Very pleased I found this.
For no reason apparent to me I have lost all the freeview channels. One of two messages appear on screen "This channel is scrambled or not available" or "No stations are currently being broadcast on this channel".
I have done upteen retunes, cancelling any channels found before starting a new retune. Channels are found but the list on all of them is "unknown" and the channels are all in the 800s.
Previous recordings I made are still listed but when I access them they are specs of scrambled colour on a blank screen.
Can anyone help please?

Try doing a Factory Reset on it. This will reset all the user memory back to the factory defaults but won't delete any recordings on the hard drive. But if there is some corruption of the memory causing the problem it may sort it.

Go into the Menu, Settings --> Installation --> Factory Default. This will reset the memory and start off the first time install procedure just as when you unpacked the unit and switched it on for the first time.

If that doesn't cure it then not sure what else might fix it.

I think I may have already done that - having fiddled around for so long I can't remember everything. Anyway, will do it again.

The odd thing is that my TV in the kitchen lost its channels (along with my main TV) so I had to find them again and, despite me trying all sorts of things with the aerials since, this morning the channels in the kitchen are still there.

I have also noted a neatly drilled hole in the facia under my roof where sparrows this year have been going in and out of, nesting. I'm investigating possible cable damage in the loft.

Other than that, I've absolutely no idea. Obviously I don't want to call out an expert if it's just a matter of tightening aerial attachments.

Is your main TV on the same aerial point as the Humax and does it get all the channels OK or is it also missing them?

One possible solution if the kitchen point is working is to take the Humax to there and scan. See if it picks up all the channels on a known working point and if it does take it back to where it usually lives and see if the channels are still there.

If they are not DO NOT retune. If the channels are missing on the normal aerial point and OK on the kitchen point then the problem is your aerial system and not the Humax. So do not retune the Humax as you will then have no idea when you have fixed the aerial.

And for future reference. Retuning is the LAST item on the list never the first if you lose channels. Always always always eliminate faults in the aerial system before you go anywhere near the retune menu. Only retune when you are certain that the aerial system is working properly and there is no other possible reason for the loss of channels.

I recently lost a recording to the "scrambled channel " oddity, something that has happened occasionally before. I suspect it is some sort of software bug as it has been noted on these forums in the past. In my case, switching it off on the rear power switch (or unplugging it from the mains) for a couple of minutes seems to cure the problem possibly brought on by the recent retune. Humax seem to make the best recorders but their products still leave a lot to be desired at times.

I have had persistent problems with scrambled/failed recordings since the forced retune but I think I have finally nailed it.

Recording one programme at a time worked fine but if I recorded two and then tried to play them back what I got was not the programme I recorded but a messed up version of the current live broadcast.

I finally remembered that the forced rescan has a nasty habit of tuning into the wrong transmitter (Craigkelly instead of Black Hill). Sure enough when I checked the signal strength via manual tuning it showed 33%. I have now done an automatic rescan and the signal strength is back to where it should be. My theory is that the signal strength was so low on the Craigkelly muxes that the Humax couldn't couldn't handle the bit error rate when recording two programmes. Forced rescans don't work!

Funnily enough, I constantly get similar messages on my TalkTalk YouView box when trying to access the free Sky channels. It usually requires the router to be re-set rather than the box itself.

My HDR Fox T2 has become increasingly unreliable; more so since the disk became two-thirds full. It has a real problem trying to record one or two channels and playback a previously recorded programme at the same time.

Frequently, the playback goes to black, and "This channel is scrambled or not available". After about 30 seconds it continues. Usually at this point furious disk accessing sounds are heard. I think the processor is unable to keep up with the demands of the broadcast data streams.

I recorded the Budget on BBC Parliament on Wednesday afternoon. I noticed later on in the evening, the box's display was partly lit up, and the disk seemed to be active, but it wasn't actually doing anything. When I touched it, it was roasting hot, but no sound of fan activity. I switched it off at the mains, left it a minute and rebooted. It operated normally and the fan kicked in shortly afterwards.

The box is tuned to the eight multiplexes broadcast from the main transmitter only, fitted with the custom firmware, and has the daily time On / Off preferences set properly and is not connected to internet.

Sounds to me more like the hard drive is struggling. As you have the custom firmware have a look at the hard drive SART data under Diagnostics. What are the Raw values of attribute 5 (reallocted_sector_ct), 197 (Current pending sector) and 198 (Offline uncorrectable)?

Thought you might like to know how my problem is proceeding.

I disconnected the Humax, taking Chrisjr's advice, to see if I'm getting any channels on my main TV as I had got some (not all) on the kitchen TV. Answer, they were totally pixilated so it looks as if the Humax is not at fault.

By experimenting with the cables I have managed to get all the channels back on my kitchen TV but those on my main TV are now half-pixilated, so it looks as if the problem is a connection/aerial problem, but goodness knows why it suddenly happened. Once I have sorted the channels problem I'll reconnect the Humax.

Having relocated an armchair from the lounge to the kitchen I was, at least, able to watch the tennis in comfort

I have sorted the channels problem on my main TV. By process of elimination, I found that the amplifier had failed. I have therefore disconnected it from the mains and plugged the aerial directly into the back of the Humax box and from there to the TV. Having re-tuned the Humax box, as it was still showing as unknown the 800s channels, I am now pleased to say that everything works perfectly.

By disconnecting the amplifier and not replacing it, I have had to forfeit my kitchen TV, which I didn't use much anyway. If I wish to reconnect in the future all I have to do is to buy a two-way amplifier.

So, bottom line, it was definitely not the Humax box that was to blame. Whilst the whole thing has taken a lot of time and head scratching, it has not cost me anything to put right, which I consider a triumph.

What puzzles me is that in your original post you said "Previous recordings I made are still listed but when I access them they are specs of scrambled colour on a blank screen." I wouldn't have expected that to happen if the aerial signal was a problem. Is that problem fixed as well?

Hello Martin
You are quite right. I will try to explain what I think happened.

I had recorded Antiques Roadshow and that was horribly scrambled when I tried to access it after discovering there was a problem. This is because I recorded this programme after the signal problem occurred (which, of course, I didn't know at the time). I was able to determine the date I recorded it because it states the date on the list.

After I discovered that I had a problem I went to my listed recordings, which I have listed alphabetically, and Antiques Roadshow starting with "A" was the first on the list. When I saw the scrambled state, I assumed that all the programmes were messed up. However, when I got the kitchen TV working, and linked it up to Humax, all the recordings I had made, prior to the problem, were perfect. I found this out after I had put my first message on here.

You are right to point this out and I hope my explanation makes sense. Please say if it doesn't. I'm not an expert, as you may well have realised, although I have learnt quite a bit lately.

I can happily report that my main TV and Humax recordings are now perfect in every respect - if anything better than it ever was.

A further development...
A friend suggested connecting the aerial to the kitchen TV to the aerial for the Humax via a Y piece aerial connector and plugging this into the back of the Humax and, guess what, the kitchen TV, lounge TV and Humax recorder are all working perfectly. I can't quite believe it as I had tried that combination before but prior to re-tuning both the lounge TV and the Humax box - that must be what has made the difference !

Thanks, it makes perfect sense.

Excellent.

I'm wondering if the amplifier you had previously was causing overload in the Humax and TVs? That can occur if the raw signal off the aerial is particularly strong. Overload can cause all sorts of nasties to occur in the tuners and seriously degrade reception.

You can get an idea if this is the case by checking the signal strength reported by the Humax and TVs. If they read close to 100% strength without the amplifier then it is possible the amplifier was actually making things worse. Though it's not a definitive test as there is no agreed definition of what 100% signal strength is so 100% on the Humax isn't necessarily the same as 100% on the TV (it could be equivalent to 50%, 90% or even 200%!).

I have checked the signal strength for the Humax and, surprisingly, it records just 36% but the quality is 100% (it doesn't register more than 100%). When the problem occurred and before I disconnected the amplifier, the signal registered about the same but the quality was 10%. I don't know how to find the signal strength for kitchen TV or lounge TV.

Previously everything was working fine when the amplifier was in place. The problem coincided with a request that appeared on the lounge TV to do a re-tune. I did that and everything was fine for a few hours, but then it went haywire.

I had a word with a representative of the company that sold me the TV several years ago, a very expensive German make, and he said that, despite the quality of the TV, because technology has changed so much since, older TVs can't cope. Do you think he was trying to sell me something?

The situation I have now, without the amplifier but with a Y piece connecting kitchen TV with lounge, is a working kitchen TV, a working lounge TV (through Humax) and recording fine. With this set-up, however, if I switch to the TV only in the lounge, I get nothing, but that's OK because I don't want to view through the TV. If I disconnect the Humax I will be able to view through the TV.

It seems to me that this explanation doesn't support your theory of too strong a signal from the amplifier - but what do I know... ? To check, I have just plugged the amplifier back in and the picture on the TV is totally pixilated and there are no channels through Humax.

I thought I should mention, for the benefit of novices like me, that the TV is connected, of course, to Humax via an HDMI cable.

I am perfectly happy with the situation, the picture through Humax is extremely good especially without the Y piece which I think causes a slight deterioration in reception, which it would do if it is splitting the signal. Now I'm sounding like a professional, so I think I'll leave it there for now.

If the strength reading is 36% then chances are it's not too much signal. To a certain extent the strength reading is not as important as the quality reading. Provided the Quality is showing at or close to 100% you should be getting near perfect pictures.

It is a feature of digital that the quality does not vary much as the strength goes down. However you will reach a point where the picture does begin to break up as the signal reduces. Then quite abruptly the signal will be so bad the TV or whatever gives up and refuses to display anything. 36% does not give you much leeway before the signal starts to break up. So it might be worth while trying to get a bit more signal out of the aerial. Then again my HDR Fox-T2 worked fine for years with a mid 40s percent signal.


Pure coincidence. There is no way a simple retune of a telly can have any effect whatsoever on an amplifier. A fault in the electronics that zaps the aerial lead with 240V mains might do the amplifier some damage. But then again very unlikely the TV would survive such a fault either!


What make is it? About the only German manufacturer I can think of is Loewe. Grundig used to be a producer of TVs and audio kit but has long since been relegated to a badge stuck on any old Turkish or Chinese stuff at the bottom end of the market.

Technology has changed but the basics like simply watching telly programmes hasn't changed hugely. OK there are HD channels which an older TV might not be able to receive but a lot of the development has been with Smart TVs and web based technology.

Wouldn't surprise me if you were being pushed towards some flashy new all singing all dancing Smart TV (that in reality is about as smart as the average ant! )


The way I would have it connected is

Aerial --> Humax Aerial IN
Humax Aerial OUT --> Y Splitter IN
Y Splitter OUT 1 --> Lounge TV
Y Splitter OUT 2 --> Kitchen TV

With most Y splitter you should be able to plug it directly into the Humax without needing any sort of lead between them.


No it is doesn't seem to be too much signal and does appear to be a dodgy amplifier.

Have you tried retuning (MENU > Settings > Installation > Automatic Search)?

It has been established, without doubt, that the fault is with the amplifier, after many experiments and re-tuning all the equipment. Everything is working now thank you.

Thanks for such a comprehensive answer. My responses :


How would you suggest I do that ?


I wondered whether the changes brought about by the re-tune were too much for the amplifier to cope with, as it was almost immediately after the retune that the problem arose.


You think the amplifier just died naturally then ?


It is a Loewe.


I don't think my Loewe TV can get HD channels. But my kitchen one is "HD ready", whatever that may mean.


Oi ! I think ants are intelligent Seriously though, it's not helpful when a salesman takes advantage of someone who is seeking help, by trying to sell them the latest model.


I have changed it to your way but, at first glance, the picture doesn't look any different to me.


Do you mean no HDMI lead ?

First you have to identify the reason for the low(ish) signal. It could be a fault with the aerial which could be physical damage, being blown out of optimum alignment, water getting into the terminal block degrading the connections. If the aerial is loft mounted even stuffing a couple more boxes of junk in there can cause reception issues! It could be a cable fault or a dodgy plug on the end of the cable. It could even be that someone has built a building in line with the aerial that is now creating what is in effect a "shadow". Even trees growing up in front of the aerial and coming into leaf can affect reception.

There is no simple answer. You might need the services of a good local installer to look at the aerial system and advise what could be done.

But if it is all working fine there may be no need to do anything. Just keep an eye on it, especially at different times of the year and different weather conditions.


The amplifier does not know nor indeed care about such things as retunes. It doesn't even care that the signals it is amplifying are TV. It would be just as happy if they were radio, Morse code or little green men from Mars trying to make contact with us earthlings

The retune is completely irrelevant to it. The retune would have absolutely zero effect on the amplifier. Only the TVs and your Humax are affected by any retune


Yes.


HD, Full HD or HD Ready designations on the TV refer only to what signals the TV can accept and how it displays them. It does not necessarily mean the TV can receive HD broadcasts. In the UK the TV would need to be explicitly marked with the Freeview HD logo or make clear in the specifications that it can handle DVB-T2 format broadcasts to stand a chance of getting Freeview HD channels.

If the TV is several years old then it might just pre-date the introduction of Freeview HD and so not have DVB-T2 capabilities. The UK was fairly unique in Europe by choosing DVB-T2 to transmit HD. Most countries mix SD and HD on the same transmission format as we use for SD only.


Kind of what salesmen do to be fair. You actually lose him money by walking out of the shop emplty handed as he probably gets commission on every sale he makes. So can't really blame him for trying it on. Though it can get irritating when they get too pushy!


You won't. Putting the Y splitter after the Humax simply makes it a little bit easier to cable everything up in some cases. Especially if you had to nick the cable from Humax to TV to run from the splitter to the Humax so the TV no longer has an aerial connection


No the Y splitter should plug directly into the Aerial Out socket on the back of the Humax so you save on a lead connecting the two. Handy if you don't have any spare short leads like the one that you were using between the Humax and the lounge TV.

You'll still need the HDMI lead otherwise you won't be able to watch anything via the Humax!

Lots to think about. I've had sparrows in the loft and, I am told, there is a small working amplifier up there too. I don't know what sparrows and an amplifier have in common unless one has disturbed the other.


I really don't want to do anything more while it is working. Should something go awry later on at least I will know what it is.






OK.


Interesting....


OK, but to say it's useless when it isn't, is misleading - to put it mildly !


I have so many leads, cables etc collected over the years like you wouldn't believe. If I throw anything out, Murphy's law, I'm going to need it.

I found a distribution box with an aerial socket and two TV sockets, which I wanted to post a picture of on here so that you could confirm whether I could use it in place of the dead amplifier. But I can't see any facility for posting photos.


I thought that was the case !

Thanks so much for your time, Chris - really useful.

Is the aerial in the loft as well or out in the fresh air where it should be

This possible amplifier is interesting. If it exists then it could be a masthead type that requires power which the amplifier unit you removed downstairs could have been supplying. If it was then that might explain the low signal as an unpowered amplifier won't pass the signal very efficiently, and often not at all.

There may be a way to test this. If you have the aerial plugged directly into the Humax, not via any splitter, then the Humax is able to power a masthead amplifier.

Go into the menu then Settings --> Installation. Select Antenna Power and turn it on. See if that changes the signal strength readout. And also if it affects the picture in any way. By the way it shouldn't harm the Humax if you don't have a masthead amplifier and turn Antenna Power on. But if it makes no difference at all then turn it back off just to be on the safe side.


All an old telly will miss out on is the bells and whistles that have been added on to the Freeview platform. Like all the Smart functions such as streaming from Netflix/Amazon and the like and catchup services like iPlayer. There are also a number of channels delivered over the internet as well. There are also a few extra channels that are transmitted that your TV won't receive along with the HD channels.

So not entirely useless but falling behind the state of the art. It may become a bit more useless if there is a DSO2 where all transmissions change to the DVB-T2 format as used by the HD channels. If that happens then your telly won't be able to receive any channels by itself and you would have to rely entirely on the Humax to watch anything.


You can't post images directly on DS. What you need to do is upload the images to one of the many free image hosting websites and post a link to the web page it's on.

Hello Chris - apologies I've been away.
Where were we..?

Ah yes, the Distribution Box. Here is a link to a picture hope you can see it.
http://i.imgur.com/fstSU8G.jpg

What is the function of this box, for example would it replace the failed amplier situated behind the lounge TV ?

In answer to your previous question, my aerial is on the roof. Attached to it about a quarter of the way up is a square box (approx 4"x4"), about half way up is a smaller circular black box. Looking at neighbours' aerials, some have attachments and some don't. Any idea what my attachments might be?

Just for info, I have removed my kitchen TV which I hardly used, plus now I have more worktop space.