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Timlenaerts

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Hello,

This is my first post here; I hope I'm not going over old ground, but I couldn't see any similar problems via the search function.

I moved into a new house in the Cambridge area and plugged my HDR Fox T2 into the installed ariel and carried out an auto tune. there were no problems until it rained, when the signal seemed to degrade. I got around to installing everthing into a new TV cabinet and looked at the ariel a little more closely, when I found corrosion on the plug. I removed the corrosion, but as I was doing so, water came out of the plug - suggesting that water had goten into the cabling higher up, and was syphoning down. I lowered the ariel and drained all the water out and left it to dry. As the house is a military quarter, I had to call out the repair bloke, who replaced the ariel plug. since then the Humax hasn't been able to find any channels on an auto search.

I have checked the signal by plugging the ariel into the TV directly and am getting a good signal. but the Humax doesn't tune. looking inside the box, there is no sign of water damage and the other functionality of the Humax works perfectly.

I don't think that any water got into the humax through the ariel cable, but can't guarantee it.

Has anyone experienced any issues with auto tuning not working correctly or is there a way I can test the tuning system?

does anyone know it the tuning unit can be replaced (last resort!)?

Thanks in advance

| Thu 6 Jun 2013 10:56:23 #1 |
Martin Liddle

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Hard to be sure but I would guess that water has got into the tuners on the Humax and damaged them. There been a few reports of similar problems over the years but I am not aware of anybody having found a way of repairing the problem. Sorry not to be able to offer a more positive contribution.

| Thu 6 Jun 2013 11:05:42 #2 |
damian

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I'm not going to open my box to check. but if yours is already open... some of the tuners have a metal lid that just clips on, some are soldered on, it'd be worthwhile checking and if it's a clip on, prise it off and check inside, assuming it's unplugged from the mains of course.

I'd also be checking to see whether the aerial signal is allowed through the box, i.e. aerial plugged in and flylead to tv. With the Humax on it should allow the aerial signal through to the tv, this would confirm power to the tuner module. If it blocks the signal then you're looking at power not getting to the tuner module

A hairdryer on low heat setting can be useful. Modern electronics are quite hardy, I'd be surprised it you can't get it working again. Either time, drying out, checking fuses psu etc.

If your tv tells you which channel number you're tuned to 21-69 you can go into manual tuning and put the number in to check signal strength/quality. Alternatively look up the channel numbers for your local transmitter in Cambridge

| Thu 6 Jun 2013 21:18:58 #3 |
moosey

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If all they did was to replace the plug then you still have a problem. You really need to find out where the water was getting in in the first place and fix that. Then you should replace all of the RF cabling as even a hair dryer will not remove moisture from within the cable. You still have a potential repeat of the problem the next time it rains and the moisture inside the cable will increase losses.

If it were me, I would replace the aerial (most likely place where the water is getting in) and cabling, but given your circumstances you should push for the "repair bloke" to do the work.

Good luck,

Peter

| Mon 10 Jun 2013 12:52:03 #4 |
Timlenaerts

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Hi all and thank you for your posts. I have left the unit to dry out (I don't think that there was any major water ingress) and after a few days of dry weather, plugged the aerial cable via another cable and a female/female connector into my TV. I got a reasonable signal (will try and post a picture) on ch48 so reconnected the humax box and tried a manual tune. No channels found, so I tried an auto tune with the same results. I plugged the TV into the the aerial out socket of the Humax and got a picture. The signal seems to be slightly degraded, but definitely a decent signal. No results on the manual or auto tune when I tried again.

I was wondering if this sheds any light on the cause of the problem. The settings on the Humax don't marry up directly to the information I am getting on the TV. I've reset the Humax to factory settings but haven't been able to update the firmware.

Any ideas?
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| Mon 24 Jun 2013 22:16:26 #5 |
Timlenaerts

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Fifth time of asking!
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| Mon 24 Jun 2013 22:33:50 #6 |
Barry

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That would appear to suggest the Humax tuners are faulty.

| Tue 25 Jun 2013 8:10:31 #7 |
damian

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Hi,
like Barry said it's looking like the tuners are faulty.

I'm assuming the tv signal disappears when the tv is connected via the aerial out socket and the Humax is powered down. Also I'm assuming you've tried it on a different aerial.
If water has got into the tuner module then it may take a long while to dry out. If it's out of warranty then I'd still try opening the box, unplugged, see if you can get the lid of the tuner module and use a hair dryer on low heat to make sure it's completely dry. Failing that; stand it up on its back edge with the aerial sockets facing down for a few days or hair dryer again on low heat directed at the aerial socket, if it's already bust then blowing warm air at it can't do any harm and who knows...

If all else fails then get a graded one from Humaxdirect, they're a bargain at the moment and use the old one as a client/server.

| Wed 26 Jun 2013 1:15:29 #8 |
Timlenaerts

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Hi Damian,

I'm getting a slightly degraded signal from the ariel out socket when I plug the TV into that, so the Humax is definitely passing the signal through, but doesn't seem able to use it itself.

Apparently the chap is coming to replace the ariel cable this week (only the third time he's been to look at the water-coming-out-of-the-ariel problem) so I'll give it a go then.

Thanks for the info.

| Wed 26 Jun 2013 6:55:32 #9 |