Humax Aura. How do the tuners compare to the Humax YouView DTR-T2100?

JnrMofo

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Hello, I currently have a Humax YouView DTR-T2100 (I know, it's old...) and am looking at replacing it with a Humax Aura. I really like the idea of a Freeview recorder on an Android TV OS. I'm aware of the lack of app support for Netflix and Now, but I don't subscribe to those and don't plan to.

My question is, how do the tuners compare to the DTR-T2100? I've heard they can be weak and temperamental in the Aura.

I'm currently getting a good signal with the DTR-T2100, all Freeview channels available with 90%+ quality.

Are they really bad? Has anyone make a similar switch?

I live in an awkward location and it was a fair bit of work to get the signal to where it is.
 
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The Aura has three tuners plus the RF pass-through = 4 ports needed cf the aerial in.
Passive = -8dB loss so a low gain amp will be used to restore that (and add a little noise).

The 2100 has two tuners and RF pass through. Now that could be achieved by a low gain amp followed by a 2-way split (-4db) then split one of those a further 2 ways (-8dB) so that one tuner (or the RF passthrough) gets a higher signal level... but its an unlikely architecture, so likely a 4 way (-8db) and one port unused?

So RF-wise there's no reason why one box should be better or worse than the other with the same tuner electronics.

Googling the issue, and then reading the myHumax forum suggests the tuners are relatively easily overloaded. (That may indicate an unwise choice of amplifier gain in the front by Humax, if so? but...)

Have a more in-depth read of this and other forums Aura threads? It's pretty unlikely that anyone has had both products AND has near-identical reception conditions AND has the same aerial / amplifier gains and cable losses though.

You profile is Nottingham: so Kimberley (aka Nottingham), Waltham and Sutton Coldfield are the most likely transmitters IIRC.
Your current 90% quality is worrying to me though, it should be 100% for reliable reception.
 
Thank you for your reply. Very helpful and informative. I've been reading what I can about the Aura on this site.

Just to give a little bit more detail. I live in North Nottinghamshire, there are hills to the south which block the signal from Sutton Coldfield and Nottingham. I can only reliably get a good signal from the Belmont mast to the north. Waltham is poor too.

I'm getting stable 100% quality on the main channels mix (BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, C4, C5). I struggle with COM7 but do get a picture, quality can be patchy though.

I'm aware very few people would have a similar set up to mine, but just wondered how people found the tuners on the Aura box as it is a consistent complaint in user reviews that they are weak and many people needed to upgrade their aerial.
 
Not quite in the same vein, but here in Harrogate I get reasonable signals from Bilsdale, Emley Moor and one, maybe two muxes from Belmont. Both the Humax 5000T and 1800T boxes that I briefly had seemed fine on the aerial that delivers signal from Emley. I didn't try them on the aerial pointing to Bilsdale. I didn't see any issues with an average signal strength reading of ~72% with 100% quality on both devices, which suggests that at my location at least, tuner overload should not be an issue with an Aura. If you're getting similar values then I think that an Aura would be okay.

It's quite possible that the 1800T, 5000T and Aura use different tuner modules though. Every location is different. Perhaps it's worth consulting a decent aerial installer to check-out your location first, before you flex the plastic.
 
Your Freeview / UK spectrum planet's Postcode prediction numbers would be needed to comment more accurately.
But com7 goes off mid next year.
It's an interference limited, single frequency network, typically 6dB lower in power than the main muxes, so in marginal fringe reception locations will be more difficult.

Buy from somewhere that offers a no quibble returns after trying option, if you can find such a retailer?

Not convinced I've seen reports of new aerials needed solving the Aura problems in threads? Especially ones I have contributed to.
On a Humax forum one new aerial was ancient an corrosion damaged, but I've got bored on page 37 of the 90 page thread. ;0
 
COM7 reception is definitely more problematic, being a good 6dB down. I lose it completely sometimes, although only since the Bilsdale mast fire. A decent aerial installer is to my mind, the first port of call if someone is experiencing reception issues, once all of the obvious things have been checked and ruled out.
 
6dB should be well within a decent aerial setup and receiver margins.
Guideline signal terminated levels is 45 to 65 dB ref 1 microVolt. That is a 20dB range.
Receivers should often work OK outside those numbers (especially higher).

But when a location has signals near the digital noise floor, even a 1dB difference can mean the difference between perfect and nothing.
 

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