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Humax Foxsat HD - My thoughts after 48 hours


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Old 11-07-2009, 20:31
Miriyo
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Hi,

I took delivery of my Humax Foxsat HD receiver two days ago and just thought I'd post my thoughts so far about it here for anyone considering purchasing the same thing.
[LIST][*]The installation wizard worked fine. I have 2 LNBs, one for German TV and one for UK TV but that didn't cause a problem.
[*]The remote control initially seemed quite unresponsive/slow.

I removed the film from the front of the unit and it was slightly better but only after I removed the 2nd film from the screen/buttons behind the flap did it work as I would want.
[*]The picture quality is very good and HD is fantastic on BBC HD and the German HD channels I have.
[*]Switching to and from Freesat/Non Freesat mode takes too many steps I think. I'd prefer a button on the remote to do that to be honest.
[*]Using the secret menu I read about on Digital Spy, I managed to set up DiSEqC so that Freesat was on input 1 and Astra 1/German TV was on input 2.
[*]Scanning Astra 1, I noticed that not all transponders are in the list for a manual tune. The transponder for ZDF was missing, amongst others. Only by chance did I spot the "user defined" option in the transponder list, which allowed me to enter the frequency etc. Everything was fine after that.
[*]I edited the list of channels to remove all the unwanted channels but after marking about 50 or so, the box crashed and rebooted. That happened a second time so I removed channels ten at a time and "confirmed delete" using the back button. First bad thing that happened, but something I'll only very rarely do.
[*]BBCi works very well although during Question Time, it doesn't show you what page number you need to read the live texts. Sky does I believe.

As I write, I am watching this "Guesstimation" lottery show and although Nick Knowles has just said I should press red to play along, upon doing so I just see the standard BBCi menu.
[*]I've added loads to the guide and so far everything has recorded. When a recording starts, a message appears on screen. On the box's display, it does show "rec" but it's very small. The red light on a Sky Plus box is better I think personally.
[*]I like the "watch" option when selecting a programme in the guide although I'd like a "watch series" too. Or maybe selecting "watch", will remind me on the next episode? No idea as yet.
[*]I wasn't expecting the radio channels to have full EPG details too which was a nice surprise. Radio 2 shows me their logo on the TV screen and the current song that is playing which is nice.
[*]I find the user interface very easy but the user guide could be a bit better with a bit more detail. To be fair though, I only opened the user guide to find out the answer to a specific question. I didn't need it upon initial installation.
[*]Using the appendix at the back of the user guide, I've managed to program the remote to control my TV and my audio/DVD unit.
[*]I knew this was going to happen but editing/scanning channels in Non Freesat mode removed everything in the Freesat planner. This is not only annoying but a stupid bug and I'm surprised it wasn't noticed by Humax.
[*]I'm not that enthusiastic about the design of the unit. It could have been a bit "sleeker" but that's just my taste.
[*]I've read on here that some people don't like the layout of the remote but I find it very easy for the most commonly used buttons. Some of the other buttons are a bit small but I can live with it.
[*]I'd like to turn down the box display brightness a bit but can't find a way to do it. Showing the channel name is nice though.
[*]I like how recordings from a whole series are placed in a folder and the folder name has the number of episodes in brackets.
[*]I don't yet see the point of the "list view" of the EPG. The table layout is the only way I really want to see it.
[*]I often change channels by pressing "Ok" to bring up the list instead of entering channel numbers. If I move to a different channel in the list and press OK again, the channel changes but the list stays up. This feels wrong.
[*]I'd like to see the more detailed broadcast information when changing channels (with all the icons along the bottom). I have to press "i" again to get this.
[*]Being able to delete channels from the Freesat lineup is a nice touch. I'm pleased this isn't as restrictive as Sky and there are plenty of channels I know I'll never watch.
[*]The Kathrein receiver that this box is replacing in my house showed slightly lower signal strengths and quality. I am told that the Kathrein is more sensitive than this box but I really don't know what the reason is for the difference.
[*]Not sure why I would have liked this, but the remote could have had the "Freesat" logo on it, just to finish the product off nicely. OTT of me though probably.
[*]The only real disappointment is that I cannot watch a Non Freesat channel whilst recording on Freesat (I was aware of this). I like this receiver because I can have a full UK EPG and German TV on it too but this restriction is quite annoying. I REALLY hope Humax or somebody at Freesat does something about this in an update. I often watch Sky News or listen to LBC, which are not on Freesat so it'll be a problem for anyone else who does the same.

[/LIST].

Anyway, I'm still getting used to this receiver but so far I find it easy to use, the picture's great, recording has been reliable and I like the interface. I hope I can help someone else on here reach a decision to purchase (or not to as the case may be) with my long list of points!

Similarly, if I'm doing something wrong somewhere and someone wants to correct something I've said, I'd be happy to see it posted here.

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Old 11-07-2009, 20:43
swedish cook
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You need some dark blue or black plastic to dim the display, sounds rubbish but it works !
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Old 11-07-2009, 21:04
Miriyo
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You need some dark blue or black plastic to dim the display, sounds rubbish but it works !
Oh really?! I'll see what I can do then! Thanks.


I meant to add to the original post:
[*]I've just found out that "Watch" does in fact behave like Autoview did on my very old Sky box. I missed that greatly on Sky Plus. Glad to have it back! I wasn't sure if it was just a reminder or whether the channel is changed if the on screen message is ignored. It does.
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Old 12-07-2009, 07:09
zetor
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Being able to delete channels from the Freesat lineup is a nice touch. I'm pleased this isn't as restrictive as Sky and there are plenty of channels I know I'll never watch.
Did you mean a channel can be removed from the EPG? that would be handy.
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Old 12-07-2009, 08:20
Miriyo
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Did you mean a channel can be removed from the EPG? that would be handy.
Yes I've just checked again with "Wedding TV Asia". Using the option button, I just removed it quite easily.
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Old 12-07-2009, 09:04
TV DUNIYA
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Just slightly confusing is the thread title,as the Humax Foxsat pvr is known as the HDR.
From the thread title,I'd assumed you were reviewing the non-pvr Humax Foxsat HD.
Just a clarification,for anyone not familiar with the products.
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Old 12-07-2009, 10:25
Miriyo
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Just slightly confusing is the thread title,as the Humax Foxsat pvr is known as the HDR.
From the thread title,I'd assumed you were reviewing the non-pvr Humax Foxsat HD.
Just a clarification,for anyone not familiar with the products.
Thanks for pointing that out. I don't suppose I can edit the title of a post can I?

I'm hoping that posting in the Freesat+ forum should mean the post is found in the right place.
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Old 12-07-2009, 10:31
germanycalling
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Out of curiosity, what size dish are you using in deepest Bavaria?
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Old 12-07-2009, 11:00
Miriyo
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Out of curiosity, what size dish are you using in deepest Bavaria?
I had a cheap circular 90cm dish installed by your's truly but reception was very unreliable especially for BBC One London and even light rain was a problem.

I had the British guy from Bavaria Satellite come around last week to replace it. I now have a Gibertini (sp?) and it's also 90cm but oval.

He had to install in the rain but signal quality for BBC One London and all Astra 2d channels is now 75/80% and I'm most pleased.
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Old 12-07-2009, 11:36
Night Watchman
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You need some dark blue or black plastic to dim the display, sounds rubbish but it works !
I taped a piece of a dark blue transparent plastic Leitz A4 document folder over the display and it works perfectly.
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Old 12-07-2009, 15:28
Tern
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Thanks for pointing that out. I don't suppose I can edit the title of a post can I?
Don't worry about it.

It should be perfectly clear from context.

HD has meant 'Hard Disk' for the best part of 30 years so I expect a lot of people just read it as Foxsat Hard Disk.
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Old 16-07-2009, 21:30
Cronos
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The remote control initially seemed quite unresponsive/slow.

I removed the film from the front of the unit and it was slightly better but only after I removed the 2nd film from the screen/buttons behind the flap did it work as I would want.
Top tip! I was getting a bit brassed off at the slow response.

My first impressions are similar. It does seem a bit limiting when recording, I would have expected to be able to record one and view any other channel, but recording a SD channel limits the other channels I can view.
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Old 16-07-2009, 23:07
Panman1300
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My first impressions are similar. It does seem a bit limiting when recording, I would have expected to be able to record one and view any other channel, but recording a SD channel limits the other channels I can view.
You haven't said how many feeds you have from your dish. The Humax takes two, and when set up to 'see' both feeds you can indeed record one channel and watch any other. Indeed, the Humax lets you record any two channels and watch a wide range of other channels (which apparently the new Panasonic will not let you do).

It sounds like you only have one feed from the dish, or the Humax has only recognised one. The limit in channels you can then watch whilst recording one channel is a feature of the satellite transmission technology, and not a fault of the Humax. The fact that you can record one channel and watch another using only one receiver is a clever trick the Humax can do that others cannot.

If you have two feeds then you need to check the Humax set-up as it sounds like the second feed is not being used.
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Old 16-07-2009, 23:18
White-Knight
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I have to say I can't imagine why anyone would want to dim the display but each to their own. I only hope that if Humax make modifications in the next model they incorporate a dimmer rather than a dimmer display as a clear display is one of the better points of the Humax to my thinking.
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Old 16-07-2009, 23:45
swedish cook
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I have to say I can't imagine why anyone would want to dim the display but each to their own. I only hope that if Humax make modifications in the next model they incorporate a dimmer rather than a dimmer display as a clear display is one of the better points of the Humax to my thinking.
I've nothing against the characters being bright, but the "black" background being brighter than the TV is revolting, disgusting, unforgivable - who on earth thought that this was acceptable ? Yes hopefully they will allow dimming in next firmware, until then I'd rather make the display barely readable than live with the level of radiation that comes out as standard.
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Old 17-07-2009, 10:07
savvy
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Top tip! I was getting a bit brassed off at the slow response.

My first impressions are similar. It does seem a bit limiting when recording, I would have expected to be able to record one and view any other channel, but recording a SD channel limits the other channels I can view.
Here is the test to see if you have full 2 tuner functionality :-

Go to 951 BBC 1 CI and start an instant recording, go to 108 BBC HD and start another instant recording. Now tune in to any other channel and press pause. If you can pause a 3rd channel your stb is working correctly, if not you need to do a factory reset. (You can record two channels at the same time using just one tuner if they are one the same transponder, so if a "friendly" combination of channels is used it is not a true test).

Rgds.

Les.
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Old 18-07-2009, 07:30
Cronos
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Here is the test to see if you have full 2 tuner functionality ...
The box was showing two signals at 90% strength and 100% quality but it didn't let me record two channels. A factory reset has fixed the problem. Thanks.
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Old 18-07-2009, 08:17
savvy
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The box was showing two signals at 90% strength and 100% quality but it didn't let me record two channels. A factory reset has fixed the problem. Thanks.
Yes, this is a known problem. It is actually only showing the results for Tuner 1, repeated.

Glad you got it sorted. (Did you happen to add a second feed into your box after you had done the initial installation?)

Rgds.


Les.
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Old 18-07-2009, 08:21
Cronos
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Glad you got it sorted. (Did you happen to add a second feed into your box after you had done the initial installation?)
Not sure to be honest, the guys who installed the dish set up the box initially.
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Old 18-07-2009, 08:39
savvy
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Not sure to be honest, the guys who installed the dish set up the box initially.
OK, thanks for reporting back.

Perhaps they tested it first with just one cable in, then when it was working, plugged the 2nd cable in. Unfortunately, the box is then set up for single cable operation and needs a factory reset (or access to a hidden menu) to recognise the second feed.

Hopefully you will have realised by now that you need to re-do all your scheduled recording timers after the reset.

Rgds.


Les.
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Old 19-07-2009, 07:07
hedgidj
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Top tip! I was getting a bit brassed off at the slow response.

My first impressions are similar. It does seem a bit limiting when recording, I would have expected to be able to record one and view any other channel, but recording a SD channel limits the other channels I can view.

Hmm, only got mine a week ago and it doesn't seem to have another film inside the flap; it only had the one on the outside, but the remote seems responsive anyway so I'm not bothered. Perhaps the newer ones don't have this extra film??
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Old 19-07-2009, 11:00
savvy
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Hmm, only got mine a week ago and it doesn't seem to have another film inside the flap; it only had the one on the outside, but the remote seems responsive anyway so I'm not bothered. Perhaps the newer ones don't have this extra film??
It's extremely hard to spot, the tolerances around the buttons are very tight.

It is there, you've just got to try and get an edge up with your fingernail and then it will peel off.

Rgds.


Les.
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Old 19-07-2009, 18:53
hedgidj
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It's extremely hard to spot, the tolerances around the buttons are very tight.

It is there, you've just got to try and get an edge up with your fingernail and then it will peel off.

Rgds.


Les.
I'll have a look later, don't like leaving the seat covers on a new car so to speak lol. Cheers.
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Old 20-07-2009, 17:42
Sandy.1
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Here is the test to see if you have full 2 tuner functionality :-

Go to 951 BBC 1 CI and start an instant recording, go to 108 BBC HD and start another instant recording. Now tune in to any other channel and press pause. If you can pause a 3rd channel your stb is working correctly, if not you need to do a factory reset. (You can record two channels at the same time using just one tuner if they are one the same transponder, so if a "friendly" combination of channels is used it is not a true test).

Rgds.

Les.
I was just about to post a further query about a conflict that I appear to be having when I re-read the procedure above for confirming that I have two tuner functionality. I have carried out the procedure and everything worked as listed.

So can someone please explain how I have a conflict when I set up BBC HD to record Oceans from 1900 to 2000 this evening and then try to set up BBC 1 London to watch the one Show from 1900 to 1930. Nothing else in the schedule over this period.

I have now set BBC 1 Yorks to watch the One Show with no problem
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Old 20-07-2009, 17:50
savvy
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I was just about to post a further query about a conflict that I appear to be having when I re-read the procedure above for confirming that I have two tuner functionality. I have carried out the procedure and everything worked as listed.

So can someone please explain how I have a conflict when I set up BBC HD to record Oceans from 1900 to 2000 this evening and then try to set up BBC 1 London to watch the one Show from 1900 to 1930. Nothing else in the schedule over this period.

I have now set BBC 1 Yorks to watch the One Show with no problem
That's a classic "1 Cable" situation, if there's nothing else set to record.

I just checked, and with only 1 cable you can't record BBC1 London & BBC HD together, but you can if you switched BBC1 Yorks.

Are you sure you have done the 2 cable test accurately? Or are you sure you don't have any hidden manual timers on other channels at the same time?

Rgds.


Les.
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