Sky/equivalent HD TV output

[mjr]

No problems here. Could be your receiver, but could be local weather.

 

[ColinJ]

No problems here. Could be your receiver, but could be local weather.

It is fine here now too. The weather hasn't been doing anything extreme here this evening.

I notice that my recording of the Channel 4 news failed at 7 pm so the signal had probably been lost then, but it was perfect by 9 pm before going off again just before I posted above.

There is a good loop of cable hanging down under the LNB on the dish so water won't be running along the cable into the LNB. What I can see of the cable looks ok.

Hmm - I just went to check the signal cables on the back of the box and the picture broke up a couple of times when I touched the connectors ... could be something a bit iffy going on in there!

I'll leave well alone for now but I have more problems then I will disconnect the connectors and take a good look at them.

 

[mjr]

Hmm - I just went to check the signal cables on the back of the box and the picture broke up a couple of times when I touched the connectors ... could be something a bit iffy going on in there!

I'll leave well alone for now but I have more problems then I will disconnect the connectors and take a good look at them.

That seems possible. They're easy connectors to attach to the cable but also fairly easy to muck up. Turn the box off first (unplug it if it doesn't have a real on-off switch), as there's power to the LNB head running along the cable, which is both an annoying tingle and probably not good for the LNB to spark/short.

 

[mjr]

There is a good loop of cable hanging down under the LNB on the dish so water won't be running along the cable into the LNB. What I can see of the cable looks ok.

I just noticed this. Have they waterproofed the connection into the LNB? Otherwise, water may be collecting in that loop, especially if it's CT cable, not modern WF. See "Which cable?" near the bottom of http://satcure.co.uk/tech/cable.htm for the difference.

 

[ColinJ]

I just noticed this. Have they waterproofed the connection into the LNB? Otherwise, water may be collecting in that loop, especially if it's CT cable, not modern WF. See "Which cable?" near the bottom of http://satcure.co.uk/tech/cable.htm for the difference.

I'll take a look later.

 

[ColinJ]

The signal came and went again a couple of times earlier this evening. I found that wiggling the connectors made no difference at all.

The signal has been lost for about 30 minutes now. I'll try powering the box down, leaving it for a minute and then rebooting it.

 

[ColinJ]

[QUOTE 5166391, member: 259"]It's a real shame. You can still see it and record it as a non-Freesat channel, but obvioulsy no access via the guide, so it's a bit of a pain. I've been recording stuff on the computer and casting it to the TV.[/QUOTE]
I have just found THESE INSTRUCTIONS explaining how to set up Ch4 HD as a non-Freesat channel.

I can't do it yet because of the signal problems that I am having, but I am wondering how I would set up the recordings since non-Freesat channels would not appear on the EPG?

 

[mjr]

The signal came and went again a couple of times earlier this evening. I found that wiggling the connectors made no difference at all.

The signal has been lost for about 30 minutes now. I'll try powering the box down, leaving it for a minute and then rebooting it.

Don't wiggle the bleedin' things. Unscrew 'em and take a good look: is the core long enough, 3mm sticking out of the plug? Is the screen firmly clamped in the collar? If not, remake the connector. Then, plug it back in and do it up snug. See if that improves matters.

 

[ColinJ]

[QUOTE 5174329, member: 259"]Which box do you have?[/QUOTE]
A Humax 1010s.

As for the signal problems ... No signal for an hour so I powered the box down, waited a while and powered it back up. It took 2 reboots, but then the signal came back. It could be a coincidence that it happened just after the reboot(s), but perhaps NOT?

I now have the signal info box up and ... oh, er, WHOOSH ... the signal has suddenly been lost again!!!

Unscrew 'em and take a good look: is the core long enough, 3mm sticking out of the plug? Is the screen firmly clamped in the collar? If not, remake the connector. Then, plug it back in and do it up snug. See if that improves matters.

Hmm ... I just did that and the core on each cable looked way too long - 10-12mm. I have trimmed them back to about 1/3 of the length and put the system back together. It is currently working.

Again, was that due to fixing a connector problem, or just due to powering down and rebooting?

I'll leave it running and see what happens ...

 

[mjr]

Odd. More often the problem is too short, but I guess a really long core could hit the stop and prevent the outer getting a good grip. It'll be interesting...

 

[ColinJ]

Odd. More often the problem is too short, but I guess a really long core could hit the stop and prevent the outer getting a good grip. It'll be interesting...

That was my thinking too - they were stupidly long!

Anyway - it is still running, but with such a random problem it would take a week or two without further signal losses before I started to feel confident that it is fixed.

I thought I would try the non-Freesat Ch4 HD channel now, but ... the settings menu is missing half its entries!

They were definitely there earlier but the box seems to have glitched while rebooting. I can't reboot it again now because I am recording something. I'll give it a go when the recording has completed.

 

[ColinJ]

I have just found THESE INSTRUCTIONS explaining how to set up Ch4 HD as a non-Freesat channel.

I can't do it yet because of the signal problems that I am having, but I am wondering how I would set up the recordings since non-Freesat channels would not appear on the EPG?

Ok, I've done it ... There were subtle changes needed to some of the instructions listed on that webpage but I worked out how to do it.

It takes me about 10 button presses to get to non-FS Ch4 HD, but only 2 to get back to the Freesat channel that I started from. (It is non-FS channel 5138, BTW.) I had to scan and find all TV channels to get it to work, then manually change to ch 5138. That is only the first time though - the Humax box remembers the non-Freesat channel so I don't have to type that in again.

There doesn't appear to be a way to record it though. If I am recording, it will have to be the SD version. If I am watching live then I will switch to non-FS and watch in HD - thanks @User259 - I wouldn't have known about this if you hadn't mentioned it on the previous page!

 

[ColinJ]

I have had a few frustrating days. I thought my Freesat problems had gone away but then they returned. I decided to make a more determined effort to get to the bottom of the problem and I THINK I have now deduced what it is ...

I discovered that when the Freesat box tells me that there is no signal, or it is too weak, that it is not a permanent state of affairs. If I select other channels then the signal mysteriously returns. Or if it says that there is no signal but I leave it long enough, eventually a signal returns.

My hypothesis was that the channels that work would have one polarisation and the ones that don't would have the other. I made a list of all of my favourite channels, which ones worked, and which ones didn't. Then I went to Wikipedia and looked up the polarisations for all of them ... BINGO - all of the dead channels have horizontal polarisation and all of the ones that work have vertical polarisation!

The problem could be at the pair of LNBs on the dish or it could be in the Humax Freesat box. Either the LNBs are failing to switch to the correct polarisation or they are not being told to switch. Switching is controlled by the voltage that the receiver puts on the cable. If it isn't putting the right voltage on the cable then the box is to blame. If the switching voltage is correct then the LNB is probably faulty. I suspect the Freesat box because if it is the LNB then both circuits are failing at the same time. It seems much more likely that the box is failing to generate/supply an adequate switching voltage.

I just looked up the switching voltage spec: 12.5-14.5 volts = vertical; 15.5-18.5 volts = horizontal.

Whichever is to blame, it is an intermittent fault which used to manifest itself about once every couple of months but now occurs every few hours and lasts hours at a time so SOMETHING is nearly dead!

I'll dig out my old multimeter after a night's sleep and see what voltage is present on the connectors on the box when I select channels with different polarisations. If the box is faulty I can get it repaired or exchanged under its 6 year warranty. (The only problem is that I have quite a lot of recorded programmes that I would like to watch before any potential exchange of hardware.)

If the box seems ok then I suppose somebody will have to go up a ladder to sort the LNBs/dish out. If it were at ground level then I would do it, but I'm not good with heights ... Sounds like a job for SKY dish man!

PS Doing a soak test this morning with one tuner on a vertically polarised channel and the other tuner on a horizontal one...

On power-up, both channels were working. 30 minutes later the horizontal channel failed, then after another 15 minutes the vertical channel went. I've left the box on test and both channels have been off for hours. I haven't tested the switching voltages yet but it wouldn't surprise me if they have collapsed.

 

[keithmac]

Virgin Media for us and HD looks great.

I've noticed BBC SD looks pretty poor some times, to be fair all SD looks a bit pants compared to HD!.

Was going to look at some Ultra 4k TV's just to see what all the hype was about but decided against it as I'd probably just buy one and I can't really afford it at the moment!.

 

[ColinJ]

Virgin Media for us and HD looks great.

My older sister is the only person I know with Virgin Media. Yes, the HD channels do look good ... If only they would actually use the HD channels! They always select the SD versions. They don't bother changing to HD even when I point it out.

My other sister has Freesat and similarly excellent HD channels but she doesn't bother with HD either - aaaargh!