Anybody know if and at what day the firmware update is transmitted,my box seems to be stuck on an early version
thanks in advance

In view of the fact that the last update was nearly 4 years ago (May 2006), the chances of a retransmission are just about zero.

However, all may not be lost.
Firstly, which version are you currently using (the "Setup" / "Technical Help" menu shows you)?
If it is 2.3.9, then you are already on the latest.

If, however, it is 1.7.7, it is quite possible that 2.3.9 is lurking there as well and needs to be enabled as the machine stores two versions of the firmware.

If you access the "Engineers Menu" (Press 2-8-4-6 from the technical help menu in 1.7.7), and then select "information" it will tell you which version is current and which version is also stored and available to switch to (hopefully 2.3.9).

The blue button selected from "Setup" / "Technical Help" (restore s/w) will swap it over for you.

If it shows, 1.7.7 and some earlier version (like 0.0.31) then you are probably stuck with it.

My software rev is 0.31 nothing else in the engineers menu to revert back to. I rang the thomson helpline number listed on the machine and most amazingly ,still works !
but not much help .
Any more ideas appreciated

Hmm, that sounds like distinctly bad news. I cannot suggest anything else.