Hi all, thanks for adding me.
Not sure if these questions are answered already, I've had a look through and can see faintly similar probs, but anyway here goes.
So, I have a Foxsat HDR, quite old now but rock solid reliable until recently. Two odd things started happening during the recent cold spell. One is that subtitles no longer seem to work. I turn them on, maybe one bit of speech appears, then no more.
I did reset the system back to 'factory values', subs did seem to work again briefly, but not for long.
The other oddity is that it seems it will no longer record 2 channels simultaneously. The two cable connections from the (ex-Sky) dish seem fine. I'm starting to wonder if the weather got into the dish transducer, is that a possible? Combined with this, I notice that when it records now, the channel display actually changes to the channel it's recording. It never did that before.
All very strange. We can play back stuff OK, disk is about 60% full.
If opinion is that it's probably in its death throes, any recommendations on what to get to replace it, please?
TIA for any help, advice etc.
My Humax Forum » Freesat HD » FOXSAT HDR
Machine generally playing up
(29 posts)-
| Thu 25 Feb 2021 17:08:29 #1 |
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Cantata - 14 mins ago »
Hi all, thanks for adding me.
Not sure if these questions are answered already, I've had a look through and can see faintly similar probs, but anyway here goes.
So, I have a Foxsat HDR, quite old now but rock solid reliable until recently. Two odd things started happening during the recent cold spell. One is that subtitles no longer seem to work. I turn them on, maybe one bit of speech appears, then no more.I did reset the system back to 'factory values', subs did seem to work again briefly, but not for long.
The other oddity is that it seems it will no longer record 2 channels simultaneously. The two cable connections from the (ex-Sky) dish seem fine. I'm starting to wonder if the weather got into the dish transducer, is that a possible? Combined with this, I notice that when it records now, the channel display actually changes to the channel it's recording. It never did that before.
All very strange. We can play back stuff OK, disk is about 60% full.
If opinion is that it's probably in its death throes, any recommendations on what to get to replace it, please?
TIA for any help, advice etc.Check the coax cables for any sign of water ingress. What happens if you swap the inputs ? It's also possible the lnb has failed.
Have you got a epg entry for channel 999. ?
| Thu 25 Feb 2021 17:24:43 #2 | -
I noticed the translucent cap on the LNB had cracked a few months ago, filled the crack with Araldite, maybe that's all failed and let water in I guess. Lots of replacement LNB's, how do you choose the right one for an ancient Sky dish?!
Could you explain the 'epg entry for chan 999' please?
| Thu 25 Feb 2021 17:34:43 #3 | -
Cantata - 31 mins ago »
I noticed the translucent cap on the LNB had cracked a few months ago, filled the crack with Araldite, maybe that's all failed and let water in I guess. Lots of replacement LNB's, how do you choose the right one for an ancient Sky dish?!
Could you explain the 'epg entry for chan 999' please?Channel 999 is the Freesat info channel and it's on the Freesat home transponder.
You need the home trandponder to setup the box properly again. If you have got water in the coax cables you will need to replace them.
As well as replacing the lnb you will need a legacy adaptor to fit the new lnb to the old dish.
If you swap the cables and the box then says no signal you will know which of the two input cables is not providing a signal.
| Thu 25 Feb 2021 18:11:41 #4 | -
Thanks I'll get onto it tomorrow.
| Thu 25 Feb 2021 19:25:24 #5 | -
Had a chance now to look at all this again.
Looked at the diagnostics screen. This shows both tuners getting a 90-100% signal, both strength and quality.
If I pull out the Tuner 1 input cable while watching a channel, I lose the picture, says weak or no signal.
If I pull out the Tuner 2 cable instead, nothing happens, programme carries on.
If I display the channel listing, all channels show. BUT when I record any channel, recording works OK but many of the other channels disappear off the listing. Stop recording, the rest of the channels reappear.
And the machine will not record two channels simultaneously as it should, it will only record one. Try to record another, it says 'channel conflict'.
So the dish, LNB and cables all appear to be OK, I guess? I fear that the Humax has an internal fault using Tuner 2. Or am I barking up the wrong tree?Any views please? If opinion is that the box has gone u/s I guess that's it, not worth trying to get it repaired? And if so, what would the current best replacement be?
| Sun 28 Feb 2021 17:53:36 #6 | -
Tuner problems are very rare. My guess is you have lost vertical polarisation on the LNB port.
The Humax uses tuners as necessary. All channels are in one of 4 groups made up of low and high band channels and horizontal and vertically polarised channels. Each tuner can select only one of these 4 groups and will select the single transponder which contains the desired channel and several others. So your test would depend on the channels you were trying to record as if you selected two channels on the same transponder you would have been able to record them.
You did not specifically confirm you can receive channel 999, if so I suggest a reset to default (factory reset). Watch for the number of tuners message.
Post results including number of channels found.| Mon 1 Mar 2021 5:39:12 #7 | -
Thanks again for your help.
I get the gist of what you're saying, I'm reasonably tech savvy but the detail is a bit beyond me!OK, channel 999 was there and was OK.
I went back to Factory Defaults, again. 2-cable antenna detected. It tuned 146 TV channels, 38 Radio.
On a quick test, I then found I could record 2 channels simultaneously, chosen at random. I notice again that sections of the channel groups disappear from the channel listing when recording, I'm sure this didn't happen before. When I stop recording, the lost channels reappear.
Going back to my original post, I also mentioned that subtitles weren't aoppearing on recordings. I now think that subs are not appearing on SOME recordings, not all, possibily depending which channel was recorded? Can I add that as we are both getting a bit old, we rely on the subtitles quite a lot. For instance, no subs appear on recordings of 103 (ITV HD).
A question - are you guys satisfied that the problem is within the Humax, or is it still possibly a LNB problem? Is it worth me spending a few pounds on a new LNB anyway, just in case? It's pretty old, probably at least 25 years it's been stuck out there since we first had Sky, which we ditched in favour of Freesat a few years later.
If it's the Humax, I guess it can't be repaired, so suggestions for replacement would be welcome.
Thank you!
| Mon 1 Mar 2021 9:36:46 #8 | -
Cantata - 2 mins ago »
Thanks again for your help.
I get the gist of what you're saying, I'm reasonably tech savvy but the detail is a bit beyond me!
OK, channel 999 was there and was OK.
I went back to Factory Defaults, again. 2-cable antenna detected. It tuned 146 TV channels, 38 Radio.
On a quick test, I then found I could record 2 channels simultaneously, chosen at random. I notice again that sections of the channel groups disappear from the channel listing when recording, I'm sure this didn't happen before.
Going back to my original post, I also mentioned that subtitles weren't aoppearing on recordings. I now think that subs are not appearing on SOME recordings, not all, possibily depending which channel was recorded? Can I add that as we are both getting a bit old, we rely on the subtitles quite a lot. For instance, no subs appear on recordings of 103 (ITV HD).
A question - are you guys satisfied that the problem is within the Humax, or is it still possibly a LNB problem? Is it worth me spending a few pounds on a new LNB anyway, just in case? It's pretty old, probably at least 25 years it's been stuck out there since we first had Sky, which we ditched in favour of Freesat a few years later.
If it's the Humax, I guess it can't be repaired, so suggestions for replacement would be welcome.
Thank you!It's normal for some channels not to be available while recording two.
So your box appears to be working as it should.
The channel up down button will cycle through the available channels.
If you post which two channels you were recording I can post which channels should have been available
see
https://myhumax.org/forum/topic/what-can-i-record-and-watch-using-1-or-2-cables
Tip while watching a channel live if you press opt+ it will display the transponder details.
| Mon 1 Mar 2021 9:44:48 #9 | -
Yeah but before this last factory reset, channels disappeared when recording only one.
I think I'll get a new LNB, and see what happens. Wifey is nagging me about the subtitles.| Mon 1 Mar 2021 10:21:56 #10 |
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