Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - artful dodger {P}
A quick search on the Forum shows this has not been discussed before.

There was a piece on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 today of an urban myth that the chips fitted to the Ford 5000 car radio can be adapted and fitted to a Freeview box so it can unscramble the Sky tv signals.

This is causing large number of Ford cars, mainly Focus models, to be broken into. Smashing the window and removing the radio takes about 10 seconds. Usually it does not set off the alarm as they only have door sensors fitted. In an evening as many as 15 Focus cars are damaged, and AutoGlass are having difficulty finding and fitting enough replacement windows - some having to wait several days before they can be repaired.

To set the record straight: It is impossible to change the purpose of the chips in any way.


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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Robbie
It's impossible to get Sky on a Freeview box, scrambled or otherwise.(;
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Robbie
It's impossible to get Sky on a Freeview box, scrambled or
otherwise.(;


Sorry, I should qualify that. With the exception of Sky News, Sky Three and Sky Sports News.

The above are all terrestrial channels whereas the rest of Sky offerings are via satellite.
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Stuartli
>>The above are all terrestrial channels >>

They are the three Sky channels currently available, plus Sky Text, on Freeview - as far as I am aware they are also broadcast on Sky satellite.

Judging by my best mate's experience, it's the same with the Mondeo as much as the Focus regarding the ease of entry.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - DP
This made the Metro paper this morning as well.

It just proves the intellect of the typical British car criminal really. Pathetic.

Cheers
DP
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Number_Cruncher
I wonder what the mythical procedure was for converting these chips?

Perhaps you had to dust them with salt to make the chip conductive and then apply vinegar to etch-reveal the new instructions.

Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Brit_in_Germany
If the chips are FPGAs, all you would need would be a programmer and the appropriate code.

BIG
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Westpig
I can confirm that NE London Boroughs are being hit with thefts from Ford Focus's of their integral radios...... and no one can work out why....

whilst i consider any thief, let alone a car type thief, to be an utter scumbag, i'm not convinced it's because of the above 'urban myth' which has been discussed.....as i don't think they are that thick and it is seemingly in a pattern..

furthermore someone has got to be buying them

it was even wondered that maybe they are going abroad to a market that has low spec Ford's delivered (in a similar fashion to Mercedes parts to Africa)

anyone got any ideas on here? are Ford Focus radios of particularly good quality? will they fit in anything else?
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Woolert
So many Ford Focus radios have been stolen in Trafford (Manchester) that the police have been fitting 4 special screws free of charge to the radios in this model of car. Also fitting security screws to the number plates. I believe Ford dealers have also carried out the same measure FOC.
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Dynamic Dave
Report here:-

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/6168916.stm

(as well as other places)
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - jase1
If the chips are FPGAs, all you would need would be
a programmer and the appropriate code.



... and in which case you'd be far better off contacting RS and buying in the chips direct rather than messing about with breaking into cars.

This sounds hard to believe -- satellite crackers are a clued-up bunch, and you'd have to be particularly stupid to believe something as ridiculous as this. That said, looking at the intellect of the average scumbag, it's probably not surprising.

Surely these guys realise that the $ky encryption system is secure, and will be for a few more years yet.
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Quinny100
The reason Ford 6000CD players are stolen is because they are easily saleable on ebay and other channels for between about £60 and £90. Ford were tight on fitting CD players and there are a lot of people who want to swap a tape player for a CD unit, or who's CD unit has developed a fault. Ford quote upwards of £250 for a new CD unit. The keycode security is useless as there are generators freely avaialble on the Internet that will give you the code from the serial number - this has been around for years and still works for the latest stereos as Ford are too apathetic to change the algorithm that generates the codes. The removable buttons are also no deterent as they are only about £5 for a new set and are not matched to the individual radio. As theft increases it is probably self perputating - most people won't bother claiming on their insurance when they can pick up a replacement on ebay for less than their excess.

Fitting screws is a bad idea IMO - you are more likely to end up with damage the entire dash than save your stereo - a theif will just gouge them out if necessary.

Sky Digital will never be hacked in the same way other pay tv platforms have - it is so much more complex and robust than other systems. In the extremely unlikely event someone did crack it, Sky have the ability to roll out an entirely new encryption system in a very short space of time.
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - keo-the-dog
Sky Digital will never be hacked in the same way other pay tv platforms have - it is so much more complex and robust than other systems. In the extremely unlikely event someone did crack it, Sky have the ability to roll out an entirely new encryption system in a very short space of time.


No of course it wont and you can't buy hacked Digiboxes from a polish chap at my local market either. ;-) ...cheers...Keo
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - DP
No of course it wont and you can't buy hacked Digiboxes
from a polish chap at my local market either. ;-)
...cheers...Keo


Hacked in what way? All I've ever heard of anyone doing to a Digibox is sticking a bigger hard drive in Sky+ boxes. I also understood Sky's encryption to be pretty much foolproof.

Cheers
DP
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Quinny100
Are you sure they are Sky Digiboxes? Cable has been done for a while and it's not difficult to come by a box, but if your Polish man has managed to create a working hack for Sky Digital then he's upstaged a lot of seriously talented people who have been trying for years without success to do Sky Digital.

Like any hack, I'll believe it when I see it working.
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - v0n
The main reason why our version of NDS Videoguard is not compromised is lack of stand alone conditional access modules and technical documentation for third party hardware manufacturers in circulation rather than complexity of the system per say. Considering relatively small footprint of Sky's satellite broadcast and lack of CAMs to use with cards in proper set top boxes it isn't much use to anyone on the continent. That and the fact Sky always shows everything last in Europe.
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[Nissan 2.2 dCi are NOT Renault engines. Grrr...]
Ford radios receive Sky TV - urban myth - Collos25
If I was going to spend time hacking into anything I think sky would be my last port of call a bank might be my first.