About the Direct TV Hu Card

Communication Articles | April 29, 2007

The Direct TV Hu Card, which is a small electronic chip, inserts right into your TV receiver and gives you access to many channels for your enjoyment. This card is also known as the Football card of P3. This 32-bit access card was first introduced to the market in 1999. The main difference between the old H access card and the new Hu card is that Hu card contains dual ASICs and has the dynamic encoding capability.

The H card can only pick up the analog signals while the Hu card picks up both the analog as well as the digital TV signals. Hu cards are also featured with the higher security measures. Hu cards� serial numbers start from 0001 7400 0000, so their serial numbers must be equal to or greater than this number. When you are buying a Direct TV Hu card, it is always better to look for one that has the ability to pick up universal signals, signals from any receiver. This is better than a card that picks up receiver-specific signals. Also, don�t forget to inquire if the card will be compatible with the system you are using. Be aware if the card retailer is authorized or not, otherwise you may get entangled in the ramifications of paying a hefty fine and seizure of your equipment. Unauthorized retailers are found selling illegal cards all the time, and fiddling with these illegal retailers isn�t worth the trouble.

Packaged in a plastic box, the Hu card chip is provided to the Direct TV service consumer while signing up for a package. It commands the receiver which channel frequencies to decode for displaying the content on the display of the TV set and thus serves the purpose of allowing only the preapproved channels/programming to get displayed on the customer�s TV screen; and blocks the others. Therefore, if a customer wants to switch to another package; he must get another Hu card mailed from his service provider. You can easily order another Hu card online and receive it in the mail if you�d like. Replacing the new Hu card by the old Hu card is all that needs to be done to get the service according to the newly ordered package. Thus, you�ll avoid the need to take the receiver to your service provider in case you would like to switch to a different package than the one you already have.

Most of the Direct TV Hu cards are reprogrammable; so you can also get your old card reprogrammed by retailers to get the instant access to the channels you�re looking for.

Hu card serves another important purpose of blocking the inappropriate contents of a channel/programming at the subscriber�s will. This highly desirable purpose is communicated through the use of the �Parental Block Out� feature of the receiver. The Hu card is designed such as to execute this command through the receiver. This feature allows the TV owner to block contents of the programming which he does not want to get viewed on his TV screen by the other persons.

In the 21st century when the censor board was facing almostly unavoidable and the hardest difficulty of controlling thousands of channels broadcasted throughout the world through satellites owned by different nations; the Parental Block Out feature of the Hu card greatly relieves the TV owners from the embarrassment of getting the inappropriate contents viewed by their family members, relatives and guests in front of them.