This past week N2News upgraded our systems and members section to a much more sleek and user friendly interface. We’ve code named our new version, “N2News V2.0″. With overwhelming support and such high reviews we are proud to announce that N2News V2.0 is here to stay! If you are not currently an N2News member then you won’t notice a difference. You will notice, that your experience with N2News is simple, fast, and reliable though. The reason we were able to make such a great site is mainly because of how long we’ve been in business. With almost 7 years of suggestions and ideas from members and staff we were able to implicate many great features and overall performance.
1. FAST DOWNLOAD SPEEDS! Even at our most busy hour, our pages load quicker and our downloads are faster than any of our competition.
2. N2News is now OFFSHORE! More secure and reliable FTA support.
3. Easiest to use FTA forum on the internet. New drop down menus make it simple to download your receiver’s new autoroll BIN fix FAST. Get your TV back up in minutes without the wait.
4. 24 Hour technical support, how to videos, setup guides, and instructions to do anything related to free to air. From pointing your satellite dish to uploading the latest FTA files to a flash drive.
5. N2News ALWAYS has the new working FTA fix files. We are the first to get them 99% of the time. Check with N2News to find the autoroll BIN fix you are looking for.
Current members might be a little confused at first because N2News is setup very differently then before. Here’s a video to help you learn how to download FTA files in the NEW N2News V2.0
N2News always has the most current working FTA files for ALL Free to Air Receivers on the market as of today. Download all the brand new N3 Autoroll BIN files for your receiver now and get your FTA receiver up in minutes.
N2News has all the new fixes for all receivers now posted in our private members area. Please login now to download the new FTA autoroll BINs for your receiver and get your TV back up NOW.
The term “J-Tag” or “J-Tagging” is frequently used in conjunction with the FTA hobby. This term refers to the Join Test Action Group (JTAG) which is a simpler name for the IEEE 1149.1 standard “Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture”. If you are more confused than before, allow me to explain. The term actually has nothing to due with FTA, however, it does play a vital role as you will see.
FTA receivers and other types of STB (Set Top Boxes) have complete computer systems inside of them, however, they use a different type of CPU than your desktop PC. Generally speaking your FTA receiver or STB is using a microprocessor from a company like ARM, Freescale, MIPS, Atmel, Infineon, OnCE, and so on. While your computer runs Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OSX or some other major operating system, the microcontroller in your STB also has an operating system. When you upload a new BIN file to your equipment you are basically updating the operating system. If you have made a mistake in that process you will no longer be able to boot your receiver.
If you have entered this state, your receiver is essentially dead. Those of us that have done this more than once call this “Bricked”. Microcontrollers have a back door just for this type of situation. That “Back Door” is a standard way to access the internal parts of the microcontroller through a special device attached to specific pins on the cpu. If you haven’t already guessed, this standard way to access the guts of the Microcontroller is the “J-Tag”. Some Set Top Boxes and Receivers actually provide a direct cable to allow accessing the JTAG pins and some require a connection to be soldered using a soldering iron and wires.
If your STB or Receiver has become as useless as a camel with a fishing pole, you may still be able to revive it. Once you have the J-Tag cable attached and the correct J-Tag software you should be able to directly upload a working firmware to the receiver and bring it back from the dead. For example, with a Pansat 3500 the steps are simple: Attach the JTag special cable with a cheap soldering iron while the receiver is unplugged. Start the freely available “jkeys” programs and turn on the receiver. The chip will be instantly detected and you can select the menu buttons. Select Erase to clear the chip. Next, select a factory boot loader such a B80 and click Program. Within about 4 minutes your Pansat 3500 is back to life. Locate the latest bin now that you have a bootloader and you’ll be back to Hogan’s Heroes in no time.
ATSC – Advanced Television Systems Committee. This really means a digital signal that is broadcast in a local market, usually from the top of tall building or a mountain. These broadcasts can be encrypted but are generally free and contain network programming and local interest programming.
A/V – Audio and Video. Generally used in reference to the signal going into the TV.
Azimuth – The angle of ration that a ground based antenna must be rotated through in order to point to a specific satellite. This really means how for left and right to turn your dish while pointing it.
Bin – Short for Binary File or the software information used by your receiver to access the full functionality it is capable of.
Bird – This is slang for Satellite
CONUS – The 48 states making up the CONtinental United States.
Codec – This is the name of a computer method used to encode or decode the video in a way that saves space. An AVI file on your computer may use a codec to compress the video. In the same way, some signals, especially HDTV signals use advanced codecs to compress the picture and save bandwidth allowing more tv programs on the same satellite. Not all stations are created equally. Popular stations may be allocated more room and less popular stations may use a Codec with more compression resulting in a blockier looking picture. Your PVR also uses a codec to save space for video files.
Charlie – A nickname affectionately given to a specific satellite company based on the loveable long time CEO.
ECM – Electronic Counter Measures. In order to counter-act the misuse of FTA hardware, some signal providers change the signal or insert some other signal in an attempt to confuse or disable unauthorized hardware.
EL - Elevation
EPG – Electronic Programming Guide – Think of this as a copy the Sunday Paper placed right on your screen showing what is on the air right now on every channel. Some EPG systems color code movies and can search for your favorite actors.
FTA – Free To Air refers to any signal designed to be received over the public airwaves and watched without decryption.
FSS – Fixed Satellite Service
HDTV – High Definition T.V. generally means signals set at 720p, 1080i or 1080p.
Key – A key or keycode is a digital value u
MPEG – This is a type of compression used to reduce the amount of information it takes to transmit a TV signal. Most stations transmit using MPEG-2 Compression but some are using MPEG-4 which are not the same.
OTA – Over the Air
PPV – Pay Per View
PQ – Picture Quality
PVR – Personal Video Recorded. Refers generically to any system or device that allows a show to be recorded and watched again at a later time.
RG6 – This is a type of Coax cable that is used to move the signal from one location to another. An RG6 cable is a little thinker than normal Coax (RG-58) and is dual shielded to prevent interference.
Spot – Sometimes called SB or Spot Beam. The same frequency on a satellite may contain entirely different programming depending on what part of the country you are in. A specific transponder may carry a group of East coast locals in one part of the country and west coast locals in another part of the country.
STB – Set Top Box. The STB is generally talking about your receiver that you use although it can be used to talk about a receiver provide by a cable or satellite company.
Stream – The data information sent over the satellite company. Usually used in reference to an ECM such as, “There is an ECM in the stream, you may need to U/L and new bin”.
Tiers – Satellite providers group signals into Tiers that represent the way they are packaged and sold or the way they intend for them to be group and displayed in the receiver.
TP – Transponder
U/L – Upload or transfer from your computer to the receiver
YPrPb – Another way to talk about Component Video Cables.
1 Month Free to Air Receiver Files and
