topic Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal. in Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc

Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Mook — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 08:43:14 GMT

I have a 23.5 Month old Humax FVP-5000T 500GB PVR that will lose signal and show the "There is no signal or the signal is too weak" message on my screen, this can last for 20s or indeed many minutes. It seems to mostly affect the HD channels but some SD channels are also lost. Others in the house don't suffer this issue so I can rule out the transmitter.

In it's lifetime the device has only ever been used for an hour a day as it's located in my bedroom so it hasn't really worked hard.

I was wondering if anyone else had similar and what, if anything, was done to fix it.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

nozzer — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 09:11:15 GMT

@Mook

Yes, I have. I've got an HDR-FoxT2 which was doing that a couple of months ago. The problem was fixed by disconnecting all the coax connectors in the line feeding the PVR, taking them apart, cleaning the coax wire and the tube it sits in, and gently crimping the tube around the wire to make a sound contact. Not too much or the tube won't go back in the other bit properly.

The problem is made worse by high pressure weather conditions causing signal wander, so if the signal entering the PVR isn't strong enough it doesn't know where to look, coupled with the fact that copper slowly oxidises and gets a thin layer of copper oxide, which is an excellent insulator at the kind of microvoltage levels we are talking about.

For more transmitter info have a look at..

ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv

Double click on your transmitter for more info, including current problems and a nice channel analysis list.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Mook — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 09:44:08 GMT

Thanks for the reply @nozzer, I'm actually using pre-made 'gold plated' Cable Mountain Coaxial connectors; the TV signal itself comes from a wall socket fed from a distribution amp in the loft which in turn is fed from a cabinet in the street.

I do have other connectors I can try but as these are sealed I'm not so convinced that they are the culprit, but I will try. If anything I'm suspecting one of the tuners in the device itself.

+1 for the TX Info

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Baldrick1 — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 10:04:09 GMT

@Mook

Looking up the device from sellers I see mention of a 2 year guarantee. Have you checked whether you have one?

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

nozzer — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 10:16:31 GMT

@Mook

Is it happening on all channels or just a few? If it's all of them it may well be the tuner, but if it's just a few it won't be that.The channel list on the web site gives you the true channel numbers, and you should be able to check on the Humax what the actual received signal strength/quality is for each one. Some of the multiplexes are a lower strength than others and so will be affected by even small faults in the reception kit.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Mook — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 10:32:29 GMT

I have @Baldrick1 and its got 16 days remaining , I have contacted Humax and I'm awaiting a reply.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Mook — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 10:34:42 GMT

It's just a few channels @nozzer all of them HD with one or two SD. The reason I suggested the tuner was that there are 3 in this device, to support concurrent viewing / recording, but how they work I don't know.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

nozzer — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 10:51:41 GMT

@Mook

It's not a tuner. All three of them each receive all the channels in a complete "spectrum", so if a tuner was faulty all the channels would be affected equally. It's a connection problem somewhere. I would be inclined to look in the loft at the connections there if you're sure the others in the house are ok. What is the cabinet you mentioned?

Out of interest, what transmitter are you on?

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Mook — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 11:15:55 GMT

OK @nozzer, like I said I don't have a clue how it works, I used to term 'tuner' as it's mentioned in the blurb as having three, so ...

The amp in the loft may well be the issue and is worth a look at, there are some spare outlets on it so I'll move my feed to one of them when I'm up there.

In the mean time I've got the unit sitting next to me here in the Office so this is using a different feed from the amp, so it will be interesting to see if it happens here. In fact as I type this I can hear it booting up, but the power led remains red and there are no scheduled recordings as it just been factory reset. Maybe looking for updates or FPG data.

The cabinet in the street provides the TV and Satellite signals to all of the houses on the estate.

Selkirk TX

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

nozzer — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 11:42:26 GMT

@Mook

I've just noticed that on the Selkirk transmitter certain channels are being removed for 5G use by June 2020. Just on the off-chance, have you done a retune?

CANCEL THAT! Don't retune until you have looked at the remaining connections otherwise you will lose the bad channels completely if you retune when the signal is very low. The machine will think that the channel isn't there.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

nozzer — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 12:00:06 GMT

@Mook

And are these the faulty channels?

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Mook — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 12:08:46 GMT

No, the ones in question are BBC1, 2, Scotland, ITV, Channel 4 and 5 HD and an SD channel whose name I can't recall.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

nozzer — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 12:43:11 GMT

@Mook

That looks like channel 35... You can check the signal strength and quality on the Humax, but I think it has to be a connection dry joint somewhere in the coax line.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Mook — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 13:23:42 GMT

It is @nozzer on DBV-T2

But this is what I don't understand I've checked the 4 other devices and they all report similar signal strength and none of them are showing this issue which is why I'm of the opinion that it it the device at fault.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

nozzer — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 13:38:00 GMT

@Mook

Ok. I didn't realise you had other devices on the same signal. So if they are ok, the only weak link is either the machine, as you say, or the last connection into the machine. If it is the machine I don't understand why you are only losing certain channels.

An HD recorder will need a better signal quality than standard. Are the others all standard recorders or HD as well?

If they are standard, it could still be the coax line somewhere because the Humax needs a good quality signal to receive HD. If they are HD, then it could be a tuner fault as you say or the last connections into the machine, in other words cabling not shared by the others. Other than that I am now at a loss. 🙄

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Mook — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 13:54:48 GMT

They are all HD recorders @nozzer, none of which exhibit this issue. So as you say this leaves us with the line feed from the attic, or the device itself. Nothing has changed with the physical line, so it may be the amp. But if it is the amp then why is it only manifesting itself on 'my line'. Taking the amp out of the equation we're left with the device.

I'm going to swap mine with the one in the lounge as they are identical units and see where this gets me. I've set it to record from the HD channels at the same time I would have be using it and if these fail we know where to point the finger.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

Jonpe — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 20:55:05 GMT

Mine's an HDR Fox-T2 like @nozzer's, and will be celebrating nine years of service in August. There have been a few (three I think) occasions when I've got the "No signal, this channel is either not available or scrambled." or words to that effect. I get the same message when trying other channels, and even when trying to watch a previously recorded programme that I've already watched part of in faultless quality. It seems to happen if I'm watching one channel while recording one or two others and rewinding and fast-forwarding a fair bit. A few days ago I was watching a programme on C4 HD which I'd missed the beginning of so when it finished I swithced to C4+1 (SD) in order to catch the beginning of the programme. Although I got a picture it was unwatchable; the other two channels I checked were just as bad.

In all these cases the remedy seems to be to switch the Humax off, not via the remote control but using the switch at the back or at the wall socket. Any recording in progress will of course stop as the power to the recorder is lost.

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

nozzer — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 09:26:41 GMT

@Mook

If you do find that another pvr is ok, try replacing the coax lead in the original one to see if it works. You might have disturbed something when swapping leads.

And if all else fails, do a retune without the aerial lead plugged in, then switch off and leave, then do a retune with the aerial plugged in again. That forces any dross out of the pvr program memory.

@Jonpe

Picture berakup like that is often caused by local radio interference. We have a taxi firm near us that seems to occasionally cause problems, but it depends on the weather, ie whether it's high pressure air. It's caused signal bouncing/reflection and confuses the receiver. Not something that can be fixed if the culprit is obeying the rules apparently.

Such are the joys of digital reception. 😶

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

rpaco — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 20:25:20 GMT

Yes I have the exact same model and same problem as you.

In my case the aerial cable is plugged into the Humax then a loop out to the tv. The tv works fine on all channels while the FVP 5000T has a weak or no signal on many including Ch4+1 5USA and about six other that I used to watch or record from. Sometimes the error message infers the the channel is scrambled. Many recordings now show a broken tape symbol and say the recording did not work etc, however some are ok, if you start to show it and look at the prog length on the time elapsed bar at the bottom, if its "0" don't bother but if the true prog length is shown it may be watchable (or partly)

OK yes I have checked all the cables from the antenna, the pre-amp, the distributor amp and the co-ax plug into the tv.

I have re-tuned both soft and full many times. Plus each time a new Channel frequency change notice is displayed.

This all started when the tv transmitters kicked off some tv frequencies in favour of 5G and reduced power on some of the remainder.

The signal strength tonight is showing 82% on Tuner 1. 91% on Tuner 2 and 0% on Tuner 3. But it seems to be working better, its damp if not raining.

The 3 other tvs in the house all work fine on all channels plus the one to which the Humax is attached (used as a monitor on playback or on Freeview plus.)

The signal passes into the Humax then out to the tv! So I wondered if there is a duff RF connection inside the box. But now on searching I find it is a very common problem also affecting Freesat boxes as well as Freeview (+ Plus) Not only here but many are reffering to Fox, so I gather in the USA too.

Any bright ideas, (not including checking plugs or retuning)?

Re: Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

rpaco — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 12:55:26 GMT

Further to my post of yesterday I have now done a factory reset (but keeping existing recordings) and let it go through a first time installation again. (take photo of scheduled recordings first) This seems to be a great improvement.

BTW I suppose you have the software update UKTFAE 1.03.52 of 12 June installed. This fixed the My5 player.