Sorry if this question has been asked before. I've searched the forum but haven't found any thread that sounds like it might answer my question.

I have a Humax Foxsat HD PVR connected to a Panasonic TV. Both the signal strength and signal quality are showing 100%. I can receive all the HD channels except Channel 4 HD. The EPG has a placeholder on channel 126 but whenever I select the channel it just says "No or bad signal". I've retuned several times but just cannot get Channel 4 HD.

It's not a major inconvenience, as I can also receive the channel via Freeview, but it does mean that I can't record anything on C4HD.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Dish/lnb alignment issue. Most likely lnb skew needs attention.

How did you work that one out if the OP is saying they get 100% signal and alike on the screen, just the 'No Or Bad Signal' message when they tune the channel?

What is the panny showing the signal for? Many STB's show the signal for the EPG transponder.

Simple the epg is transmitted by all Freesat channels, because it's on the epg has no bearing on being able to receive the actual transmission. CH4 HD is one one of the few mainstream channels transmitted from EB1 at 28.5E which has a different skew setting to Astra 2 at 28.2E. A dish perfectly aligned with a perfect skew for 28.2 will have problems with EB1. To check the actual signal you have to tune to the channel and use diagnostics to look at the real signal.

It's the signal reported by the Humax box.


Thanks. Looks like there's nothing I can do about it, as I have no real desire to start playing with the dish alignment.

Thanks to everyone for the very quick replies.

All you may have to do is loosen the lnb clamp and twist the lnb slightly in it's housing (skew) with the box displaying the CH4 - HD signal strength and quality. Just mark on the barrel where you start. Most likely no need to touch the dish alignment.

Before he takes advice to start messing with the LNB he should be firstly see if he has any other issues with a EB1 beamed channel.. But it sounds very thin!

Really there's a ton of postings about lack of CH4-HD since it moved to EB1 all you have to do is do a Google search.

Here's one at random

http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/f...tml#post981320

Assuming the poster is in the UK it's the most likely scenario. His box might of course have issues with DVB-S2 but unless it's a Harvard derived one that's unlikely, as it's a Foxsat that;'s ruled out.

Yes i know that, but the fact that the OP hasn't said that they have issues with other EB1 beamed channels rules that out.
If it was skew of the LNB then they would have zero EB1 channels, thats simple...!

Ok, I also have problems with Channel 4 HD and other channels like the CBS ones.

How best do I realign my dish?

In that case, it may be local interference coupled with poor quality wiring causing it. In particular, try turning off or moving away any cordless phones (and bases), routers, etc.

That is not true. They may have access to the lower frequency horizontally polarisation Freesat home transponder on 11427 H and not be able to get the vertical polarisation 12606 V transponder used by CH4 HD. Incorrect Skew favours horizontal over vertical or vice versa depending on the error.

There's very little on Freesat using the EB1 vertical transponders. Here's a list, perhaps the OP will check if these are usable.

Note these are all high band.

Has the OP reset his Humax box?

Had similar problem with my Panny TV recently when BBC changed the HD transponders and only a reset worked. Perhaps the Humax box needs a reset.

Although skew is most likely cause, but given OP's reluctance to adjust LNB a reset is worth a try.

Mikembe
Last edited by Mikembe : 08-07-2011 at 09:40

I'm in an 11-storey apartment block with a communal aerial, so playing with the dish is out of the question. We have a company that deals with TV reception problems but I doubt they'd be prepared to look at something as trivial as this.


Trouble is, not knowing the technical terms, every Google search returned thousands of results and the useful information was probably lost amongst the irrelevant. And a thread entitled "Channel 4 HD - no signal in France" would probably not have caught my attention. I know nothing about LNBs, skew or transponders; I just know that I point a dish at a satellite and get telly.


Yes, he has.

I do not know where you are in France but my freesat sugnak for C4HD is fine (I am in 32800)

Can you watch the other channels in the list I posted.

I had exactly the same problem with my Humax box - realigned the dish and checked the skew with professional alignment gear - no improvement. The test gear said everything was correct but the Humax displayed NO SIGNAL

My solution was to buy a TechniSat HDFS receiver - perfect in every way - far superior to Humax.

I know it's a Humax PVR with a problem here, but It's likely that the problem is shared with the Foxsat HD.

I've had the same issue with my Foxsat HD on these EB1 transponders.
I did not get anything above 12.523GHz, when I upgraded from a Thomson SD box.
The Thomson had no problems what so ever with the EB1 high frequency transponders.
Changing the LNB did sort of fix the problem. I don't have perfect signal quality - only 60-70% for C4HD, and even worse for channels on higher frequencies.

Then I found this thread today:
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1166890
It appears that the downconverter used in the Humax STBs can't handle too much signal from the LNB.
It could be a linearity issue that degrades the signal quality.

In my case the Foxsat HD + MTI AP8-T2NRC is the worst combination.
It's also the LNB with the most gain...
Changing LNB to MTI AP8-XT2EBL improved reception, although signal quality were quite bad.
Now I've got the Inverto Black Ultra, and I'm quite happy with the signal quality.
I did also find that upgrading the coax cable (to reduce the signal loss) degraded signal quality on C4 HD.

Then back to the topic:
C4 HD is only temporarily on the current frequency, and is likely to move to Astra 1N later this year.
This will most likely fix the problem.
However: You could try to attenuate the signal with an attenuator or a few 100feet of cheap 75ohm coaxial cable.

I have now added a 6dB attenuator between my Foxsat HD and the DiSEqC switch.
Signal quality is up from 60% to 90%

oh no it wont,they dont have a contract with astra....it aint moving..

I'm delighted the attenuator worked for you . Mine's still in place. There did seem to be some skepticism when I added that thread originally.. I contacted Humax on a number of occasions about the problem but never received a definitive answer.

Before I could recieve channel 4 HD had to not only reset
box but also first had to tell it to reset its self to factory defaults to force it to do a complete retune from scratch

(Panasonic bs850)

reason is something about channel id reassignment.

after that no problems.

Just installed a Freesat box/recorder and am using old Sky dish. All signals are excellent except C4HD. On-screen message says "no or bad signal". I am located in East Sussex. Any suggestions or ideas other than re-alignment of the dish. I don't want lose all the other channels.

I assume BBC HD and BBC One HD work. If so, you can discount software issues.

It could be caused by dodgy cabling in combination with interference from certain wireless devices. Try unplugging, switching off and/or moving all wireless phones, routers, etc. from anywhere that goes near the cable.

Finally, by the process of elimination, you'll be left at dish alignment/LNB skew as being the only plausible cause.