 7, and one is pointed at Echostar 5.

Note: MAKE SURE YOUR DISH IS ALREADY POINTED!

Now, Click Add LNB. If you are using a Dishnetwork LNB, select circular, and set the LOF to 11250. Otherwise, the default should work for you. Then, simply choose the name of the bird you have your dish pointed at. Repeat for multiple LNBs, if you have them.

Once complete, hit ok. Then go to channel list > channel search. Select one of the satellites. A window with two progress type bars should show up. No bars means you don't have proper reception, aren't pointed correctly, or don't have the correct LOF, etc. Up to 15 min later, you should have a list of channels found. Again, repeat for any other satellite(s).

Once you have a channel list, I suggest deleting the channels you don't pay for/the adult channels at your own discretion.

All you have to do then is click a channel, wait for vPlug to decrypt the ECM hash (provided your key files are new), and then you should have video. I know that with my card, I have to select a channel, wait for the little lock in the left hand bottom corner to go from red to green, and then restart the program to get video. I think this is my card's fault, and not ProgDVB's.

ProgDVB can record, too, and you can get extensions that allow you to record multiple channel streams at once.

There are unencrypted (Free to Air) channels too. You can legally view those with no legal stuff to worry about. They appear green in the channel list.