HITS Quantum?

[TheBUDGuy]

I've always seen this over on AMC 18 (105W), but I've never knew anything about it besides it being scrambled (presumably pay) channels all scrambled via DigiCipher II. What is HITS Quantum? Is it subscription based? Could I still buy a subscription by chance? I need some information on this.

 

[waylew]

Headend In The Sky,it's a Comcast thing for feeding smaller cable co's basically.
You can subscribe to some of it with a 4DTV or DSR410 via Skyvision or SRL,but it's SD only.

 

[TheBUDGuy]

Headend In The Sky,it's a Comcast thing for feeding smaller cable co's basically.
You can subscribe to some of it with a 4DTV or DSR410 via Skyvision or SRL,but it's SD only.

Is there a link to a website? Could you explain a little more please? It sounds interesting.

 

[FaT Air]

http://www.programming-center.net/ http://skyvision.com/programming/index.html
Good luck finding equipment, it hasn't been manufactured in quite a while. Only source is used/refurbished. Motorola discontinued the non-commercial support a few years ago.. (Don't go near Glen or rainier satellite[?])
Oh that's funny, it gets changed to raindeer - anyhow, it's a scam

 

[TheBUDGuy]

http://www.programming-center.net/ http://skyvision.com/programming/index.html
Good luck finding equipment, it hasn't been manufactured in quite a while. Only source is used/refurbished. Motorola discontinued the non-commercial support a few years ago.. (Don't go near Glen or Raindeer satellite[?])
Oh that's funny, it gets changed to raindeer - anyhow, it's a scam

Don't worry! I know about Glen! Thanks for the information!

 

[TheBUDGuy]

What type of kind of receiver would anyone recommend? Plus, how would I order programming? And also, how would they unscramble the programming after I ordered it?

 

[waylew]

Either an old 4DTV,DSR905/DSR920/DSR922,or a DSR410 (skyvision sold them,don't know if they have anymore).
The 4DTV's must have a good unit ID (the battery has never died) and ,if it hasn't already been done,be converted to the HITS authorization stream,relatively easy.
After that you call SRL or Skyvision,buy some programming and watch tv.
As I said before it is SD only,no HD available.
Find out more here;

Satellite Receivers C band and 4DTV satellite programming

C-band Satellite TV, 4DTV and Free To Air Satellite Entertainment

 

[TheBUDGuy]

How can you tell whether a receiver has a good ID number?

 

[waylew]

Hope that whoever you buy it from didn't lie to you.
To actually check a 4D,you press Options 6 5 on the remote,the unit ID number,line A,or the receiver number,line B,must match the number on the label on the back of the receiver.

 

[TheBUDGuy]

Hope that whoever you buy it from didn't lie to you.
To actually check a 4D,you press Options 6 5 on the remote,the unit ID number,line A,or the receiver number,line B,must match the number on the label on the back of the receiver.

I have not bought one yet as of now. I'm still deciding whether I would like to do this. Thanks for the help!

 

[waylew]

Just remember all these boxes are old,920's are the oldest.
If the battery has not been changed they can die at any time.
Also no one knows how much longer that HITS programming is going to be available,it's already lasted longer than I thought it would.

 

[fred555]

And isn't the battery change tricky too. Parallel the new battery with the old then clip out the old one?
Loose battery for a split second and its toast?

 

[radio]

that's exactly how you do it...parallel then carefully pull the old.
I had some great pics of my 410's and 922 having it done posted somewhere on this site, but I have NO idea where...
double sided tape holds new battery in place in one of our installs, nice, clean, simple when done carefully.

 

[waylew]

I remove the board when I do it.Solder in a temp bat between ground and one of the pads of the edge connector right near the battery (922/905 never done a 920 or 410).Then unsolder old bat install new bat and remove the temporary.Easier that way,especially when it's a button cell bat.

 

[samuelrock]

HITS "Headend In The Sky" is a division of Comcast Wholesale http://www.comcastwholesale.com/ it is used as a transport service for small cable operators and video distributors. Currently you can subscribe to it over C-Band from two companies www.skyvision.com and http://www.programming-center.net/ for residential customers. If you are a large business such as a hotel you can contact Comcast Wholesale directly. On the commercial side they do offer SD & HD programing http://www.comcastwholesale.com/services/linear-sd-lineup and http://www.comcastwholesale.com/services/linear-hd-lineup on the commercial accounts you will be required to work out your own agreements with the individual content provider networks.

Below is cut from a email between my self and Comcast Wholesale..


Receivers:

All QSD 7-QSD 14 and all QHD require a DSR-4410MD receiver for each transponder. The decrypted output is then delivered via ASI or GigE to a SEM V8 or APEX 1000. One receiver is needed for each transponder group. For example if you were to take QSD7-8, one receiver is needed.

QSD 1-6 are currently 64 QAM, and legacy receivers can be utilized; however, after a planned upgrade in Q2 of 2016, these muxes will require a DSR-4410MD as well.


Package Rate

Standard Rate/per subscriber

Rate Card Example: If site takes any/all SD services and (5) QHD multiplexes – the rate would be $1.28/subscriber/month


National Authorization System

Our conditional access service is NAS (National Authorization System). I have provided some information regarding fees and equipment that will be needed. Attached is an overview of NAS some additional detail.


Equipment onsite

HITS does not engineer or install the headend. If you need engineering or installation, we suggest contacting Advanced Media Technologies (AMT) – Eric Gudgel at 888-293-5856 x280.

• HMS: You will need a Headend Management System for headend configuration and operation. Currently, we are recommending new launches use an HP8000 SFF (small form factor); software and OS will be provided at no charge.
• OM2000: An OM2000 is required to deliver data and encryption messaging to set tops.
• ARPD: This enables return path communications for impulse pay per view and VOD applications.
• VPN: A VPN tunnel is required for two-way messaging to enable SEMs or APEXs as encryption devices (HITS will handle the VPN order and install, MSO will provide a dedicated IP address).
• Plus any other equipment found in a typical cable headend (such as EMS, QAM combiners, etc.).

Launch Fee: $1,500 per system, plus $200 per channel map. Includes test phases, pre-launch, and VPN.


As a note, NCTC members can opt into our agreements for both HITS Quantum Transport and NAS service.

Rovi: The current guide version of Rovi's guide is R29 and requires a VLS, which should be ordered/purchased from Rovi.

__________________________________ End of Cut __________________________________

 

[bobvick]

And what average person would spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars necessary to do this to receive second generation "cable" type programming from C-Band?

 

[samuelrock]

You cannot sub to HITS commercial for a residential package unless you get it from SkyVision or Programming Center.

I have two customers we supply bandwidth and WiFi services to that has HITS system for Hotels.. it runs about $6000 per month for 250 rooms...

Please keep in mind I did not promote any one attempting to acquire service.. The OP asked what is HITS and I gave a explanation of the residential and commercial offerings.

And it does not cost hundreds of thousands to set a HITS system up.. With a good engineer a hotel system can be had for 30 to 50 thousand and have more channels than a cable company would be willing to provide for the price..

 

[bobvick]

You cannot sub to HITS commercial for a residential package unless you get it from SkyVision or Programming Center.

I have two customers we supply bandwidth and WiFi services to that has HITS system for Hotels.. it runs about $6000 per month for 250 rooms...

Please keep in mind I did not promote any one attempting to acquire service.. The OP asked what is HITS and I gave a explanation of the residential and commercial offerings.

And it does not cost hundreds of thousands to set a HITS system up.. With a good engineer a hotel system can be had for 30 to 50 thousand and have more channels than a cable company would be willing to provide for the price..

No problem I get it now. I misread the intent in your post. I knew that only what they offer on 105W was available from PCH/Skyvision. I am surprised that is still around, and they haven't switched it to a DCII format that is incompatible with the 920/922/410.
Did you install the HITS system for the hotels? I imagined hundreds of thousands because I was thinking of a small cable system.
I didn't know that they did MDUs, I thought they only supplied to small cable operators that didn't want to have to invest in a full headend.

 

[samuelrock]

No problem I get it now. I misread the intent in your post. I knew that only what they offer on 105W was available from PCH/Skyvision. I am surprised that is still around, and they haven't switched it to a DCII format that is incompatible with the 920/922/410.
Did you install the HITS system for the hotels? I imagined hundreds of thousands because I was thinking of a small cable system.
I didn't know that they did MDUs, I thought they only supplied to small cable operators that didn't want to have to invest in a full headend.

Well they dont consider it MDU it is just based off your total number of residential customers you are selling to they call it MPVD or Multichannel Video Programming Distributor. The cost is the same across the board you pay HITS for transport and you pay the networks per channel or channel bank.. They send the channels down in a mux that is patched right over to a SEM-V8 or a APEX-1000. At that point you can add off air channels or local content via ASI and push it down a cable. They also handle the authorization of the STBs with the current system they have set up.. You can literary walk into a DMA with no cable headend system and have a basic headend setup and ready to put customers online for 100k including dishes, OTA, racks, IRDs, demux & mux plus a comm hut. After that its what ever it cost for your distribution network. In my local we have quite a few small cable companies that do this in rural markets that have less than 10k customers. The nice thing about it is you dont require a mess of satellites to receive the primary feeds nor the equipment to mux compress and combine each individual feed to make it ready for distribution. Every thing is set up on AMC-18 You grab your locals from a OTA mux them up into a QAM inject them and out the door they go.. Image a old school headend shrunk down to a single 16' dish and A 80' Rhon SSV plus a 10x10 comm shelter. Weather the primary feeds are gathered and compressed in a old school headend or they are compressed at Comcast Media headend they still will be compressed. Its just cheaper setup fee to use HITS. Now if you were going to set up a traditional headend you are looking at the hundreds of thousands you had in mind!

The two systems that I mentioned I did not set up, They were put in by a dealer that is no longer in business. I have just contacted HITS so that we can quote a new install on two other properties owned by the same group, as the local cable provider does not carry the channels required by their flag. If we win the bid I will be taking plenty of pix for every one. I have not worked as a professional satellite engineer since 2002, The last time I worked with HITS or C-Band was 1998. Back then HITS was owned by TCI cable co. amazing enough they are for the most part still using the same equipment they used back then. Due to my knowledge of the MPVD systems I do the occasional repair for some of our customers as I am on site doing other work when they have issues. I currently work with 3 properties that have DirecTv headends, 1 property that has a Dish Network headend and the two properties that have the HITS.

I abruptly exited the satellite field near the end of 2002 to start my own business, After a back injury in 2013 I came back to the telecommunications sector in 2014 as a Network Engineer for a ISP/CLEC.

 

[skycorp79]

Samuel, which model of box you use?
To make it more economical, I'm thinking to use the model DSR470
What do you think about it?