Foxsat HDR EPG

Does anyone know why the EPG so frequently shows only a few programs for the following days? As I look at it now (Wednesday 27th May 15) today's listing is fine, but tomorrow's is mostly blank, while Friday's is mostly complete. After that it is again mostly blank. I get this situation more and more frequently. Maybe it's the box, or is it the provider? I've never really liked the Humax, but Freesat boxes seem to be rare things.
 
Does anyone know why the EPG so frequently shows only a few programs for the following days? As I look at it now (Wednesday 27th May 15) today's listing is fine, but tomorrow's is mostly blank, while Friday's is mostly complete. After that it is again mostly blank. I get this situation more and more frequently. Maybe it's the box, or is it the provider? I've never really liked the Humax, but Freesat boxes seem to be rare things.

Instead of pressing guide - try pressing the schedule button and then the red button.
 
Thanks for your reply. As it happens I alway use Schedule>Red, so that doesn't solve the problem. I guess it must be something to do with the way the Freesat EPG data is transmitted. We also have a Freeview YouView box in the house and that is fine. It has a much nicer EPG, too.
 
Thanks for your reply. As it happens I alway use Schedule>Red, so that doesn't solve the problem. I guess it must be something to do with the way the Freesat EPG data is transmitted. We also have a Freeview YouView box in the house and that is fine. It has a much nicer EPG, too.

The complete epg is transmitted on every channel in a round robin that takes about 20 minutes to fully populate a blank epg. If you set a watch reservation after overnight housekeeping of about 20 minutes the epg should always be fully populated in the cached version. Never had any problems like yours with my Foxsat-hdr. If tuner 1 is not being used to record then a complete new epg is downloaded after pressing guide in about 60 seconds. Can you watch channel 999 (freesat info), if not the likely cause is your dish alignment.

Alternatively do you have padding set for recordings ? If so your epg doesn't have chance to update itself as happens when AR is set in the pre 15 min wake up. Either use AR or set a wake up every day to give the box chance to update the epg.
 
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Thank you again.
Studying your advice I would have said dish alignment is the culprit, which would mean that the dish had become misaligned fairly recently after three or four years of no trouble. Nothing else seems to be affected, i.e. quality of programme reception.

I don't add padding to recording times, and I record only evening broadcasts, which recordings I set up in the morning before watching the news. My habits in this regard have not changed for probably a year, but this phenomenon has happened relatively recently.

I'm grateful for your comments, but I think for the time being I'll just have to blame the Government or the weather.

Cheers

Alan
 
Thank you again.
Studying your advice I would have said dish alignment is the culprit, which would mean that the dish had become misaligned fairly recently after three or four years of no trouble. Nothing else seems to be affected, i.e. quality of programme reception.

I don't add padding to recording times, and I record only evening broadcasts, which recordings I set up in the morning before watching the news. My habits in this regard have not changed for probably a year, but this phenomenon has happened relatively recently.

I'm grateful for your comments, but I think for the time being I'll just have to blame the Government or the weather.

Cheers

Alan

Can you watch channel 999 ? If not your channel line up will be getting progressively out of date (Channel 999 is broadcast from the freesat home transponder, without access here the required updates won't happen). Additionally the box must be left in sby overnight for this to happen. There has been a lot of transponder changes recently (EB1 is shortly to cease broadcasting). Check you can still watch the most recent changes.

Transponder changes (27/05/2015)

156 more>movies+1 12633 H to 12610 V
800 QVC 12031 H to 11953 H
814 QVC Extra 12031 H to 11953 H
816 QVC Beauty 12031 H to 11953 H
818 QVC Style 12031 H to 11953 H
820 Thane 11261 H to 11390 V
 
Thanks, Graham. I wanted to check 999, which means retuning. On selecting Freesat Retune from the menu, it searched for my already entered post code, but declared it invalid. I re-entered the post code, but got the same result.
I have now started a Factory Reset, but it won't accept the post code.

It wa OK twenty minutes ago while I watched the news, but I think the Government has now found out I didn't vote for them.
 
Because you can't get past the postcode bit or (previously) tune to 999, but was able to get other stuff, to me this smacks of a dish alignment problem. The freesat home transponder (999) is at a slightly different azimuth to most of the rest of the stuff from 28E. One is at 28.2E with the other is at 28.5E that includes the freesat home so it is possible that the dish will pick up 28.2E but the other at 28.5E is really weak and this is the one that you need to tune the freesat box.
 
The post code problem seems to have gone away, but it's on a perpetual satellite signal search now.

I'm not clear about the ch 999 thing: I never had it listed in the EPG, since I delete all but the BBC channels and a few commercial ones, so I never looked at it.

As to the dish alignment, this must have changed fairly recently, but I can't see how. It's not been bashed and it's pretty solidly fixed. Or am I being stupid?
 
From my reading of the previous posts, you need channel 999 in order to receive the EPG etc. Not that I know anything about satellite TV, other than what I read on this forum.
 
I know less than you. I think Channel 999 is (or was) still there after I deleted it from the Channel List. At least I used to be able to watch channels not in my list by keying in the channel number.

Anyway, something has upset it, so it's back to the PC for watching the telly.
 
Thanks, Graham. I wanted to check 999, which means retuning. On selecting Freesat Retune from the menu, it searched for my already entered post code, but declared it invalid. I re-entered the post code, but got the same result.
I have now started a Factory Reset, but it won't accept the post code.

It wa OK twenty minutes ago while I watched the news, but I think the Government has now found out I didn't vote for them.

Firstly we are talking about a Foxsat-HDR ?. If you can't get channel 999 then you can't do a freesat retune because you can't download the postcode allocation database from Eurobird 1. Catch 22 situation.

999 is handy because it's on the home transponder so it's a handy way of confirming that you are able to to do retune, it's not the only way.

What you should have done is use manual tune to check the signal from 11428 H without this you should not have attempted the retune.

If you can get into the menus. Menu - Setup - Manual Tune - Transponder All should be highlighted. - press right until you see 10714 H 22000 5/6 - now continue with right until you see 11427 H 27500 2/3 or 11428 H 27500 2/3. The signal strength and quality is shown at the bottom of the screen.

If you can't get into the menus you are stuck until you sort out your dish, unless you have a friend with a satellite box (A sky one will do fine) and who will let you set up your box using his dish. Don't disconnect the lnb cables with the box powered on.

I normally get around 80% quality from this transponder, today it's fallen to 60%, it's possible that the available power from the satellite solar cells is getting low which may explain why you have lost the signal. This satellite is destined for the scrap heap, no doubt soon after the new Astra 2G arrives at 28.2E (It's on it's way there now from it's testing location).

Sometime the home transponder will have to move to a SES Astra satellite at 28.2E, this should greatly increase the signal.
 
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Thanks, Graham. I can access the menus, so I did exactly as you said, except that the entry only shows 11428 H 27500 A ( I imagine the A means Atomatic ?). The strength & quality is zero at this setting.

I then set the FEC to 2/3 by using the User Define option, but it didn't help.
 
Thanks, Graham. I can access the menus, so I did exactly as you said, except that the entry only shows 11428 H 27500 A ( I imagine the A means Atomatic ?). The strength & quality is zero at this setting.

I then set the FEC to 2/3 by using the User Define option, but it didn't help.

That's your issue.

Is your dish accessible ? If so I will tell you how to recover EB1.


You can use the box in non-freesat mode by using manual tune to tune in the transponders you can actually get. Note - you can only record manually and there is only now and next programme info. If you boot the box into non-freesat mode you can also record HD without encryption. Adding non freesat channels adds an option to switch modes to the menus.

If you install the Custom Firmware, you can add these channels so you can see them in Freesat mode and set manual timer recordings (That of course won't help till you fix the basic problem)

You could do a full auto scan for free to air channels but that will give you close to 500 channels (Many regional repeats of the same channel).

Best way is to note the transponders with channels you want and locate it in the list and then scan and save each one in your list in turn.

http://en.kingofsat.net/freqs.php?&pos=28.2E&standard=All&ordre=freq&filtre=Clear
 
1) Yes, the dish is accessible.

2) I have gone through your web site list and entered the settings I need, scanned for the channels and now I trimming out the ones I don't need. I've ended up with a load of channels in the 5000s range, so I need to get used to the new channel numbers. The KingOfSat database is amazing and I've bookmarked it.

3) What will happen when the new satellite is ready (about the middle of June, I gathered)?

4) I am in your debt.
 
1) Yes, the dish is accessible.

2) I have gone through your web site list and entered the settings I need, scanned for the channels and now I trimming out the ones I don't need. I've ended up with a load of channels in the 5000s range, so I need to get used to the new channel numbers. The KingOfSat database is amazing and I've bookmarked it.

3) What will happen when the new satellite is ready (about the middle of June, I gathered)?

4) I am in your debt.

1 The channel numbers are added starting at 5000 consecutively in the order they are scanned in. The lcn's (Logical Channel Numbers) come from the epg and aren't part of the broadcast. That's why the self same broadcast on a Sky box can have a totally different lcn because it's a different epg. Because they aren't part of the broadcast you can freely renumber them (within the 5000 range to whatever you want).

3 That's a good question. The Astra satellites don't have the current frequency used for the Freesat home transponder. A well known poster from Humax in the early days of Freesat (BobCat) says that freesat was designed to automatically scan for the new freesat transponder when it doesn't find one. We will have to wait and see if he is correct :)

4 I will send the bill :roflmao:

You are going to need some help with this.

Bring up the home transponder frequency in manual tune.

Mark the current adjustments for direction and elevation so that if you get in a muddle you can start again.

Access the dish and slacken the nut and bolt that secures the direction in which the dish points (Azimuth). Important make adjustments in tiny tiny steps, the satellites are 22000mls above the equator at longitude 28.2/28.5E a very small adjustments shifts the aiming point a long way. nudge the dish a tiny amount to the East, wait a few seconds for the tuner to respond and check the signal strength and especially quality. Continue till you find the point where the adjustment produces a reduction in quality, nudge it back to the optimum point and carefully lock of the adjustment. Gently flex the dish left and right a tiny amount and confirm the signal is worse.

Now lets tackle the elevation (assuming you now have a usable signal from EB1), flex the dish up slightly, wait for the tuner to respond if the signal gets better the dish elevation needs raising slightly, Flex the dish down a tiny amount if the signal gets better he disg needs slightly lowering. Slacken the elevation nut and bolt and optimise the elevation in the same way as the azimuth

The next step is to adjust the lnb skew (the twist of the lnb from vertical). A compromise is needed here, the Astra satellites use a non standard setting for skew and EB1 is standard. You need to find a reasonable mid position. This adjustment isn't that critical but if the skew is out on the wrong side of the 28.2 setting it will make it very hard for the lnb to distinguish horizontal polarisation and vertical polarisation channels on EB1. You may have noticed EB1 has a vertical channel with a very similar frequency to the home transponder. Mark the current twist, slacken the lnb collar clamp and twist the lnb in small steps till the home transponder has the optimal quality. If the lnb can be moved back and forwards you can repeat to find the optimal focus point. Tighten the lnb collar clamp.

While you are up there turn off the Humax, disconnect the f connectors and check for water ingress and corrosion. Water in the cables can knock out specific frequencies and if it tracks down the cables into the box can turn it into a door stop.

You can get the exact figures for your location by going to www.dishpointer.com, enter your postcode and select 28.2 followed by 28.5. You get a Google Earth display you can zoom into and drag the pointer to the exact location of the dish. Note the different skew for the two points.

Good luck, it sounds difficult but after doing it a few times it's not as difficult as you might think.
 
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