No Signal although dish/cable are OK

My Humax Forum » Freesat HD » FOXSAT HDR

No Signal although dish/cable are OK

(11 posts)

Connect1

member
Joined: Aug '14
Posts: 12
offline

Hi
Just new to this forum and have searched for similar issues but can't find one that exactly matches my problem.

I bought a Foxsat HDR in 2009 and it has been working fine until a few weeks ago. Initially I got some 'failed recording' messages and eventually tracked this down to a poor connection at the back with one of the tuners.

What I get now is it takes 2-3 minutes to boot from standby and then indicates that there is no signal at either tuner (previously recorded programmes can still be watched though). I switch it off at the back, wait a minute, switch it back on and I then get 100% signal strength and quality. A day or two may pass and then the next time I switch on from standby I get the delayed boot and no signal again.

Anything I can try or is it time to get a new model?

Thanks.

| Mon 11 Aug 2014 12:08:36 #1 |
REPASSAC

special member
Joined: Mar '11
Posts: 4,100
offline

Check the connections carefully.
Most probable if is poorly fitted F connector where temperature is a factor.
However it is work checking the signal quality levels on the main channels you watch (and that the unit can to standby in) plus 999.

| Mon 11 Aug 2014 14:00:09 #2 |
Connect1

member
Joined: Aug '14
Posts: 12
offline

Thanks Repassac. Can you explain what you mean by "and the unit can to standby in"?

The unit has been in standby all day (and was getting a 100% signal last night)but now will not boot up so I have switched it off for an hour now and will try again later to check signal quality levels. It suggests a hardware problem to me rather than signal.

| Mon 11 Aug 2014 18:07:47 #3 |
REPASSAC

special member
Joined: Mar '11
Posts: 4,100
offline

Connect1 - 21 minutes ago »
Thanks Repassac. Can you explain what you mean by "and the unit can to standby in"?
The unit has been in standby all day (and was getting a 100% signal last night)but now will not boot up so I have switched it off for an hour now and will try again later to check signal quality levels. It suggests a hardware problem to me rather than signal.

When the unit comes out of standby it will try and restate the last used channel.

My suggestion was to measure signal quality on a selection of these channels PLUS the freesat transponder (Very important, slightly different position 28.5E rather than 28.2E).

Hardware faults of this nature (on Humax units, anyway) are very very rare - I gould guess < 0.5% or less and where they have happened have been traced to water ingression (discoloured connections).

| Mon 11 Aug 2014 18:34:31 #4 |
Connect1

member
Joined: Aug '14
Posts: 12
offline

HI
Would not boot at all and eventually had to unplug the unit from the mains, wait 10 minutes and then everything worked.

I tried about 20 different channels and the HD ones showed 100% Strength and Quality and the non-hd (including 999)showed 95% Strength and 100% Quality.

If it is water ingression it is strange that it works one hour and not the next. Unfortunately I do not have the ladder (or the nerve) to get up to the satellite dish and check the connections so can only make sure that the box connectors are good - which I believe they are.

So my options would appear to be a call out for somebody to check the dish or buy a replacement box - difficult to know which one to try first.

| Mon 11 Aug 2014 20:17:08 #5 |
JamesB

special member
Joined: Dec '13
Posts: 1,717
offline

Connect1 - 20 minutes ago »
HI
Would not boot at all and eventually had to unplug the unit from the mains, wait 10 minutes and then everything worked.
I tried about 20 different channels and the HD ones showed 100% Strength and Quality and the non-hd (including 999)showed 95% Strength and 100% Quality.
If it is water ingression it is strange that it works one hour and not the next. Unfortunately I do not have the ladder (or the nerve) to get up to the satellite dish and check the connections so can only make sure that the box connectors are good - which I believe they are.
So my options would appear to be a call out for somebody to check the dish or buy a replacement box - difficult to know which one to try first.
I would buy a replacement online from a reliable retailer. If the problem persists, call the sat dish man. If he gets it working, you can then decide if you want to return the new box under the retailer's return policy or the Distance Selling Regs.

| Mon 11 Aug 2014 20:44:47 #6 |
Connect1

member
Joined: Aug '14
Posts: 12
offline

New Humax box bought from Curry's. Surprised how cheap and nasty looking they have become - doesn't strike me as a solid bit of kit at all compared to the far better made old one.

Anyway, plugged it in and set it up. First I had only a signal showing at one tuner. Fiddled about with the connections at the back and got two eventually. Tried some channels but the clock and EPG was an hour behind. Had to update the software to fix. Then back to only one tuner (tuner 2) and despite changing the connections round at the back, could not get tuner 1 to work.

Dish man coming tomorrow to check out the signal and if he can get two, will be reverting to my old Humax and returning the new box as faulty.

| Fri 15 Aug 2014 18:11:19 #7 |
Pollensa1946

special member
Joined: Sep '12
Posts: 1,171
offline

Connect1 - 1 hour ago »
New Humax box bought from Curry's...

1000S or 1010S? If so then tuner only shows signal when that tuner is active.

| Fri 15 Aug 2014 20:01:53 #8 |
REPASSAC

special member
Joined: Mar '11
Posts: 4,100
offline

Pollensa1946 - 28 minutes ago »

Connect1 - 1 hour ago »
New Humax box bought from Curry's...

1000S or 1010S? If so then tuner only shows signal when that tuner is active.

No longer true. Suspect faulty F connector at HUMAX end.

| Fri 15 Aug 2014 20:30:57 #9 |
Pollensa1946

special member
Joined: Sep '12
Posts: 1,171
offline

REPASSAC - 8 minutes ago »
No longer true...

OK, I haven't been paying attention to software update info (when Freesat actually provide details ;-))

| Fri 15 Aug 2014 20:40:41 #10 |