How to decode Tricolor TV channels: step-by-step instructions

The appearance of the inscription “coded channel” on Tricolor clearly indicates that the broadcast is unavailable. But few users will accept such a message, since there is no reason to refuse a paid TV channel. Therefore, subscribers should be patient and understand the reasons for what happened.

In most cases, unless the encoding is due to outdated hardware, viewers are able to resolve the issue on their own. The main thing is not to rush to conclusions and be attentive to details.

And in the most difficult situations, when it is impossible to understand what happened without expert help, you can call the contact center and get advice from support operators.

Why might a channel be scrambled?

In order to solve the problem that has arisen, it is necessary to first understand the reasons for its occurrence. The coded channel message may appear in the following cases:

the subscriber has not paid for access to the service;
the encrypted channel belongs to a package that is not connected to the subscriber;
the activation keys have been lost on the receiver;
the receiver has been left unused for too long;
The equipment's expiration date has expired.

The procedure will be different in each case. In the first two situations, you just need to make a payment or activate the desired service. In all other options, you will have to make additional settings.

We recommend that you find out how to pay for Tricolor services via the Internet.
Read: how to set up missing Tricolor TV channels.

When are federal channels encrypted?

Like any company that provides access to television services, Tricolor has a set of channels that should always be available. The list of these channels is defined by law, although each company tries to reduce it within its capabilities. It includes at least First, Russia1, Culture and a dozen more frequencies.

Important! The full list of federal channels can be found on the official Tricolor website.

If a message about encoding appears on one of these channels, there is some kind of failure that occurred with the operator. In this case, you should contact Tricolor technical support. The contact center number – 8-800-500-01-23 – is available around the clock, and calls to it are not charged by telecom operators.

What are the reasons for channel encoding?

When you encounter coded channels in Tricolor for the first time, the first thing you should do is understand the reasons for what is happening.

In 2021, difficulties arise due to:

no payment for television or unpaid subscription fee for the package;
receiver malfunction;
problems on the provider's servers;
lost hardware activation key;
lack of registration of the client and the equipment he has;
outdated equipment unable to support modern broadcasts.

It is important to emphasize that not a single user will be able to immediately identify the source of the problems. To understand the problems that have arisen, you will have to sequentially consider each of the above factors, gradually moving from simple ones to larger and more serious ones.

This approach will save time, since it will only take a few minutes to check and eliminate the most simple sources of difficulties.

Encoding of federal channels

If federal channels stop working for a user, problems with subscription can be immediately ruled out. But other factors are still real, and therefore they should be considered as seriously as possible.

But, first of all, when deciding why access to broadcasts was lost, you should rule out a failure of the set-top box. To do this, it is enough to perform the simplest action recommended in case of almost any problems with television. You need to reboot the receiver and wait for the result. Perhaps the difficulties will disappear on their own, without additional checks.

Instructions for decoding the receiver

Most often, the coded channel message appears as a result of activation codes failure. This can happen for various reasons. Sometimes the operator himself is to blame for lost activation keys. In some cases, the problem is caused by some kind of hardware error.

Reset keys can also occur if the set-top box has been left turned off and unused for too long (a week or more). Activation commands are updated from the satellite automatically during operation of the receiver. When the equipment is idle for some time, no update occurs, therefore, the set-top box cannot gain access to broadcasting after that. In any case, decoding Tricolor TV channels here will involve re-obtaining activation codes.

How to update activation commands?

The easiest way to update activation codes is to turn on the equipment and leave it for 3-8 hours on one of the encrypted channels. Most often it is recommended to switch to the Kinopokaz channel, but this is not important. As soon as the satellite moves to the subscriber’s region of residence, activation codes will be automatically sent to the receiver and broadcasting will be restored. This typically takes about 3 hours, but the operator states that the procedure may take longer. Therefore, there is no need to panic earlier than 8 hours later.

What to do if there is no automatic update

If the previous option did not help, and activation commands were not sent automatically, you should request them yourself. To do this, you need to go to the subscriber’s personal account on the Tricolor website. In your account menu there is a “My Services” tab. By clicking on it, the subscriber will see data about the status of their subscriptions, and below them a red button “Request activation commands.” You must click on this button and then repeat all the steps described in the paragraph above.

Important! If for some reason the subscriber does not have access to his personal account, he can request activation commands from the Tricolor TV technical support operator.

Coded channel “est” Tricolor – what to do?

The appearance of the inscription “encoded channel est Tricolor” on the monitor is most often associated with a lack of timely payment for the service. If the money transfer has taken place, but the blocking continues, then the issue can be resolved in two ways.

Equipment registration – this procedure is necessary after installing new equipment. The first option means visiting the official page and filling out the appropriate items, the second means a phone call to the operator. After performing one of the activation methods, the receiver remains turned on for the next 8 hours, the TV can be turned off. During the specified time, the equipment will contact the satellite, register and receive new activation keys, and broadcasting will resume.

Payment for communication services - the appearance of a coded channel with the inscription “dre” or “est” is due to the fact that payment has not been made. Funds must be sent to the user's account and not to the selected subscription. To resolve the issue, funds are sent from your personal account to the selected service. If the problem cannot be solved on your own, you can receive payment instructions from the Tricolor hotline operator.

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Another decoding instruction

In some cases, receiving activation commands does not help access encrypted channels. Here you can try to perform more serious operations.

Important! It makes sense to use the methods described in the article if the encoding message is issued by a channel that was previously available. The methods given here are not suitable for viewing channels and packages that are not connected to the subscriber.

Changing settings

So, if simply updating the activation codes did not help decode the equipment, you can try the following steps:

roll back the receiver settings to the factory level;
re-set all operating parameters;
reboot the receiver by disconnecting it from the network for 5-10 minutes;
re-request activation codes;
Leave the set-top box turned on on a coded channel for 3-8 hours.

We have already written detailed instructions for each of these stages. They can be found on our website in case of difficulty with any operation.

Rolling back settings usually allows you to restore access to TV broadcasting within 1-3 hours. But the operator’s website states a longer period, in order to avoid any kind of failures on the satellite. Therefore, you should wait at least 8 hours before contacting technical support for help.

Important! If the described methods do not help, there is only one way out - contacting the Tricolor operator itself or the dealer from whom the equipment was purchased.

Payment failed

When considering the question: “Tricolor, encrypted channel, what to do?”, it is worth paying special attention to the process of checking the account balance and paying for the required package of services. When replenishing the balance, the funds are initially transferred to the general account, after which you need to manually transfer the money to the account of the required service. If you do not do this in a timely manner, the service will be blocked, and viewing the television channels included in the package will become unavailable.

Complete the free registration process in your user control panel and go to the home page. Click on the "Payment for Services" tab and redirect funds from the general account to the required subscription. Here you can attach a salary plastic card, from which the amount necessary to pay for services will be withdrawn every month. All information about expenses is recorded in the appropriate section. Unblocking the channel may also take some time; first reboot the receiver.

Outdated receiver

Since 2021, the operator Tricolor has changed the broadcast format from MPEG2 to MPEG4. In this regard, large-scale campaigns began to replace client equipment with new equipment that allows receiving video in an updated format. The list of receiver models to be replaced is published on the official Tricolor website.

The operator disconnects outdated equipment from broadcasting independently. As a result of this, a message about channel encoding appears. If the subscriber is aware that his set-top box was purchased more than three years ago, it is worth checking whether it was included in the “black list” of outdated models. If necessary, it can be exchanged for a current one by taking advantage of some operator promotion - with a small surcharge or completely free of charge. It is impossible to decode channels on Tricolor TV if the equipment was turned off by the company due to loss of relevance using the methods described above.

We advise you to find out how much the Unified package costs.
Read: how to confirm the personal data of a Tricolor subscriber.
Find out what advantages the Multiscreen service provides.

Is it worth reflashing the console?

Some subscribers, trying to save money on connecting paid channels or time to replace equipment, turn to the services of specialists who promise to flash the receiver. And those who are a little familiar with programming sometimes try to carry out such operations on their own by downloading pirated software from the Internet. The network is full of sites that provide firmware that supposedly gives unlimited access to satellite TV.

How useful is such software and can the promises be trusted? It's difficult to say for sure. Perhaps some programs can really help you watch all channels for free. However, you will also have to spend money on purchasing such firmware. And their installation will be regarded as a violation of the contract with the satellite operator, that is, as an illegal act.

How to decode

If the services are paid for, but the channels do not appear, you need to act depending on the reason for the encoding. Before decoding digital television channels on the MTS set-top box, you need to find out what signal encoding system is used. Most often these are Nagravision, Irdeto 2, Viaccess and Cryptoworks. You can also watch channels by setting up a satellite dish and receiver. But there are a number of paid channels that require decoding.

Useful: What to do if digital TV does not work

Antenna

Any system is equipped with protection against hacking. To gain access to the signal, a special key is used, which can be downloaded on the Internet. It is selected depending on which coding system is used. This can be found out from a special access card with tariff sets of television channels for a specific city. It is also available online and is inexpensive. Thanks to the card, you can open access to any channels you like.

Reasons for Channel Encoding

There are three reasons that provoke the inscription. Before implementing measures related to restoring the channel’s operation, it is worth determining what caused the failure:

Problem with the payment;
Failure in installed equipment;
Unfavorable weather.

Having determined exactly the reason for the failure, you can take actions aimed at solving the problem.

Interception over the air

Each legal card has its own unique address, which is its identifier, something like the poppy address of your DVB card. Its length is 9 bytes and it usually consists of two parts: the address of client groups 4 bytes long (SA - Shared address) and the client’s personal address 5 bytes long (UA - User Address), somewhat reminiscent of IP addressing in the TCP/IP protocol stack .

Observing the headers of the received packets, the card finds the one that has its identifier, and, if it finds it, it performs certain actions: it renews your subscription or even changes its decryption code (which means it receives a new one, or an algorithm for changing the old one, it also happens; again, the eternal problem is that all signals are sent to everyone, until the satellite learns to shoot beams of information, this vulnerability will work for pirates).

One of the most commonly used techniques in cards is to first receive a new code in encrypted form via the air. To decrypt it, use the control key available on the card. Well, then it’s simple: after decryption, the new code is stored in the card’s memory and begins to be used when decoding signals. An important conclusion follows from this: knowing the control key, you can decrypt the transmitted new code. It is precisely because of this that cards that auto-program themselves were sold earlier (although they seem to be still available now), but they have an obvious vulnerability: there must be a legal (i.e., paid for at the TV company) SA in order for an update signal to be sent to this address, and This means that if a television company finds out about a duplicated card, they will easily detect which SA is used in this card (and, consequently, in a large series of cards), and stop transferring keys to this address, and simply issue cards with a new SA to legal subscribers.