Help, help Humax foxsat

[jacton]

Help, I have just plugged my brand new Humax Foxsat box into my aerial cable and it just is stuck on 'searching for satellite signal'.

I unplugged it and re-connected my Sky box to the aerial and all is working well as it was before I tried the Foxsat, jus tried it again and the same thing has happened.

I used a neighbours box on my aerial only last week and had no poblems with the signal, ad there is no problem getting my Sky signal.

any advice please

[satandpcguy]

hi

have you tried your box on your neighbours dish - this may help in eliminating the cable / connection / LNB as the problem.
check the cable and conenction and make sure this is not damaged by the unplugging and plugging back....
someone else also had a problem with the start up process, and they tried another scart cable and it started to work....maybe try this?
maybe you could try and get to the factory settings and reinitiaze the box and start up wizard?

and just for info - i have just done a new install on a humaxfreesat box using an 80cm dish here in the office and all works ok...

[jacton]

My neighbour and I use the same dish with twin LNB. His box worked fine with my aerial coax. I can get around 250 non freesat mode channels and the picture quality is really very good compared to the Sky box, but as soon s I try freesat mode I get this message ''searching for satellite signal'' and it also says it does not recognise any sort of postcode I enter.

I have checked for software updates and I have version U7-22, but when trying for any update it states this is the latest version, so don;t know whether this has any bearing.

I have also tried lengthening the copper end of the aerial just in case it wasn't making a good contact but no help.

[satandpcguy]

you could try searching for the Freesat EPG signal in nonfreesatmode

11428 H 27500 2/3

this is the frequency that freesat boxes look at for their EPG and software updates data....so if you cannot get this frequency in nonfreesat mode then you will not be getting it in freesat mode and therefore this is stopping the box from starting up in freest mode.

you can also try to add this frequency on your sky box - if working it should pick up Brit Shorts tv and a few radio stations....

then if both boxes dont get this frequency the there is something wrong with either the LNB or cable or cable connections...

[jacton]

You were correct there was a cabling problem after trying again to lengthen the copper at the end of the coax it worked and I was able to obtain freesat mode and tuned all in. However, I tried to find 11428 H 27500 and it just came up with ''no channels found'' and it was showing strength between 50 - 70% but signal quality 0%.

I cannot get BBC2 or C4 although last night I was getting some sort of broken picture on both but this morning nothing.

My sat dish is 1.9 and I have a twin LNB (don't know what make), this is shared with my neighbour, but do you think a quad LNB would give a better signal and if so what make should I go for?

[satandpcguy]

the channels (bbc234, c4, freesat 5) on astra 2ds horizontal frequencies are notoriously difficult to get and most will not get them 24/7...even with a 2.4 you may not get them 24/7

i have found that there is very little difference in performance between an invacom twin and quad LNB....

however, if your neighbour is getting the channels you are not then this can be due to
an output on the LNB failing
differences in the length of cable
differences in the make of cable
if there are any joins in the cable
differences between receiver models and types

[jacton]

I checked my neighbours system and he is getting the same as me except I seem to be able to get some sort of signal from BBC2 and C4 (incidentally I used the Foxsat in non-freesat mode and could get C4 under your suggested TT0N4 channel 5204) in freesat mode but it was very pixelated. I don't know if there is anything I could do to improve on this and make both channels watchable, like a signal booster or something, what do you think?

[satandpcguy]

as both bbc2 an c4 are weak horizontal channels it may be that you are actually unable to get it as a clear signal at certain times of the day - in my area i cannot get bbc2 from 6pm..and i gather from your area this is when the BBc2 signal actually starts to get good....

if you really really want it then it could be that you dish may need just an ever so slight adjustment to improve the signal - we are talking millimeters here

a signal booster can only boost a signal if there is actually and signal being received by the dish - and they also tend to amplify all the noise in the cable / signal also...

the TTon4 frequency is weakest during the afternoon and should get stronger during the evening....
the TTon4 frequency is also very (very very) LNB skew sensitive.....

[jacton]

This very interesting, I can get TTon4 all day,just tried it now (0950) and its clear, but not BBC2. As you say in this area we can get BBC2 but very pixelated from around 2pm, but it is not really watchable whereas TTon4 is perfect all day (yesterday watch Deal or no Deal), it seems we are getting some sort of signal for BBC2 so wondered if a signal booster would help with the pixelating and give a clear picture.

Not sure I understand about TTon4 being very LNB skew sensitive, if I am getting it all day does that mean by sat an LNB are set correct?

Sorry to sound thick!

[satandpcguy]

you will get TTon4 as this is not on the same frequency as C4 (104). Infact TTon4 is on a completely different satellite to C4 and BBC2!
but the satellite beam that TTon4 is on is a tricky one to get (its a north beam), and it can be a bit weak around mid to late afternoon....and is, liek a bout 30plus other channels (lots of the UK TV+1 chanbnels for example) are very skew sensitive....

so if you are getting it OK then your dish sounds to be aligned well..