# The channel is scrambled or not available, Humax Recorder



## devonwoody (22 May 2019)

During the past two weeks on play back the above message appears on the tv screen and the playback freezes but does come back to life within 20 to 50 seconds and happens on more than one channel and some recordings are months old and some past few days.

Anyone know what is going on please?


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## John Brown (22 May 2019)

I would guess at a hard disc fault. Since The Human machines use (or did use) standard disc drives, it might be possible that someone can recover some of the files.

While you may get some great advice here, there are better places to ask this question, such as Humax user forums.


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## devonwoody (22 May 2019)

Thanks John Brown, to be honest I did try the Humax forum but the register set up just did not seem to function for me, filled the form up I thought correctly but no registration was forthcoming, kept repeating the enrolment .


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## JSW (22 May 2019)

You could ask on AVForums - https://www.avforums.com/forums/satelli ... eesat.259/

Very knowledgable about Hummy's. Which model BTW? At a guess I'd agree with a hard disc fault, not the end of the world, very very easy to replace.


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## John Brown (22 May 2019)

Easy to replace indeed (did mine some years back), but bear in mind some drives are more suitable than others. Can't remember the details right now, but the info is out there.


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## devonwoody (22 May 2019)

Thanks all, I'm on it and will let all know the outcome.


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## devonwoody (22 May 2019)

BTW I have got into the AVFORUM.
and its a Humax HDR FOX T2 model around 8 years old.


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## Woody2Shoes (22 May 2019)

Hi - I had a Humax for a long time before I got a (so-called) smart TV.

IME the message you get is because the original signal quality is poor - you can ususally check the signal strength for a given channel. Channels are grouped in frequency blocks, so a poorly set-up aerial may work fine for some channels but not others (depending on which MUX/multiplex the channels are on).

I would guess you don't have a hard disk problem, and would only follow this line of attack once you've eliminated tuning/signal problems. Although the hard disks used are physically the same as those used in ordinary PC's the formatting is different (the track and sector information magnetically placed on the disc itself is optimised for AV - audiovisual - use and is not the same as for a PC).

My advice would be to double-check the aerial and its connections (do you get pigeons/gulls sitting on it!?) and to check signal strength - on all channels that you watch - having re-tuned. Probably also to do a "factory reset" on the software - sometimes the settings within the Humax operating software do get mangled (usually by playing "noisy" content like yours with bits missing).

Cheers, W2S


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## JSW (22 May 2019)

devonwoody":255gtw9x said:


> BTW I have got into the AVFORUM.
> and its a Humax HDR FOX T2 model around 8 years old.


Good good. Just post a new topic if you can't find one relating to your problem, with the model, (HDR FOX T2 in your case) Sit back and wait!


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## JSW (22 May 2019)

Woody2Shoes":3j7i9fcx said:


> Hi - I had a Humax for a long time before I got a (so-called) smart TV.
> 
> IME the message you get is because the original signal quality is poor - you can ususally check the signal strength for a given channel. Channels are grouped in frequency blocks, so a poorly set-up aerial may work fine for some channels but not others (depending on which MUX/multiplex the channels are on).
> 
> ...


 The OP mentions "On playback ..." I thought the same as you until Iread it more thoroughly, so assuming these are recordings not live TV.


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## whiskywill (22 May 2019)

devonwoody":3smtklua said:


> During the past two weeks on play back the above message appears on the tv screen and the playback freezes



Surely that must have happened when the recording was made.

I have a Humax Freesat box and have had a lot of signal problems over the past year or so. I could get many of the ITV channels but not BBC channels. I finally called in a satellite dish expert a couple of weeks ago. All connections were checked and were OK and the dish, around two years old, was aligned correctly. 
The satellite dish man said, that is your problem and pointed to my hedge. It is Leylandii and is 20ft+ tall. As my garden slopes up from the house some of the hedge bottoms are at the same level as the satellite dish, making matters worse. I cut off around 10 feet of the tops of some which were directly in line with the dish and the signal is now perfect.
The reason I couldn't get any BBC channels was explained by the fact that some signals are transmitted vertically and some horizontally, so, presumably BBC are horizontal.


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## devonwoody (22 May 2019)

Found a telephone number for Humax support and they state in my SW area (devon) there is set up changes with transmission going on and most likely where problem lies. I have had to retune three times on screen instructions published lately

I have received a very detailed instruction sheet on the procedure and happy to display here if anyone interested although it an EML file so perhaps will not display at forum.


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## ColeyS1 (22 May 2019)

I kept getting a message saying such and such channel is moving and need to retune to still see it.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk


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## John Brown (22 May 2019)

It was the mention of problems with recordings that were months old that suggested hard disc to me. I suppose if the recordings were made months ago, and this is the first time they've been viewed, then it could be a reception problem. 
In truth, I have insufficient data to make a useful guess, even though I know a fair amount about satellite TV, as I designed and programmed test meters for use by installers for several years.


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## devonwoody (22 May 2019)

I have done a manual install on 6 channels for the SW and the programs display and record to the Humax OK but play back is still liable to a freeze.


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## John Brown (22 May 2019)

devonwoody":30nme1rl said:


> I have done a manual install on 6 channels for the SW and the programs display and record to the Humax OK but play back is still liable to a freeze.


That pretty much rules out reception problems, then.


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## ColeyS1 (22 May 2019)

If you're having to manually install channels instead of them being installed automatically I would think the signal is too weak for the humax to find. I use to get that alot- some channels i was unable to watch.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk


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## John Brown (22 May 2019)

I think the signal to noise ratio is too low.
In this thread, at any rate. Probably OK in the equipment.


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## ColeyS1 (22 May 2019)

Boom boom lol

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk


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## devonwoody (24 May 2019)

I am still struggling with that Humax Fox device of mine, Humax advised I retune manually which I did but channel strengths only showed upto 60% quality 100%.
Some channels record OK some don't.
Where can I find which location my signal is supposed to come from for my area, S.Devon?
Have the stations actually changed on the signal directions hence I need to change aerial position?
If anyone can advise me perhaps that would help.


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## John Brown (24 May 2019)

Are you talking satellite or terrestrial?
The signal strength is a poor indicator, only really useful for initial positioning of aerial or dish.
If you have 100% quality, then I doubt the problem is reception.


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## John Brown (24 May 2019)

If it's FreeView (terrestrial) we're talking about, then are you retuning the Humax, rather than the TV? Sorry if that's a stupid question, but you need to be using the TV as a monitor. 
Once again, sorry if that's obvious.


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## devonwoody (24 May 2019)

Thanks, its terrestrial. I shall most probably bite the bullet and buy a new one Humax when I feel confident that transmission changes have finished in our area. We have had three sessions over the past 6 weeks.


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## Woody2Shoes (24 May 2019)

Hi - 
I hope I'm not stating the bleedin obvious but the quality of the recording (and any subsequent playback of it) is dependent on the quality of the signal from the aerial *at the time of recording*. If there have been recent changes to the transmitter setup, it's well worth getting someone who knows what they're doing to check the alignment of your aerial and to do a full automatic retune. All channels can and should be at 80/90 plus % - ideally 100% - on the signal quality scale or you're asking for trouble IME. I agree that automatic tuning ought to pick up all available channels in each of the available muxes.

https://www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges/upcoming-changes
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/operations/a ... ge_checker
https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/televis ... ultiplexes
https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/multiplexes

The decoding algorithms that Humax uses have error recovery built-in, but when the signal is so poor that error recovery is not possible the software/hardware effectively crashes and can become unstable - this happens if you try and play back a poor quality recording as well as looking at live broadcasts - hence the value of choosing a 'factory reset' once you are sure you've got clean signal for all muxes.

Buying a new Hummy would seem unecessary on the evidence available. Cheers, W2S


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## ColeyS1 (24 May 2019)

I can get channel 87 now- that makes me happy ! Lol

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk


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## devonwoody (24 May 2019)

I have surrendered, a local tv engineer is coming up, he says because of transmitter upgrades in the area signals are questionable where they are coming from. Appears there is a transmitter around 100 yds away (on a telephone mast?) and it might be picking up that one and might even need the arial position changed.
£30plus £15 if arial also.


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