FVP5000T problems solved, but why don't they tell you this !

N

notac

New Member
We had terrible problems with freezing and picture break-up with our FVP5000T and I eventually contacted Humax support for an answer.
Initially I was told to do a Factory Reset.
I did this, twice, and each time it was OK for a day or so before the problems returned.
They suggested I replace the HDD and since they are only £15 off Amazon and it is an easy job I did that.
It made no difference.
After more searching for answers I found several people suggesting it was too strong a signal.
We were puzzled by this since we are still using an old fairly basic aerial dating from the late 1970's.
Then another engineer from Humax replied to me also suggesting it was a signal strength problem.
When I checked I found I had 100% strength and 100% quality, so I bought a 6db attentuator and plugged this into the aerial socket behind the TV.
This dropped the signal on BBC1 to 98% and seemed to cure the freezing except on one channel.
I got back to Humax to be told that I needed a stronger attenuator as the signal strength should be BELOW 90% !
I then found a cheap variable attenuator at Toolstation and the reviews there included 'just right for stopping Humax from freezing' !
I now have one and have set the signal strength to around 85-90% on various channels.

If this is such a WELL KNOWN PROBLEM then WHY don't Humax TELL US to start with when we buy their products !
 
I'm sure you will be told the same thing by various different users but there is a problem with 100% signal strength, if the unit required 1Volt to display 100%, then what is it going to display for an input of 2Volts?, answer 100%, it can't display anything else, the only way around this is to have a signal strength display like the old VU meter where 0dB was about 70% of maximum, you would then have a way of showing that the signal was too big
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notac said:
If this is such a WELL KNOWN PROBLEM then WHY don't Humax TELL US to start with when we buy their products !
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It is not Humax's responsibility to ensure you have an appropriate aerial installation, that's what aerial installers are for. Yes, signals can be too strong just the same as too weak, and the QUALITY figure is more important than the STRENGTH figure. STRENGTH = 100% says nothing about QUALITY (but if QUALITY is less than 100% the STRENGTH figure might tell you why).

Please don't shout at us, it's not our fault and not our problem (we are not Humax, and neither are we your aerial installers).

notac said:
They suggested I replace the HDD
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That should tell you how good Humax support is. We know that too.
 
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Hi Notac,

I had exactly the same problem with my FVP5000T a couple years ago. It worked perfectly for several months after purchase, then for no apparent reason the signal strength kept dropping to zero.

Also like you, I received advice & various possible solutions from Humax Support, none of which worked. They even suggested I take the device back to Currys, as it was probably faulty!

It was only when I found this forum via Google that I quickly received the correct advice.
A fellow member on this site, who had the same issue, suggested I purchase a Variable Strength Attenuator, which solved my signal problem immediately.

I agree, it would have been helpful if Humax had told me that my Signal Strength at 100% may have been the problem, rather than eventually indicating that the PVR was probably faulty.
 
Ezra Pound said:
It is Humax's responsibility to ensure you have an appropriate signal strength
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Have you taken leave of your senses? I fundamentally disagree with that statement.

Humax has no control over what the user might connect their equipment to, and it is unreasonable to expect they have a "responsibility to ensure". Their only responsibility is to state what the min and max signal requirements are in the technical specifications (which they don't, but that is not unusual for domestic receivers).

They do state the power input requirements ("200V - 240V ~ 50/60Hz 0.8A"), and I cannot think of any excuse for not stating the aerial signal requirements (other than it being common practice not to).

I will also criticise Humax for not listing "signal too strong" as a possible cause in the troubleshooting section of the manual, although their listed remedy of repositioning the aerial could "solve" the problem (by de-optimising the alignment). And Humax customer support being as useful as a chocolate fireguard is an eternal complaint - they are not engineers able to think through a problem, they are just low-paid telephone jockeys reading from a script (so if the script doesn't mention "signal too strong", neither will they).

Ezra Pound said:
at the very least they should state 90% max. In the user guide
Click to expand...
What is "90%"? 90% is not an absolute maximum, even if we knew what 100% represents in terms of microvolts. It could be a "recommended maximum", but the user would have no way to verify this before purchase and installation, and I do not agree that anything over 90% is necessarily sub-optimal (there could be confounding factors). As mentioned above: the Quality is what matters, with Strength being a purely diagnostic figure in the event Quality is less than 100%.

@notac: If you are using amplification on your aerial feed, I recommend you remove it. Clearly it is not necessary (in your case), and amplifying an already strong signal might cause clipping (non-linear distortion) with results as you have observed. This is not the fault of the FVP-5000T (or any other receiver).
 
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O.K. It is Humax's responsibility to ensure you are 'informed about an' appropriate signal strength, the 100% signal strength is misleading, It doesn't matter what 90% means in terms of micro volts, the user can't measure that anyway, if the bar graph had 90% to 110% marked in red it would tell any user where the problem is
EDIT
See suggestion, Click HERE
 
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notac said:
We had terrible problems with freezing and picture break-up with our FVP5000T and I eventually contacted Humax support for an answer.
Initially I was told to do a Factory Reset.
I did this, twice, and each time it was OK for a day or so before the problems returned.
They suggested I replace the HDD and since they are only £15 off Amazon and it is an easy job I did that.
It made no difference.
After more searching for answers I found several people suggesting it was too strong a signal.
We were puzzled by this since we are still using an old fairly basic aerial dating from the late 1970's.
Then another engineer from Humax replied to me also suggesting it was a signal strength problem.
When I checked I found I had 100% strength and 100% quality, so I bought a 6db attentuator and plugged this into the aerial socket behind the TV.
This dropped the signal on BBC1 to 98% and seemed to cure the freezing except on one channel.
I got back to Humax to be told that I needed a stronger attenuator as the signal strength should be BELOW 90% !
I then found a cheap variable attenuator at Toolstation and the reviews there included 'just right for stopping Humax from freezing' !
I now have one and have set the signal strength to around 85-90% on various channels.

If this is such a WELL KNOWN PROBLEM then WHY don't Humax TELL US to start with when we buy their products !
Click to expand...
Indeed, if it's a known problem, why don't they supply an attenuator? They're about 4 quid.
 
Ineluki said:
Indeed, if it's a known problem, why don't they supply an attenuator? They're about 4 quid.
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I think the answer is that the majority of 'too high' signal strengths are caused by an inappropriately fitted high gain aerial or aerial amplification rather than the user living too close to the transmitter, so the problem can be avoided
 
Ineluki said:
Indeed, if it's a known problem, why don't they supply an attenuator? They're about 4 quid.
Click to expand...
I would not describe it as a "known problem", that implies Humax is responsible. Call it a "known issue" if you like. As I have been trying to explain, this is something which should be in the diagnostic list in the manual, and is the responsibility of the householder to cure (not Humax's responsibility).

The overwhelming majority of users would not need an attenuator, and if they do most likely it is an inappropriate aerial installation causing it.
 
I have had similar problems intermittently for the last few months. Either no picture at all and a yellow message saying there is no signal or a weak signal or very bad pixelation. These events seem to be quite random. Another issue is not being able to switch on the box either by hand or the remote. My box is less than 2 years old.
Today, I discussed the issues with an aerial installer who tested my aerial cable from the wall and it was fine. Our outdoor aerial installation is also working properly after inspection as well. The picture has been ok and the signal strength is 70%. Tomorrow it could be completely different. There appears to be no other reason for there to be signal problems and why should it be so variable? I will investigate an attenuator though have no idea what that is or its function.
 
Queenie said:
I will investigate an attenuator though have no idea what that is or its function.
Click to expand...
It's a small device very much like an aerial plug which installs in the cable, and "attenuates" the signal by a preset amount (ie reduces it, the opposite of amplification). It is used to overcome situations where the signal is too strong, which (as discussed above) can result in loss of signal because the receiver is overwhelmed.

70% does not sound "overwhelmed" to me.

Queenie said:
Today, I discussed the issues with an aerial installer who tested my aerial cable from the wall and it was fine. Our outdoor aerial installation is also working properly after inspection as well. The picture has been ok and the signal strength is 70%. Tomorrow it could be completely different. There appears to be no other reason for there to be signal problems and why should it be so variable?
Click to expand...
Frankly, it could be for a number of reasons. Your man should be looking for a problem when it's there, not when it's not there. It's a waste of money to go chasing maybes.
 
notac said:
We had terrible problems with freezing and picture break-up with our FVP5000T and I eventually contacted Humax support for an answer.
Initially I was told to do a Factory Reset.
I did this, twice, and each time it was OK for a day or so before the problems returned.
They suggested I replace the HDD and since they are only £15 off Amazon and it is an easy job I did that.
It made no difference.
After more searching for answers I found several people suggesting it was too strong a signal.
We were puzzled by this since we are still using an old fairly basic aerial dating from the late 1970's.
Then another engineer from Humax replied to me also suggesting it was a signal strength problem.
When I checked I found I had 100% strength and 100% quality, so I bought a 6db attentuator and plugged this into the aerial socket behind the TV.
This dropped the signal on BBC1 to 98% and seemed to cure the freezing except on one channel.
I got back to Humax to be told that I needed a stronger attenuator as the signal strength should be BELOW 90% !
I then found a cheap variable attenuator at Toolstation and the reviews there included 'just right for stopping Humax from freezing' !
I now have one and have set the signal strength to around 85-90% on various channels.

If this is such a WELL KNOWN PROBLEM then WHY don't Humax TELL US to start with when we buy their products !
Click to expand...
This is the "SOLUTION" to the issue.

I have been experiencing exactly the same issues (Picture Freezing + Breaking Up). I have had a TV Aerial Engineer out multiple times who ruled out the following
1- TV Issues
2- Signal Strength
3- Aerial/Cable issues.

He suggested the only likely cause had to be the Humax FVP5000T box. He suggested I disconnect the box for a few days to see what happens and nothing did (Perfect). 4 Days later I reconnected the Humax and low and behold the issues were back.
He did some research and this time he returned and the advice on the internet said the best solution is to connect the Humax box separately to a splitter.

The set up I have now is a 4 way splitter installed -.

1- Aerial Into Splitter
2- Cable to Humax Box
3-. Cable to TV
4- Cable to Bedroom TV
5- Spare Connector

This has "Totally solved ALL issues" and it is now 48hrs since the install and everything is perfect.
 
postie470 said:
The set up I have now is a 4 way splitter installed -.

1- Aerial Into Splitter
2- Cable to Humax Box
3-. Cable to TV
4- Cable to Bedroom TV
5- Spare Connector

This has "Totally solved ALL issues" and it is now 48hrs since the install and everything is perfect.
Click to expand...
Could you tell us what the setup was before the installation of the splitter please?
 
postie470 said:
This has "Totally solved ALL issues" and it is now 48hrs since the install and everything is perfect.
Click to expand...
What you've done is confirm the problems were due to too strong a signal for the FVP-5000T, cured by splitting the signal multiple ways. There's nothing to see here.
 
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