Wierd freeview HD tuning issue (UExxHU7500)

Rottie

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Hi folks,

I have a Samsung UE48HU7500 UHD TV and I've noticed that since the latest firmware update (1032), that if I do a full channel scan, then the channel numbers skip from 75-107, so I'm losing BBC1 HD, BBC2 HD, ITV HD, CH 4 HD, BBC Three HD & BBC Four HD.

I've managed to do a work-a-round, which is basically manually adding transponder 30 and scanning, which results in 7 new channels being found.

When I spoke to Samsung technical support today, they claimed that perhaps my tuner was faulty and they should send an engineer to look at my set, until I suggested to them that they remote access my TV and try the full channel scan, followed by the manual scan, so they could see the issue for themselves. Once the techie did this, he made the remark along the lines of "Hmmm, I've never seen this issue before. Usually all channels would be picked up by a full channel scan" (which is what I tried telling him in the first place :p ) "and there's no issue with signal quality or strength, as the signal meter is showing very good levels."

The upshot of the situation is that he's dropped n email to his support team at Head Office, to the effect that he's seen the the issue for himself and asking for guidance from them on which way to move forward, but as it's a bank holiday weekend, he's told me that a reply can't be expected until tues/wednesday, at the earliest.

So, if any of you nice people use Freeview HD in the London area and have a UExxHU7500, can you please do a full channel scan, to see if this is an isolated issue, or a more widespread one.
If you find that you can't access the channels 101-106, then do a manual channel scan on transponder 30 (Crystal Palace) and they'll come right back.

Thanks. :smashin:
 
For info, transponders are used in broadcast satellites, not Terrestrial Tv transmitters...it's "Multiplex" "PSB3/BBCB" on RF CH 30.
I know you just want to see if the issue is widespread since the firmware change but at the end of the day it's no real biggie...as you said, you can get the HD channels by manually inputting the channel number during setup and it's not as if you have to do an autoscan every day.
 
I know you just want to see if the issue is widespread since the firmware change but at the end of the day it's no real biggie...
I realise that it's "no biggie" if you know the workaround, but for those who are unaware of it, or even that there is one, they could be (as I was) struggling to find a solution to this problem that even Samsung weren't aware of, until I brought it to their attention.

As you rightly say, I'm just trying to ascertain if this is an isolated case, or something more widespread, so that if I find out anything further, I can feed this info back to Samsung and hopefully, expedite a more permanent solution.

Again, as you rightly say, you don't have to do a full channel scan every day, but considering that it's Samsung who introduced this bug via their firmware update, the onus is firmly on them to fix the problem. At the end of the day, the set is <6 months old and cost close to £1200 new, so no, I won't be just "sucking it up" - Would you, if it was a car, for example?

[Edited @ 15:11 to clean up first paragraph and add last paragraph]
 
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If it was mine those symptoms wouldn't bother me enough to have the hassle of returning it or have an engineer visit, if the problem turns out to be widespread it will probably be fixed by another update.
 
If it was mine those symptoms wouldn't bother me enough to have the hassle of returning it or have an engineer visit, if the problem turns out to be widespread it will probably be fixed by another update.
Indeed. But, if people don't report the issue (if/when they encounter it) to Samsung, then it'll most likely be treated as an isolated issue and any fix that's forthcoming would be later rather than sooner, if you get my meaning?
 
Just registered to say you aren't going mad. I picked up a new Samsung 55HU7500 a few days ago and I've found the very same issue. I've got lots of HD channels missing that I had before.

What is the workaround in the mean time please?

Also happy to raise this with Samsung as well what No. etc. did you call for support and to register the problem
 
I've managed to do the manual tune now and the channels have appeared correctly. Shame that Samsung haven't picked this up yet and provided an update.
 
Hi @CarMad
Sorry I didn't reply earlier - for some reason I didn't receive email notifications. :(

FYI the number for Samsung Technical Support is 0330 SAMSUNG (7267864).

As yet, Samsung still haven't gotten back to me, since I originally reported the issue. I think I will have to give them a call, to see if there are further updates.
 
I've used Samsung support before and found them pretty helpful. This issue sounds like a firmware bug, which could be why they haven't responded yet. Assuming that you have a case reference number, give them a follow-up call. That said, as there's a manual tune workaround, it doesn't sound like it's much of an issue in the scheme of things. How often do you re-tune?

Clem
 
Hi @Clem_Dye,

I do have a ref for this incident and when I contacted Samsung for an update on the case, I was informed that the agent who was previously dealing with it has now moved to another part of the company and the call centre management weren't able to access his email account (as weird as that sounds, considering it's company email) to read any updates that have come down from Head Office. What was suggested to me, was that perhaps I should have an engineer attend to "diagnose" my TV, but as previously stated, it's not a hardware issue, so this would be waste of their and my time and money, as it's simply a line (or two, three, four...) of code that needs sorting.

I've already told the agent that I spoke to this week, that I would leave it another fortnight before re-contacting them, to give them time to do more investigation.

I don't retune very often, to be honest, but that being said, it doesn't negate the need for a resolution, as you intimate.
 
I had a period today when all the HD channels were either very blocky or non existent on both my TV and HDR Fox T2. Had I done a retune then, I suspect all my HD channels would have been missing from both devices. I don't suppose the same sort of thing (Interference from France???) was occurring when you retuned?
 
Interference from France would be highly unlikely, @TJT1 as I'm in London and it is a replicable fault, as I hand-held the Samsung techie through it step by step, when I first called the issue in.
 
I was implying that I think that the interference that I was getting on the south coast was possibly from France, not fully suggesting that this would be necessarily so in your case. The point that I was trying to make was that a high interference level will give blocking and a 'No or scrambled signal' error on an existing tuned channel, as in my case. So if the set were retuned under these conditions, it is very likely that the affected multiplex, or some of its channels, would not be tuned by the set and thus be missing from the channel line up after tuning. In my case it was the BBCB multiplex carrying all the HD channels.
 
You could always try the company that you bought the panel from to get their help. Tell them that you will reject the goods as they're not fit for purpose. I always buy from companies like Amazon or JL for that very reason. You might end-up paying a bit more, but it's worth it, in my experience. My guess is that Samsung know about this issue, given the reports, but all you can do for know is to keep plugging away. If all else fails use your credit card company as back-up.

Clem
 
You have probably thought of this or its not applicable to your problem but I have fixed 2 faults on 2 different TVs in the last fortnight , one of which was a channel tuning error by returning to shipping condition/Factory resetting...........

And TJT1 I had that "blocky" problem on a TV yesterday but I am nowhere near france ??
 
I was implying that I think that the interference that I was getting on the south coast was possibly from France, not fully suggesting that this would be necessarily so in your case. The point that I was trying to make was that a high interference level will give blocking and a 'No or scrambled signal' error on an existing tuned channel, as in my case. So if the set were retuned under these conditions, it is very likely that the affected multiplex, or some of its channels, would not be tuned by the set and thus be missing from the channel line up after tuning. In my case it was the BBCB multiplex carrying all the HD channels.
Thank you for clarifying and I apologise for any misunderstanding. :smashin:
 
You have probably thought of this or its not applicable to your problem but I have fixed 2 faults on 2 different TVs in the last fortnight , one of which was a channel tuning error by returning to shipping condition/Factory resetting...........

And TJT1 I had that "blocky" problem on a TV yesterday but I am nowhere near france ??
A factory reset was an option that the original technical support agent tried. Suffice to say, it had no effect on the issue I was having, but thanks anyway for your input. :smashin:
 
You could always try the company that you bought the panel from to get their help. Tell them that you will reject the goods as they're not fit for purpose. I always buy from companies like Amazon or JL for that very reason. You might end-up paying a bit more, but it's worth it, in my experience. My guess is that Samsung know about this issue, given the reports, but all you can do for know is to keep plugging away. If all else fails use your credit card company as back-up.

Clem
That's certainly an option that I hadn't previously thought about exploring, but if I keep hitting dead-ends with Samsung's TS, then it's one that I might have to look in to. Thanks for your input. :smashin:
 
Hi folks,

I rang Samsung for an update today, but unfortunately, they had nothing further for me, since our last conversation, so I decided to call Freeview's advice line on 03456 505050, who had me pull the aerial out of the back of the set and then do an automatic scan so this would clear any previously stored channels.
What they had me do next was a manual channel scan (Menu > Broadcasting > Channel Settings > Manual Scan) on the following RF channels: 23, 26, 30, 25, 22, 28, 33, 35, 29. (These are the Crystal Palace transmitter settings, so if you're outside of this transmitter's range, try calling the above number and quote your post code and they'll give you the correct settings for your transmitter).

After I did all of that (took around 10 mins ish cos all of those RF frequencies have to be scanned individually), my HD channels re-appeared like they'd never been gone.

Also, Samsung's released a new F/W version, namely 1034, but installing that made no difference until I did the above.
 
The channel numbers used by any transmitter can easily be found on the internet. Google Freeview on xxxxx.

If you don't know your transmitter choose the detailed option after filling in the data here.

DTG :: DTT Coverage checker

The channel numbers are specified in the output as well as likely signal strength.
 
Thanks for that info, Graham :)
 
Picky :)
 
You said you got them back by doing a manual scan in post no 1 so they were never "gone".
Okay, I shall re-phrase for the resident pedants out there:
"After performing the procedure detailed in my above post (#19), I have found that the channels that were previously available after doing a manual re-tune and would not show up on an automatic tune, regardless as to whether or not the TV had been factory reset, are now available to be viewed as intended."

Thanks to everyone who has attempted to help with constructive and/or informative posts; Your input is valued and appreciated.
 

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