Humax HDR 2000T signal interruption

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When I moved into my new home last October I had a TV aerial expert in to sort out the poor reception on my new Samsung Q90T television. He fitted a new rooftop aerial and fintted some kind of Antiference device which I assumed to be a signal booster, as I have a second TV in the conservatory (he told me it isn't actually a signal booster but I can't think what else it could be). All seemed to be fine, and he told me that my signal was so strong I would probably be able to receive programmes from Norway (joke). My problem is that with the aerial going through my Humax recorder I am getting unpredictable episodes of 'No signal', which last for one or two seconds, but sometimes quite frequently. Sometimes the picture just freezes, while the sound continues. I've had several recordings fail through a failure to track the programme. The mystery is that this was happening on BBC1 HD when the Humax internal meter was showing Strength 100% Quality 100%. I had begun to thought that a fault in the co-ax cable was being affected by the wind, but this happened last night when there wasn't a breath of wind. When I contacted the engineer he suggested trying it with the aerial lead going straight into the TV, but I utterly rely on my Humax to be able to watch commercial channels without having to watch the ads (I'd never watch them otherwise). Any ideas anyone?
 
The device is probably a passive splitter that sends just under half the signal (-4dB) to each outlet port.
It would need power if it was a amplified splitter (aka 'booster') and that would need an indoor power supply connected to one or other of the aerial cables.

100% signal level on any Humax is too much and is probably overloading the tuner(s) inside. (There's actually two tuners plus a pass-through outlet that are fed via a low gain amplifier and then passive 3-way splitting).

Even if the Humax is managing at that level the amplification the TV set might be overloading

Overload results in variable signal quality and the symptoms are just like too little signal.
https://www.aerialsandtv.com/knowledge/splitters-amps-and-diplexersis useful reading.

You need an attenuator in the cable feeding the Humax. Aiming to have around 80% signal level on all the multiplex frequencies that you receive on. Attenuator (CoAx) - A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials
6dB = 1/4 of the signal in is passed and 12dB = 1/16 th. You'll likely need 6dB but for the price may be worth having both? If really strong, then the two in series provides 18dB of attenuation.

If you have an old 2-way passive aerial splitter lying around that will reduce the signal a bit (4dB unless a resistive splitter when it's 6dB) so you may not need to buy anything?

A lot of people choose to feed the Humax and TV from such a passive splitter and turn on the power saving in standby feature in the Humax. (That turns off the RF out except when the Humax is on).

It's best to connect an attenuator via fly-lead type cables and not have them plugged into a TV aerial socket (nor wallplates) due to the rigid length putting unwanted 'strain' on the sockets and leading to reliability issues long term.

Other places sell such attenuators, and you can get variable attenuation versions that I'd not recommend for long-term use. F-plug/socket versions as well as TV plug/socket ones are equally suitable with the right cables.

EDIT: One 'foible' of some Humax PVRs that has been complained about is that the RF pass-through to TVs gets interrupted when the PVRs start up to wait for a recording to start (15 min before) --- so check that 'issue' out.
The passive 2-way split to feed the PVR and TV set independently is a cure for that one, too.
 
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The device is probably a passive splitter that sends just under half the signal (-4dB) to each outlet port.
It would need power if it was a amplified splitter (aka 'booster') and that would need an indoor power supply connected to one or other of the aerial cables.

100% signal level on any Humax is too much and is probably overloading the tuner(s) inside. (There's actually two tuners plus a pass-through outlet that are fed via a low gain amplifier and then passive 3-way splitting).

Even if the Humax is managing at that level the amplification the TV set might be overloading

Overload results in variable signal quality and the symptoms are just like too little signal.
https://www.aerialsandtv.com/knowledge/splitters-amps-and-diplexersis useful reading.

You need an attenuator in the cable feeding the Humax. Aiming to have around 80% signal level on all the multiplex frequencies that you receive on. Attenuator (CoAx) - A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials
6dB = 1/4 of the signal in is passed and 12dB = 1/16 th. You'll likely need 6dB but for the price may be worth having both? If really strong, then the two in series provides 18dB of attenuation.

If you have an old 2-way passive aerial splitter lying around that will reduce the signal a bit (4dB unless a resistive splitter when it's 6dB) so you may not need to buy anything?

A lot of people choose to feed the Humax and TV from such a passive splitter and turn on the power saving in standby feature in the Humax. (That turns off the RF out except when the Humax is on).

It's best to connect an attenuator via fly-lead type cables and not have them plugged into a TV aerial socket (nor wallplates) due to the rigid length putting unwanted 'strain' on the sockets and leading to reliability issues long term.

Other places sell such attenuators, and you can get variable attenuation versions that I'd not recommend for long-term use. F-plug/socket versions as well as TV plug/socket ones are equally suitable with the right cables.

EDIT: One 'foible' of some Humax PVRs that has been complained about is that the RF pass-through to TVs gets interrupted when the PVRs start up to wait for a recording to start (15 min before) --- so check that 'issue' out.
The passive 2-way split to feed the PVR and TV set independently is a cure for that one, too.
Ooh - a bit technical but I think I know more or less what you're getting at. The device installed is mains powered and if I turn it off no signal gets through at all. The signal goes from this device into the Humax, with is then fed into the TV via an hdmi lead. There is no aerial connection going into the TV at all, because I find the Humax EPG to be far superior (scrolling EPG, channel edit facility and multiple favourites - also being able to preview channels within the guide). I have a feeling that when the engineer came he fed the aerial into the TV, then had another co-ax running out of the TV into the co-ax input of the Humax box, which seemed a bit illogical to me. perhaps he thought I might want the option of watching Samsung TV, although I told him I didn't.
This clipping and cutting out doesn't happen constantly, but happens in bouts. Could it be that although this normallyhappens when the reception is weak, this is happening on mine when the exception is unusually strong?
Perhaps I should add that I also have a TV in the kitchen fed from the same aerial and also another outlet in my conservatory, where I am hoping to move the kitchen TV in the summer. Perhaps he installed that device with this in mind.
 

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So a masthead amplifier-splitter (booster) then, with the white box a power supply unit for it. 75 Series Masthead Amplifiers - Antiference

That seems at odds with "he told me that my signal was so strong I would probably be able to receive programmes from Norway". In that case amplification may not be necessary or only just enough to make up for passive splitting 2-3-or 4 ways.

Yours is likely to be variable gain and that gain control could do with being reduced in my view...

As it was only installed in October 2020 it'll be under guarantee... so a call back may be in order? If so, get the installer to check the levels out at all 3 locations with the meter he uses... The guidance says 45 to 65 dB ref 1 microVolt is ideal... I'd want it toward the higher end of that (60-65 dB) rather than the bottom end.

No way the aerial can go to any TV I know and feed out of it... they don't have that facility! I strongly suspect it was from the Humax RF passthrough (out) to the TV. Easy to add that now if desired for live viewing via the TV tuner.

Glitching is therefore down to the Humax and 100% level is too much 70-80% signal (but with 100 quality) is what you want on a Humax! It may well be due to overloading. It seems intermittent because there is a little received signal level variation with time and yours is just on the cusp of issues.

Probably. Based on the info in this thread.
 
No way the aerial can go to any TV I know and feed out of it... they don't have that facility! I strongly suspect it was from the Humax RF passthrough (out) to the TV. Easy to add that now if desired for live viewing via the TV tuner.
I thought that's what the arrangement was, but having looked at it, I think he must have connected the aerial putput (loop through?) from to the Humax to the co-ax input on the TV. I can't see any point in that and it means that the Humax uses more power.
 
I thought that's what the arrangement was, but having looked at it, I think he must have connected the aerial putput (loop through?) from to the Humax to the co-ax input on the TV. I can't see any point in that and it means that the Humax uses more power.
The point is to allow you to watch programmes live via the TV tuner, without powering ON the Humax to do so, and saving electricity as a result!

Very useful if you are recording two things on the Humax and it won't allow you to watch a third channel you want to watch, live...
Or if the TV permits that function (many do), to record a third channel - via the TV - onto a USB attached disk drive.

Yes, to enable the RF passthrough means a little more electricity is consumed when the Humax is in standby

In your case with too much signal a splitter will do the same, better (by reducing that into the Humax) and save that small bit of electricity (if you switch power saving in standby to ON).
 
Aha - I see, although I also have a satellite feed to the TV, so I use this if there's a conflict. I only wish Samsung would cecognise the desirabilty of an EPG which enables you to hide all the junk channels and re-order them to how you prefer. Above all though, it's an EPG which scrolls back to the starting point when you get to the end. The Humax EPG does all of these things and more, which is why I use it whenever possible.
I dread to think how many co-ax splitters I've somehow acquired and then thrown away over the years, but it's a cheap and easy way to test your advice.
 
Samsung satellite epg and Logical Channel Numbering is prescribed by freesat. It also auto-updates overnight to accommodate LCN numbering changes and transponder frequency moves.
Backward epg on that was known as <freetime> before Amazon claimed the copyrights on that name.

Samsung have now dropped Freeview accreditation for their own flavour of something similar called Samsung TV Plus ... but yours if freetime on sat is likely to be Freeview HD certified... that never defined how epg was to display, just LCNs etc.,. Backward EPG was only specced in You View and more recently very precisely in the Freeview Play spec (which is where Samsung have dropped out of certification) and Freeview HD is no longer licensable for new TVs.

You need to get yourself a 'man drawer' for splitters and similar useful bits to lurk in until needed. ;)

That the Humax does backward EPG makes it either a You View or more recent Freeview Play device, I believe?
 
My TV has Samsung TV Plus, which is useless rubbish unless you're either 5-year-old or a junk-American-TV-viewing 14 year-old boy. The beauty of the Humax version is that after you've scrolled down past the 800s (or whatever) it goes straight back to Channel 001. The Humax also allows you to delete all the SD channels which have HD equivalents and all the junk channels, such as ITV1, religious and shopping channels, etc. Best of all though, it allows you to create several groups of Favourites, in which you can have the channels listed in whatever order you wish. It doesn't allow you to scroll backwards for catch-up, but I rarely miss anything because I tend to spend a few minutes each week looking ahead and setting it up to record anything that looks interesting. Catch-up is only a shortcut to the various Streaming players anyway, so convenient, but not indispensable. The only real fault with it is the notoriously unreliable Humax remote controls. The stop button is usually the first to go, but you can get round that by using Exit instead. I also have a YouView recorder (relegated to the kitchen) which has an EPG that stops at the bottom of the list. You can't put the channels into a custom made order and you can't create favourites. It is so painfully slow that to respond to any commands that I really only use it to pick up HD channels for my old Toshiba Regza.
 
Of course, after posting on Sunday I haven't had a single signal interruption. This tends to make me think that the problem might lie with some kind of interference rather than an over-amplified signal.
 
Update: a few days ago I found myself back to square on, with the constant interruptions returning with a vengence. Instead of a suggested loop-through from my Humax HDR 2000T, I had deliberately installed a coax-splitter to lead separate aerial cables into the Humax and the TV, the wholly unscientific theory being that it might lower the signal strength sufficiently to prevent overloading the recorder. As I said, the signal strength was reduded to around 70% (Quality 100%) and all seemed to be going well until ...
While experimenting with different coax leads (why is it that they hardly ever have the correct male or female connector at one end?), I rediscovered an in-line 5G filter that I thought I had lost when moving house, but was disguised by having an adapter plugged into it. I thought I'd give it a go, having also bought a new coax splitter, the thinking behind it being that rather performing the function that it was deigned for, it might actually act as an attentuator. This was obviously wrong, because Quality and Signal Strength are both back at 100%, yet I've had no signal break-up all night. I've had these false dawns before, but it made me wonder ... could my problems actually have been due to 5G interference? There is a mast about half a mile away.
 
We're having the same issues, I despair! We had Freesat before and moved to newbuild so opted for aerial as cable already in situ, since October 2022 to now we've had all the above problems with fixes that undo a couple of months later, I think as the engineer said that it's due to 4g and 5g masts! We gave a booster/splitter in loft then a 5g filter straight out of that then another just before the Humax, worked for 6 months now we have lots of broken recordings again, it's say loss of power instead of loss of signal? The signal was 77% today, 100% quality and tonight it's OK, but we've been away for 10 days and every prior recording failed. Why can't Humax fix it?
 
You may find the "loss of power", or "loss of signal" message, is an inaccurate description. On my Humax FVP5000T (I can't speak for the HDR2000T) I get this kind of message from time to time, but the recording is there, usually with just a slight glitch somewhere.
 
I can only add that I haven't had a single loss of signal message since my last post, so I feel reluctant to do anything which might change it. However, it is an occasional nuisance having to put the Humax Freeview recorder on for the rare occasions when I want to watch directly through the TV (although I sometimes use that route for iPlayer, etc. I might bite the bullet and see if I can add another aerial feed into the loop before trying the other option.

I'm not sure who Rodders53 was replying to about the backwards EPG, because it wasn't something I mentioned. It's EPGs which don't have a continuous vertical scroll (either up or down) which annoy me.
 
I'm not sure who Rodders53 was replying to about the backwards EPG
I was trying to explain to you how the EPG display is part proscribed by the 'platform spec' (freeview/freesat) and part by the maker's own desire (or interpretation of a looser spec)...

NB You mentioned backward EPG in #9... your 2000T predates the Freeview YouView spec that first introduced the feature.

PS Had to re-read the over two year old thread to realise.
 
NB You mentioned backward EPG in #9... your 2000T predates the Freeview YouView spec that first introduced the feature.
So I did. I didn't look back far enough. I was only responding to a notification of a new reply I received via email. :D
 

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