Older satellite receivers good for anything?

[Slickone]

Somehow as part of a package buy or trade I acquired 2 Hughes receivers and cards: an HIRD-E1, and a HIRD-D1. Is there anything free and/or cool I can do with these?
Or, are the receivers or cards still useable, or worth anything if I tried to sell them on craigslist? Do hackers still use the cards or is that all fixed and locked now?

 

[nickbits]

I'd say they are worthless.

 

[Modelworks]

Direct is secure enough now not to be worth it to must people to hack. If you do much hobby electronics then you could salvage the card slots, cords, IR sensor, power supply if its modular inside.
The cards can also be read/written to for fun. They won't get you tv but they can be used with a smart card reader for your own projects, like an access card that stores passwords, etc.

 

[Slickone]

Thanks a lot. One last question. Can they be used at all by a paying customer?

 

[Modelworks]

Maybe.
Direct has swapped out a lot of the older boxes because they couldn't do Mpeg4 .
Also if there is a balance owed on the accounts connected with the boxes serial that would have to be paid first.

 

[bruceb]

DTV should be able to activate an old box, especially if the access card was never activated. If it was, they may want to issue a new card before they would activate it. Note that since the P4/D5 cards came out, the card marries to the receiver so you can't take that card and use it in another box. If the card is replaced with another new one from DTV the same thing happens again.