Hi there

Thanks to the recent thunderstorms, a few electrical items of mine no longer work ie Humax, TV signal amp and broadband modem. The Humax doesn't find any channels anymore. I tested the aerial, and it works fine for an analogue set.

I took my Humax back to Currys, but they no longer repair them apparently (how nice!). I only bought it last year, but it's past warranty.

Does anyone know where I can get it repaired?

Thanks!

It could be your TV signal amp at fault. I would start there first before trying to repair Hummy.
You could always try your Hummy on a neighbours or other family members aerial first just to see if the Hummy is the problem.

I tested the aerial, and it works fine for an analogue set. The amp is blown, and I am no longer using it.

Yeah but maybe you need the amps extra power to pick up a strong enough Freeview signal.
I would recommend trying the Hummy elsewhere first.
If your Hummy is broke then you will need to contact Humax to get it repaired.

Well maybe you're right, but I'd be surprised if the Humax couldn't receive anything at all without the amp. But you never know.....

What sort of amp are you using?
If its a masthead amp then that could have been fried.
One other thing you could try is borrow someone elses freeview box or buy a cheapo one to see if that recieves channels through your aerial.

Humax PVRs have a 2 year warranty unless you bought a reconditioned model; the second year’s warranty being directly with Humax I presume. Make sure you are 100% positive that your 9200T is damaged as if you send it back to Humax and it’s not damaged they will charge you for looking at it and you’ll have to pay postage both ways as well.

Is damage caused by electrical storms covered by warranty?

No.

Seems to be either aerial or the amp now.... Humax works on another aerial....

Seeing as your amp dont work then HELLO I'd say its staring you in the face.

You may aswell check your aerial anyway just in case the connector to the cable is dammaged too and also check the cable aswell.

It's odd though. I don't recall the Humax not receiving any signal without the amp. But oh well, I'll buy a new amp tomorrow and find out. I did look at the aerial and it appears normal. At least I'll be saving an expensive Humax repair either way. It only cost me five pounds to register on this board... (!)

Um, you seriously paid money? Unless things have changed recently, registration here is free. Perhaps you registered via some fraudulant scam site?
Ian

Assuming the box has been damaged by lightning, then this isn't covered by warranty anyway - and Humax would presumably pick up on this - it's usually pretty obvious.

ok problem solved.....

I bought a new amplifier, and suddenly the Humax springs to life again. So maybe a fuse went in the amplifier, or it totally blew. Either way, it just goes to show what a small amp can do for digital signals ie from nothing to everything.

Thanks for the help. It clarified things for me


If you register on this board without a proper domain name email address (blahblah@wanado.co.uk for example) , and use addresses such as hotmail or yahoo, then you have to pay a fiver to register. If you find that odd, so did I when I had to pay.

[OT]

I might be wrong, but if you use a "free" email account to register on DS, you have to pay £5. If, however, you use your ISP one, then it's still free (you can subsequently change your email to that of a throwaway account for free). It's to deal with spammers, making it harder and dearer for them to register with throwaway accounts.

Edit - Beaten to it.

Wow, you live and learn. Glad I got my wife a domain name for Christmas a few years ago.

Ian

I wouldn't have paid, there are so many forums out there these days some of which are just as big as digital spy it would be a waste of money.

You live and learn!

Maybe it did receive some signal before the amp was fitted, but that's a quite different situation from having a dud amp in the aerial path.

You can register your own domain name with someone like 1&1 for under £5.... Having your own domian is the best way to go as if you change isp's you keep everything the same.

I lost the hard drive on my 9200 so I took it out. The box then let me view channels. I touched something while the top was off and got an electric shock - then the box went dead. Checked the fuse in the plug and it seemed OK. Is there another fuse inside the box?

There are very dangerous voltages inside electrical equipment, if the Humax PSU is anything like the Topfield PSU there might be a heatsink with mains voltage applied to it which is very easy to touch. Always unplug! The saved effort just isn't worth the risk of killing yourself.

There is a peice of metal with fins which I think might be a heat sink. I think I touched that. Could it cause a fuse inside to blow and does anybody know whre the fuse is?

That's a good general rule, though desktop computers should be OK as all the high voltages are inside an enclosed power supply unit.

Laptops are probably different, as, though battery operated, the backlights require 500-1000V.

in the case of computer equipment such as power supplies and printers the danger remains after you've unplugged,it doesn't instantly become safe once switched off,the charge is held for some time.
And they do always say never open or try to service a power supply,just replace it.
I've opened two power supplies before but i did know the risks and looked at rather than touched anything.I've also opened up laptops,again i know what the dangers were.