This has happened before but I can’t find the thread at the moment. I have both Manhattan and Humax boxes but only normally use the latter as I almost never need to record.
Last night, due to the BBC’s erratic scheduling, the HIGNFY longer repeat to which I can add subtitles was on far too late for me so I set it up to record on the Humax. This meant leaving the whole lot on at the mains (I usually switch off there at night) but switching the TV off, don’t want flashing lights all night.
As expected, the TV refuses to switch on again. I think before I was advised to remove batteries from the remote while pressing the OK and zero buttons at the same time. That hasn’t worked this time so I switched off and on at the mains. No better.
At the moment it is all switched off and I am listening to Radio 4 on the computer. So, as I don’t watch any tv till 7pm, I have around 10 hours to sort it out before resorting to the much smaller tv instead.
Thank you Graham, I’ll remember your mode of finding previous posts for the future.
I had remembered the method of bringing the tv back to life which worked then but isn’t working now.
I’ll try again later
Leaving the tv on is not an option, the flashing light during the night would be too distracting as my open bedroom door is off the livibg room where the tv is.
Well, where to start. While watching the small tv without problems in the evening I noticed that the ‘on’ light of the big telly had come on so quickly switched the HDMI to it from the little one.
The French programmes, after refusing in saying I had no rights to watch, did show clearly, but the Manhattan only displayed horizontal coloured lines, as did the Humax. I think the French ones disappeared after a time but certainly not working this morning.
So I changed back to the little tv, now that one wouldn’t work. Finally it did so on Humax but with E.Mids BBC 1 unavailable. And that is the case this morning.
Alot more happened than that and I may have confused the timeline but, basically, the big telly is useless and the little one only has Humax (except E.Mids).
On the little tv this morning it recognises Manhattan but then only shows a blank blue screen.
I suspect the big TV is knackered, it is old, and maybe the Manhattan too, a shame because I prefer it to the Humax, with one or two reservations (no channel 102 on the EPG for instance).
There is no rush but it may not just be a case of buying a new tv. Manhattan too perhaps. The dish is probably not at fault but I’ll get my friend round with his meter later if I can. The French tv is working on the little tv and, of course is a different dish.
Unplugging an reinserting, yes Elsie, but it has made no difference. I have just this minute unplugged the other end of the Manhattan while connected to the small tv and it hasn’t brought that back but it will be a bigger job to do it with the larger one, so maybe later, but I doubt whether it will cure that if it can’ t with the Humax, which is working with the small tv.
Just to be clear, for me if no-one else. Manhattan does not work at all now. Humax only works with small tv. French Fransat only works with small tv.
I haven’t tried new cables yet, I might have one somewhere and if so I’ll give it a go later.
No different cables but I have bought new batteries and the big TV switches on and off now. But to no avail, and the situation changes daily.
This morning both Humax and Manhattan produce only the flashing lights shown above and the Fransat shows nothing at all.
On the small TV only Humax is working. Manhattan is a complete blank and now, although I can get a channel banner at the bottom of the screen I can’t get a Fransat picture. Except that is, for the Fransat info channel, which is working perfectly.
Tempted to buy a new TV and see what I get back, but I suspect that the Manhattan, along with the big TV is kaput. Fransat, who knows? It was working perfectly yesterday.
Yes, @SuePJ could very well be correct. Which model Humax and Manhatten boxes do you have ?. Usually, if there is an issue with the signal from the satellite dish into the box, one of two things happens. First, you get a badly scrambled picture just like in you’re photo above. If it gets worse, the box usually gives just an all black or all blue screen, which is pretty much what you’re describing. Have you had bad storms just before this happened ? Electrical storms can damage equipment, and high winds can put the dish out of alignment causing signal issues. I would think that buying a new TV should be low on you’re list of things to try. This is a difficult thing to diagnose remotely, but I’ll try if you want.
Just noticed @David_Spardo, you reported similar issues in June last year. In lots of France, we’re right on the edge of the signal coming from the satellite. That makes is weak and more susceptible to atmospheric disturbances. In these low signal areas, the signal does get much worse in Summer, usually from May onwards. I suffer from these issues. This could be at the heart of your problems. Can you tell me what size satellite dish you have, and what make of LNB you have (the thing on the end of the dish arm). Can you also take a close up picture of it from the front with dish, arm and LNB in the shot? If not, then from below ?
Everything TV-wise is connected to satellites and I do know that from time to time it is the vagueries of the signal at fault, but usually I can find an SD channel to use in all but the most violent of storms.
But the persistence and variance of this current problem has got me foxed. And all because I switched the big telly off a week or so ago when I wanted to record something on the Humax. The recording didn’t work and everything else went wrong.
@hairbear This current problem began before we had the first of the big storms this week. Neither the Humax or the Manhattan have anything written on them as to model (might find some paperwork later) but they are both years old. The Fransat box is a Strong and much younger, but still a few years old.
The dish is a metre, it replaced the old 60cm one when I discovered it in the container at the dechetterie some years ago. It is normally sufficient except when it is misty or raining hard. We are more or less in the triangle formed by Perigueux, Angouleme and Limoges, slightly closer to Perigueux.
Can’t see a name on the LNB. The French dish which feeds the Fransat box is smaller of course but normally very reliable.
All help and advice gratefully received, but I will also get my friend down the road to come up with his techie stuff soon, I think he is back from holiday now.
Where you are, a 1m dish should be easily big enough, but it does depend upon the LNB, the condition of the dish, cable and whether it is aligned properly. Alignment issues are common and can cause intermittent issues. The arm can also be bent out of alignment, something that most people dont think about. If you have a mate that can check signal levels etc then ask him to give the whole thing a check from end to end. Let us know how it goes.
It’s the top one, definitely. I have sent him an email asking when he will be free.
What about the Manhattan though, absolutely nothing happening on that with the telly that is at the moment working with the Humax?
Here are the pictures you asked for of the dish and LNB
OK, so the box is a foxsat HDR. They’re pretty good boxes, but as you say it’s old and they don’t last forever. I have one of the second boxes, and although they can have issues, the early ones like I have are good.
The dish has a few dents but looks pretty good. I have two issues with the setup though. It may just be the picture, but the dish doesn’t look vertically aligned. It looks tilted. Get a spirit level and make sure the bolts are level. Best way is to check for level on the top two. If they’re not level then the dish will need adjusting. Second is with the LNB. On the collar that holds the LNB in place, you should see a scale which in in degrees. Usually from 0 to +20 (clockwise) and to -20 the other way. It may go more than 20 degrees. Depending upon where you are the LNB needs to be twisted one way or the other by a certain amount. This is called ‘skew’. For your approximate location … I picked Augignac, the skew should be about -17 degrees. This means the LNB should be twister anticlockwise by 17 degrees on the printed scale. It looks to be at zero degrees. If the skew is that much out, it will make a big difference. This is something you could easily try yourself if you want to.
Edit: Another thing. There is a slide down cover on the LNB that has not been fully slid down. That’s to protect the connectors from the weather. The connectors should also have a rubber gasket over them to protect from water ingress. Over time without a gasket, water can get into the cable and connector, which isn’t good. Get your mate to check this.
There is no scale on the collar, or anywhere else, but you are right, the cover was not snapped all the way down, but it is now. But that might be after the horse has bolted. Oh, and it is not level, the right hand bolt is slightly higherbut, interestingly, the bolts on the dish which serves the Fransat box are slightly higher too, to exactly the same degree.
I’ll get Eddie to check these things when he comes also @Mark , the effing @Corona plug connections.
BTW Corona, when I saw your reply pop up at the corner of my screen I thought you were commenting on the dogs’ language in the Sherwood thread.
