Humax PVR-9150T not receiving Freeview

Ben Shepherd

Ben Shepherd

New Member
Hi,

I have a Humax PVR-9150T Freeview recorder box, which I bought in late 2009 and has been working perfectly ever since. But last week, it suddenly lost signal and wouldn't show any Freeview channels. There's nothing wrong with the aerial - the signal goes through to my digital TV, which is still receiving correctly. I've tried automatic and manual search, and it won't find any channels at all. Any idea what might be wrong with it?

Thanks

Ben
 
Ben Shepherd said:
I have a Humax PVR-9150T Freeview recorder box, which I bought in late 2009 and has been working perfectly ever since. But last week, it suddenly lost signal and wouldn't show any Freeview channels. There's nothing wrong with the aerial - the signal goes through to my digital TV, which is still receiving correctly.
Click to expand...

Most obvious possibility is tuner failure. This can be caused by water ingress; try removing the aerial in lead to the Humax and see if there is any evidence of water in the cabling. If there is then the cabling needs to be fixed but I don't think there is anything that can be done to revive the tuners.
 
Hmm, interesting - I hadn't thought about that. I unplugged it yesterday and opened up the box, naively hoping I could spot the problem. There wasn't any obvious water damage though, and the aerial cable seemed pretty dry. (Although it could probably do with replacing anyway - the copper is very crumbly and the connector is quite wobbly!)

The box has two tuners - is it possible that one has gone and the other is OK? Would it even be possible to diagnose that? Or should I just assume the box is dead for receiving? (Playback is still OK.)
 
Ben Shepherd said:
Hmm, interesting - I hadn't thought about that. I unplugged it yesterday and opened up the box, naively hoping I could spot the problem.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I would have done.
There wasn't any obvious water damage though, and the aerial cable seemed pretty dry. (Although it could probably do with replacing anyway - the copper is very crumbly and the connector is quite wobbly!)
Click to expand...
I would replace the cable before condemning the Humax. There have have been plenty of cases where minor cable faults have caused tuning issues but usually loss of one or two multiplexes.
The box has two tuners - is it possible that one has gone and the other is OK? Would it even be possible to diagnose that? Or should I just assume the box is dead for receiving? (Playback is still OK.)
Click to expand...
If one tuner were alive then I would expect you to be able to tune properly but be restricted to making only one recording at a time.
 
But my TV tuning is not affected - whether I go through the box or connect the aerial cable directly to the TV, it still picks up Freeview just fine. So surely it can't be a problem with the cable? I probably won't replace the cable now anyway, as I plan to move house this year (hopefully). But maybe I should try it at someone else's house.
 
Sounds terminal, but have you tried a full factory reset (if such a function is available on this unit)?
 
Shouldn't do, but it would be worth checking first! The HDR-FOX factory reset operation offers the choice whether to reformat the hard drive or not.
 
Ben Shepherd said:
But my TV tuning is not affected - whether I go through the box or connect the aerial cable directly to the TV, it still picks up Freeview just fine. So surely it can't be a problem with the cable?
Click to expand...
There is something unusual about the Humax tuners (perhaps extra sensitivity) that makes them more likely to experience problems when other equipment doesn't. I think the idea of trying the box on a different aerial and a reset to defaults are both sensible things to try.
 
I finally got round to trying my Humax box on another aerial. It didn't work. So presumably that means my tuner is dead. If so, is there anything I can do about it, or does the box have to go in the bin?
 
Probably the bin I am afraid. It is fairly unusual for the tuners to just die unless there is water getting into them via a faulty aerial cable. Before attaching anything else make sure you are confident that the aerial cable is completely dry.
 
Exactly same happened to me tonight.

5 years of 9150 use without problem.

Switched on. No signal. Nothing!

No water in cabling. Just died. Is it the end?
 
For what it's worth, I didn't have any water in the cable either. It just stopped working, apparently for no reason.
 
allyb said:
Switched on. No signal. Nothing!

No water in cabling. Just died. Is it the end?
Click to expand...
You need to do some checks first. If you attach another device to the same aerial cable does it work? Look carefully at the aerial cable; are there any kinks in the cable? Do the joints look properly made and the connectors properly fitted? Is there an amplifier or distribution box in the aerial circuit; if so has it (or its power supply failed)? About 70% of the reports of signal failure are due to a cause outside the Humax.
 
Bizarrely I switched everything off. Went way for weekend.

Came back. Thought I would give it one last try - switched on and all working again!

It was out for 8 days. but is now as good as ever and picking up some new channels!!

Some sort of Freeview refresh in Reading maybe? Don't know but I am all connected again :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top