Got my Humax yesterday which is a replacement for my thomson 6300.

It's strange how different the tuners are..

My thomson all the muxes except mux D(film 4) which is down to my ariel being the wrong type .

My Humax picks up all muxes with D coming from a different transmitter.However the C5 mux and the Cbeebies mux seem to be jumpy !!

Questions:-

1. What are the minimum levels of strength and quality you need to get a stable picture ?
2. Is there a good booster available on the high st (I tried the SLX from argos with my thomson and it didn't work)
3.I have software version 20 do I want to upgrade to 21 ?

Thanks

Before you do anything else get the correct aerial and forget about the booster. You’ve spent probably £180 on the Humax so now spend a few quid to feed it properly. You'll then be ready to pick up the next transmission of v21.

Not as easy as that I'm afraid I don't have access to my ariel , So I could install another one but it would be more than a few quid

Also the quality is better than the strenght..

I can't comment on questions 1 and 2 but I'd recommend updating version 20 to version 21 as there were known issues in v20 that 21 supposedly fixed. Check that you've got the automatic software update switched on (in the menu system) there's a download being broadcast next week 13 - 15 Feb.
I would also recommend forcing the channels onto one transmitter as you will have EPG and possible recording problems if you have split transmitters.

Look at the thread http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=741767
for comments on that subject

Good luck, it's a great bit of kit.

Nothing to worry about in the tuner dept - while my old Sagem Freeview box jumped on all channels from time to time (I thought this was the best reception you could get in my area), Hummy has every channel rock solid.

However it's the tompson that had no problem and the Humax which is jumpy...

Yup, it could be the firmware version like op mentioned above, also it could be signal overload which the Thomson didn't mind but which Hummy does not like. Does your signal come thru a distribution system I wonder.

You don't say what the quality is. If you are getting a clean, uncorrupted, signal the quality should always be 100%.

The strength can vary wildly from place to place and still give 100% quality, it just depends how much interference is being picked up.

I live in a rural setting and get a weak 60-70% signal but it is clean and 100% quality.

Any loss of quality indicates the error correction is being used to regenerate missing bits of the signal and the slightest thing can cause it to fall over the digital edge causing breakup.

Most muxes are on about 40% strength and 70% quality.

Which indicates you are well over the edge and should expect lots of break up at the slightest thing. I really would look seriously as getting a correct aerial installed if at all possible.

40% strength sounds plenty. The lowish quality suggests interference from electrical appliances, which is hard to fix.

I'm a bit confused or maybe new to Humax but is 70% quality bad ? Because on other freeview boxes that would be considered ok to good .

The signal quality is more important than the strength from my experience.

Got less picture breakup from a signal strength of 38% but 100% Quality than a strength of 50% and a 70% quality.

Get very few problems with my reception despite the strength being less than 65% on all channels.

I think I'm getting it now , although the Humax has got a more sensitive tuner than the thomson IE it's pick up 1 more mux.It also more prone to break up . If only the 2 compaines could get together I might not have to change my ariel ...

My two penneth:

70% quality will give you lots of reception problems on *any* DVB-T box.

You said you don't have access to the aerial - could you explain what your alternatives are? If you don't own the aerial or it's shared I'd look at installing your own alternative. Or if it's shared you could maybe get onto the landlord about upgrading the aerial/distribution kit as after the analogue switch-off all users will be without freeview.

You really need a good aerial connected with double-screened (modern) cabling all the way to your box (good cable is essential for reducing interference that affects freeview signals much more than the old analogue ones). If the aerial has a splitter/booster situated near to it (for multiple flats/rooms) then the cabling needs to be double-screened between all components and the splitter should ideally be a modern one recommended for freeview as this will be better screened than an old booster designed when analogue was the only signal.

Well my thomson 6300 had the quality at about 50-60% (5-6 out the 10 blocks) Assuming this is the same measurement. I had may,may problems with the thompson but picture problems was not one of them in fact I can't remember a single time the picture jumped.

I'm in a set of barn conversions and all I know is the cable from the ariel socket goes into the wall, the rest is a mystery, the ariel is not in my loft or 2 of my neighbours lofts. it can only be in the wicked witch of the west's loft. As you can tell from my nickname for her access to the her loft is not an option!!

I need to fit a new ariel sometime in the future but for the time being I was after a simple solution, I didn't mind not getting mux D as long as the others are ok. What I can't understand is how the humax which has supposed to have the best tuner and has picked up mux d has a less stable picture than the thompson on 2 of the other muxes ?

Sorry I'm not sure why the picture stability of the Humax is worse...but on the subject of your aerial if you can't see an aerial (either in the loft or on the roof) then the cable probably connects to something unsuitable for freeview (a non-directional [flat or loop] aerial can't be focussed directly on a transmitter and will, as a result, be subject to interference from other sources, other transmitters, etc).

If I were converting a barn (or house) I'd run the wire straight up to the loft from the downstairs socket without deviating unnecessarily. If it's a recent barn conversion chances are the electrician will have used double-screened cabling as the older type wouldn't be of much use for very long. So if you look in the loft directly above where the socket is, under the insulation, for a black coax cable (assuming it's black in the socket) you'll probably find it (and can work out what it's connected to). You may even find it just runs up the inside of the wall in the attic (or up a rafter) and finishes out on the roof (pending an aerial fitter to come along and fit an aerial).

In summary, if you can't see an aerial, you really need to get one (one that can be pointed to your nearest transmitter). I had signal quality problems a while ago and sorting out the aerial sorted out the problem. Now I get 90%+ strength and 100% quality - and apparently I live on the fringe of reception for my transmitter (sutton coldfield).

One final point - if you decide to fit your own I'd go to an aerial specialist to make sure you buy the right one. They should be able to tell you which way up to mount it and the general direction to point it in too. Chances are if you're getting 50-60% quality with an aerial you can't see then the cheapest "directional" aerial from a specialist should be a vast improvement in signal quality (so an expensive "high-gain" aerial may be an unnecessary waste of money).

Well after an evening of messing about behind my TV , I seem to have sorted it. The problem was interference the quality kept fluctuating depending on if I was hold/wiggling the fly lead. Any to cut a long story short I had in my TV spare box a good quality lead (double screened)with a broken connector so I fix it and it has cured all the reception problems. The muxes are now at 30-40% strength and 100% quality.

It looks like the Humax is more susceptible to interference than the Thomson although I don't know how many of my problems with the Thomson were caused by this.

So anyone else out there with reception problems it my be you Ariel lead.

Cheers for you input

I agree; I think there is plenty of evidence that suggests the 9200 is less tolerant of poorly made connections than other boxes.

Hi,

Just came across this thread whilst searching the web for a solution to my interference problem and it raised some questions in my mind regarding signal strength and quality.

Let me explain my situation;

I am on the fringe of reception from the Mendip transmitter. Prior to changing to Digital TV (which the postcode checker says I shouldnt receive) my signal was amplified with an old masthead amp (some 20 years old - not screened) which provided a very good anaolgue picture.

When I purchased my first freeview box (Panasonic) i discovered I could actually receive freeview and subsequently added a distribution (SLX about 12db gain on 4 outputs I think) amp to feed more tv's around the house.

A year or so later I upgraded the Panny to a Humax, and striving to get the ultimate picture, employed a TV aerial fitter to upgrade my TV aerial (outside, wideband i think - has a black end to the horizontal bar) and downfeed with double screened coaxial cable. At this point i started to receive some impulsive noise problems; Mobile phone causing picture breakup on analogue and completely wrecking the digital I also have issues now with a neighbours petrol lawn mower - causes white horizontal lines on the analogue and picture breakup on digital.

Thinking that this was TETRA, I changed the masthead amp to a TETRA filtered screened one but had it fitted just inside the loft, so its about a 2meters from the aerial. The amp is one which has a potentiometer so that I can adjust the gain from the power supply unit that feeds it.

My signal strength, as viewed on the HUMAX menu is approximately 73%, and signal quality is 100% (always until i experience the interference and then it jumps between 50% and 75%). I tried to eliminate the problem by temporarily removing the distribution amp from the circuit by directly connecting the output of the masthead amp to the HUMAX whereby the problem still occurs. This I concluded eliminated any noise being generated by the SLX distribution amp.

Now to my questions. [LIST][*]Is the fact that I have a signal strength of 73% overloading the HUMAX? [*]Should I reduce this by turning down the gain of the masthead amp and if so to what level?[/LIST]I agree that I'm probably not helping matters by having 2 amps in the feed but need to distribute the signal to 4 TV's, so are there any alternatives?

Apologies for the long post, but I have been chasing this problem fo so long now that I am at my wits end as to what the problem may be. Any guidance / advice would be most welcomed.

TIA.

Glenn.

If this is the amp I think it is - it's useless for freeview in fringe locations - here's how to test.

The Humax makes a nice spectrum analyser, goto to manual tuning and select each channel from 21 to 69 in turn, note the signal strength for each. The Humax will display signal strength with zero quality for analogue signals.

Somewhere in the spectrum you should see some channels with zero signal strength, the lowest you see should be considered the noise floor for your installation.

For me with the amp I think you have, the lowest signal strength I got was 12, suggesting inherant noise from the amp. When I replaced it with a Televes MRD mounted in the aerial, the noise floor moved to zero, with improvements in reception across the board.

For reference, if you punt your postcode into wolfbane, you will see the predicted field strength for your location. You can compare that with mine - 11dBmV/m, signal strength around 60 and quality 100.

Hi gtg,

thanks for the quick response.

I have been through the HUMAX manual tune option as you suggested and nearly all of the channels show quality at 0 with the exception of:

CH Strength Quality

55 73 100
56 72 100
59 75 100
62 80 100
65 76 100
67 81 100

I really don't understand what this has proven (if anything).

Also can you confirm the wolfbane site please. I used this link: http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd....=10&OS=sn5+8qx

which if i am reading it correctly shows 27 dBµV/m for the Field Strength.

Also just checked the masthead amp and its a Labgear PUH111 26db gain, with the gain set at about 20% - 30%.

Glenn.

Looks like you had 2 amps in series then reduced it it 1. Is it possible to remove ALL amps from link then try a test?

I still have 2 amps, but a test when the problem existed with only the masthead amp (Labgear PUH111 - 26db gain) in circuit, the interference was still present, eliminating the SLX.

Sorry to reply again, but I dont think I can remove all amps as I'm on the fringe for reception.