[quote=Max Demian;21540519]It means I can't archive a programme to tape if a recording is about to start.
QUOTE]
The VCR scart has traditionally been reserved for non-RGB signal with no on-screen messages and full volume because it is not intended to go to the TV. Are you saying that Humax have not kept to that tradition? Or perhaps you are using the TV scart for recording so that you can use RGB and the VCR scart is otherwise OK?

All video, including the annoying message, is sent to the VCR SCART as it happens. In any case, if you were using a DVDR you would need to use the TV SCART for RGB.

No I'm using a VCR that has superior trick play, compared to the 9200, so that I can examine sports. It would be nice to be able to use the mute or volume control as usual I do usually without any ill effect on the recording, and without having to re-wire each time.

Many thanks to Andrue for post 171. Apart from a great example of how to lay out a message legibly, I agree 100% with the comments made.

After 18 months experience with Sky+ I've recently installed the Humax for a friend. Comparison really shows up the Humax's deficiencies.

The other major annoyance for me is the playlist not indicating if a programme has been viewed.

Plus the really noisy fan!

When I compare my Liteon DVD HHD recorder with the 9200, the one thing missing that's obvious is the lack of a space remaining note when you are setting up recordings.

What would be nice of Humax, once the 9200 has been superceded.... release the firmware code to open source, so the remaining bugs can be swiftly removed and new features added. by folks who know how much appreciation would be in those updates, especially those of us who really are not interested in HD for a while yet.

Agreed with the free space remaining. Drives my Dad nuts, having to keep going into an obscure disk formatting menu to see the disk space.

You're not going to see the code released open source. NEC require an NDA and a big bundle of cash to get the source for the EMMA2 chipset that the Humax is based on.

Couldn't disagree more. OK, the playlist doesn't show if a programme has been viewed, but I always watch and then delete them. I've never had an issue with disk space - on the few occasions I've checked it's never been more than 60% used.
Having used Sky+ at my daughter's I (and my wife) find it infuriating that the programme we are watching disappears when I go to the EPG to check what's on and is replaced by that awful music. And the EPG always appears at the first channel listing so that you have to laboriously scroll back down through it. Apart from that the programme content is 95% garbage for which you're paying 30 quid a month.
I think the pop-up recording message is reassuring, especially when a programme is running late and accurate recording comes into its own and this works really well for me as does series link.
If I put my ear right next to the unit I can hear a faint hum when it's recording. At normal viewing distances it's totally silent.
The Hummy has a few quirks, like the most used buttons being under the flap, but for me it's the best by a long way.

Do try to have a gander at a Vestel model in action. Hummy is humiliated by those (comparative) cheapos. They may not have all the features (many of which are for minority use), but in interface and ease of use they are brilliant.

I can't understand why designers of electronics gadgets don't build in improvements to new models when they see other, better designs on the market.

parthena

Couldn't agree more ... out of the box

How can I recognise a Vesta model?
And where can I download a recent user-guide/manual?

This is a typical example of one of the latest Low Power CI Slot HDMI models. There are others here. Look for the Wharfedale and Digihome brands. They are sold at Asda, Tesco etc under different brand names with or without HDMI and the Low Power/CI Slot. They have various front panel trim designs but they all have the same ventilation hole pattern on the top of the unit, even the models made 2 years ago.

I'm not aware of a downloadable manual for the current models but you can get a good idea of the user interface from the Sharp TU-R160HA manual from here. Select the "Revised Operation Manual - Only applicable to units produced after Oct 2007" as this includes Series Link feature.

Colin

This thread has been around almost since the Humax 9200 was first launched. Many of the issues raised will obviously not be relevant now as software updates have presumably removed many of the issues. So not much point in reading the thread from the start. As a new owner I would like to access a list or a thread which covers remaining issues i.e. post software v.21. Can someone suggest a source of this information please?

Colin

I've been a happy Hummy owner for nearly 3 years and only just found these forums. I found them out of desperation - my Hummy froze and then totally refused to boot, which brings me straight to my highest priority wish. But first a preamble...

When I called Humax Technical Support they confirmed my suspicion that the fault was due to a hdd failure. Since it was no longer under warranty I removed the hdd and looked on the web for a replacement. I found these forums, and some programs for diagnosing Hummy hdd problems. It turned out that the hdd had failed because of bad data, not because there was a physical problem. I suspect that the errors were caused by a couple of momentary power cuts that occurred a couple of days earlier. Wiping and reformatting the hdd fixed it, but I lost all my recording of course.

So here is the wish. Instead of refusing to boot and pretending to be dead, the Hummy should at least give some sort of message and the option of reformatting the hdd. It is, after all, in complete charge of the hdd so it certainly should never "give up the ghost" if it finds something about it that it doesn't like. It would have saved me, and possibly others, many hours of grief. It must be possible because it booted and worked perfectly (without recording of course) with no hdd in at all.

1) Every time my Humax goes to start or stop recording just lately the screen and sound goes blank for 2 seconds when I'm watching another programme.
2) Series link keeps missing programmes then it stops recording them alltogether even though there still in the recording schedulle.
3) Genearally keeps freezing and I have to do a hard reset on the box.
4) When rewinding live TV using the skip back button it always sticks/stutters and I have to keep hammering to back button. It's ok on prerecorded programmes.
5) Last week my Humax duplicated all the programmes on the hard drive. When I tried to delete the duplicate it corrupted the original so I had to wipe my hard drive.
6) After a hard reset the EPG doesn't update on all channels and most are blank until you turn to that channel.

I'd like to see a slowmotion forward and rewind feature added and have the OSD banner dissapear after a few seconds so when you pause something you can actually see what's on the screen that you paused it in order to read. Many times I've paused TV credits but the OSD has made it impossible to read cos It wont go away.

These are problems specific to you rather than things that Humax can readily fix.

Press Exit to get rid of the OSD. (Add Bookmark restores it - except during normal speed Play.)

It sounds to me as though your bix has got itself into a non standard operating mode. Do a reset to default settings the leave the power off for a couple of hours.

You need to do a manual tune as that sounds very much as though you are receiving from more than one transmitter.

I have had 2 Humax recorders for a few years and are familiar with all the upgrades and use of them.

To overcome the 'miss end of program' problem, I have tried following:-
Padded begining and end of programs.
Tried recording using 'on time'.
Tried recording following program to ensure i get the end of the prvious one - waste of time, since it appears there is a break between the end and start signals being sent. This is on BBC. Why is there a gap between sending the end signal for a program and the start signal for the following program?

None of the above attempts to always get the end of a program, were a success.

The BBC state that they always send the signals out at the correct time. They state that the signal does not arrive on time, due to it being analogue.

No one knows if this signal will be changed to digital in 2012.

I just give up on what should be a great piece of kit.

There is not a gap between the end signal for a program and the start signal for the following program. The end of one programme and the start of the next programme is signalled by the transition of the EITp/f (Now/Next) signal from the state where the programme required changes from being the "Next" programme to being the "Now" programme.

The problem lies with the Humax which introduces a delay in detecting or responding to the signal and starting recording. I have found this delay to be between zero and 59s. See post here.

Where did you get the information about "the signal" being analogue? Are you sure that was referring to the Now/Next signal?

Colin

I received this info from the BBC.
They reckoned that this problem may be overcome if the signal was changed to analogue.

Do you know that the signal is digital at present?

Well it is transmitted as part of the Freeview data streams so it must be I assume.

By the way I gave the wrong link to the results of my tests on the Humax delayed recording starting. It should have been the one here.

Colin

The Humax start/finish times are in minutes.
Where did you get the timing in seconds?

The places to complain about the current system not working, are:-
Ofcom http://www.ofcom.org.uk/
or
DTG http://www.dtg.org.uk/
or
Our MPs
All of the above are toothless tigers, with only their own, not the customers interests at heart.

Rather than have a few people make the effort to ensure the system works, we have millions of people fed up with a system widely advertised as being perfect.

Well done for checking out the timings , but i am in cynical mood just now - i may complain at another time.

On the Humax if you press Play during Playback the duration of the recordings is shown at the RH end of the Timebar as hh:mm:ss. On my Vestel PVR the duration is shown directly in mm:ss in the Recordings Library. The difference between the readings on the two PVRs is a measure of the late start on the Humax. The rest of the method is as described in the link I posted.

I doubt you would get any responses from the bodies you mentioned.

The best people to complain to are Humax. I don't think there is any offcial document which guarantees the performance of these devices to this level of detail. In the final analysis users need to decide if the unit is acceptable and if not seek to rerturn it and buy something that is acceptable to them. Inevitably this will result in compromises.

Colin

The time keeping of the Humax has always been crappy. Even before the Freeview Playback features arrived, it obviously didn't and still doesn't use the correct endtime of HH:MM:59 when you setup a recording.

On my VCR if you setup two concurrent recordings on the same channel there would be no gap between the end of the first programme and the start of the next. With the Humax there is quite a large gap between programmes.

Why on earth the Humax curtails recordings already in progress for new ones is beyond me. Really annoyed with both Humax and ITV3 because Life started 5 minutes early the Humax cut the end of Apparitions which I was recording on BBC1

"Get someone in r&d to use a Sky+ for a couple of months. It ain't perfect but it's very, very good. /That/ is how you implement a PVR."



Or send them to America to play with Tivo

Both of those systems have a single company providing/supervising the EPG/broadcast signals and the PVR hardware and software.

In the case of Freeview there is some sort of standards authority (with little or no enforcement powers), numerous PVR manufacturers and numerous broadcasters all with different ideas and interests.