Humax PVR 'losing' signal.

[#1]

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.

[#2]

@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.

[#3]

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

[#4]

@Mook 

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

[#5]

@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.

[#6]

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

[#7]

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.

[#8]

@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? 

[#9]

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

[#10]

@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.

[#11]

@Mook 

And are these the faulty channels?

[#12]

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.

[#13]

@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.

[#14]

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.

[#15]

@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. 🙄