When a local Currys closed down, I made the mistake of buying a Humax
video recorder.
I've never liked it - it takes forever to start up from cold and lights
the same red led to show both "off" and "recording". Utterly stupid
design and just one of the weirdly incompetent human interface
decisions.

Because whatever incompetent body that replaced the BBC in transmitter
site planning (Ofcom?) excelled themselves, we are now plagued by a
relay for BBC Wales nearby and in line with and thus much stronger than
Winter Hill. This makes tuning up any TV apparatus a nightmare. This may
or may not be relevant.

When setting up a programme to record, within the last few weeks the
Humax has now started deciding it will record the Welsh channel as well
as the English. So I've been having to go through and delete lots of
duplicate recordings.

Today when trying to set up to record tonight's political debate (we
look after even older people than us) it decided that it couldn't record
the Winter Hill channel because it already had two channels set to
record. Having scrolled through all the channels in the recording
schedule and finding nothing pre-programmed, it occurred to me that the
clash was with the two BBC Wales channels (HD and SD?) in the list which
it was waiting to set up. Accepting the only option of deleting the
English recording and allowing a Welsh lets it record, so we may be OK.

I wonder if anyone else has seen anything like this and whether there
may have been a recent over the air software update that has caused it.
Or is it my finger trouble?
--
Bill

On 04/06/2017 13:40, Bill wrote:
When a local Currys closed down, I made the mistake of buying a Humax
video recorder.
I've never liked it - it takes forever to start up from cold and lights
the same red led to show both "off" and "recording". Utterly stupid
design and just one of the weirdly incompetent human interface decisions.

Which model?

On Sunday, 4 June 2017 14:02:36 UTC+1, Clive George wrote:
On 04/06/2017 13:40, Bill wrote:
When a local Currys closed down, I made the mistake of buying a Humax
video recorder.
I've never liked it - it takes forever to start up from cold and lights
the same red led to show both "off" and "recording". Utterly stupid
design and just one of the weirdly incompetent human interface decisions.

Which model?

I guess it's not a betamax or u-matic.


NT

Or vcr, or video 2000 or vhs or long play vcr or Technicolour reel to reel
or video 8 or...
chuckle.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
wrote in message
...
On Sunday, 4 June 2017 14:02:36 UTC+1, Clive George wrote:
On 04/06/2017 13:40, Bill wrote:
When a local Currys closed down, I made the mistake of buying a Humax
video recorder.
I've never liked it - it takes forever to start up from cold and lights
the same red led to show both "off" and "recording". Utterly stupid
design and just one of the weirdly incompetent human interface
decisions.

Which model?

I guess it's not a betamax or u-matic.


NT

In message , Clive
George writes
On 04/06/2017 13:40, Bill wrote:
When a local Currys closed down, I made the mistake of buying a Humax
video recorder.
I've never liked it - it takes forever to start up from cold and
lights the same red led to show both "off" and "recording". Utterly
stupid design and just one of the weirdly incompetent human interface
decisions.

Which model?

2000T. The delay in finding it was because I don't want to disturb or
brave the old ladies in the lounge and couldn't immediately locate the
manuals on my backup server. That's another thing I need to improve.
--
Bill

On 04/06/17 15:02, Bill wrote:
In message , Clive
George writes
On 04/06/2017 13:40, Bill wrote:
When a local Currys closed down, I made the mistake of buying a Humax
video recorder.
I've never liked it - it takes forever to start up from cold and
lights the same red led to show both "off" and "recording". Utterly
stupid design and just one of the weirdly incompetent human
interface decisions.

Which model?

2000T. The delay in finding it was because I don't want to disturb or
brave the old ladies in the lounge and couldn't immediately locate the
manuals on my backup server. That's another thing I need to improve.

I use a PC equipped with a Hauppage USB TV tuner.

Running linux and Kaffeine.

I can record as many stations simultaneously as I have USB dongles to
tune the multiplexes to

Recorded videos are (edited with openshot to remove the adverts and)
stored on my headless domestic server (linux) (built from a scrap PC
gifted to me by my PC supplier, as it was obsolete and unsaleable) which
runs minidlna so the smart TV can 'see' the whole 500GB video library.

I have no DVD player.

DVDs are ripped on as PC as soon as they are bough, by Handbrake, and
stored on the server.

There is now just one remote and a TV screen connected by mains
networked plugs (WiFi proved unreliable for all te streaming I do) in
the living room...

It turns out that this is about the lowest box count and remote count
that works.

Mindlna does audio too. and so does the TV.

I must get a hifi amp to add to it all.

If you have a desktop PC,and a smart TV then getting the dongles aint
expensive, and building a server out of an old XP machine (needs little
CPU or RAM, just serious disk) is cheep.

And you then have a permanent online library of ALL your DVDs, plus the
functionality of a TV recorder that will do as many channels as you add
dongles up to the five that represent all the UK muxes in general.

And its a heck of a sight easier to set up recording schedules with a
mouse and keyboard than a sodding remote.


--
To ban Christmas, simply give turkeys the vote.

In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
I use a PC equipped with a Hauppage USB TV tuner.

Running linux and Kaffeine.

I can record as many stations simultaneously as I have USB dongles to
tune the multiplexes to

Recorded videos are (edited with openshot to remove the adverts and)
stored on my headless domestic server (linux) (built from a scrap PC
gifted to me by my PC supplier, as it was obsolete and unsaleable)
which runs minidlna so the smart TV can 'see' the whole 500GB video
library.

I have no DVD player.

DVDs are ripped on as PC as soon as they are bough, by Handbrake, and
stored on the server.

There is now just one remote and a TV screen connected by mains
networked plugs (WiFi proved unreliable for all te streaming I do) in
the living room...

It turns out that this is about the lowest box count and remote count
that works.

That sounds very interesting, although I have doubts about it being
appropriate for the circumstances here. SWMBO can just about stop and
start playback of recordings once I have them all set up and ready. She
won't use any sort of computer and the smartphone I got for her remains
unused.

I might fire up a Linux machine and have a look at Kaffeine. I assume
that when you refer to usb dongles in the 3rd para, you are meaning
dongled usb tuners?
--
Bill

On 04/06/17 17:24, Bill wrote:
In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
I use a PC equipped with a Hauppage USB TV tuner.

Running linux and Kaffeine.

I can record as many stations simultaneously as I have USB dongles to
tune the multiplexes to

Recorded videos are (edited with openshot to remove the adverts and)
stored on my headless domestic server (linux) (built from a scrap PC
gifted to me by my PC supplier, as it was obsolete and unsaleable)
which runs minidlna so the smart TV can 'see' the whole 500GB video
library.

I have no DVD player.

DVDs are ripped on as PC as soon as they are bough, by Handbrake, and
stored on the server.

There is now just one remote and a TV screen connected by mains
networked plugs (WiFi proved unreliable for all te streaming I do) in
the living room...

It turns out that this is about the lowest box count and remote count
that works.

That sounds very interesting, although I have doubts about it being
appropriate for the circumstances here. SWMBO can just about stop and
start playback of recordings once I have them all set up and ready. She
won't use any sort of computer and the smartphone I got for her remains
unused.

I might fire up a Linux machine and have a look at Kaffeine. I assume
that when you refer to usb dongles in the 3rd para, you are meaning
dongled usb tuners?

Correct. Hauppage do em for normal digital TV and a new one that does HD
as well

There's several different TV player for linux. MeTV, mythTV XRDBC VLC.

from memory. Maybe even that ghastly pile of turds Totem

For me I prefer everything - computer data, pictures music videos - all
on the server where I can auto back them up and use a TV to play the
multimedia or PC, and a PC to edit the personal data stuff

In fact you could using a wireless keyboard and mouse simply use the TV
as a monitor for that server, although I think you would need speakers
as well.




--
Of what good are dead warriors? €¦ Warriors are those who desire battle
more than peace. Those who seek battle despite peace. Those who thump
their spears on the ground and talk of honor. Those who leap high the
battle dance and dream of glory €¦ The good of dead warriors, Mother, is
that they are dead.
Sheri S Tepper: The Awakeners.

On 04/06/2017 15:31, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 04/06/17 15:02, Bill wrote:
In message , Clive
George writes
On 04/06/2017 13:40, Bill wrote:
When a local Currys closed down, I made the mistake of buying a
Humax video recorder.
I've never liked it - it takes forever to start up from cold and
lights the same red led to show both "off" and "recording". Utterly
stupid design and just one of the weirdly incompetent human
interface decisions.

Which model?

2000T. The delay in finding it was because I don't want to disturb or
brave the old ladies in the lounge and couldn't immediately locate the
manuals on my backup server. That's another thing I need to improve.

I use a PC equipped with a Hauppage USB TV tuner.


No longer made ??

Running linux and Kaffeine.

Not exactly an easy-to-use option for most.

And you then have a permanent online library of ALL your DVDs, plus the
functionality of a TV recorder that will do as many channels as you add
dongles up to the five that represent all the UK muxes in general.

There aren't enough hours in the day to watch the many hours of nonsense
I have recorded on my simple, easy to use Humax HD Fox T2.


And its a heck of a sight easier to set up recording schedules with a
mouse and keyboard than a sodding remote.

Are you being serious ?. Setting up a once-off or series recording
is just one button press on my Humax.

On 05/06/17 17:40, Andrew wrote:
On 04/06/2017 15:31, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 04/06/17 15:02, Bill wrote:
In message , Clive
George writes
On 04/06/2017 13:40, Bill wrote:
When a local Currys closed down, I made the mistake of buying a
Humax video recorder.
I've never liked it - it takes forever to start up from cold and
lights the same red led to show both "off" and "recording". Utterly
stupid design and just one of the weirdly incompetent human
interface decisions.

Which model?

2000T. The delay in finding it was because I don't want to disturb or
brave the old ladies in the lounge and couldn't immediately locate the
manuals on my backup server. That's another thing I need to improve.

I use a PC equipped with a Hauppage USB TV tuner.


No longer made ??


still made in 57 different flavours

Running linux and Kaffeine.

Not exactly an easy-to-use option for most.

This is UK-d-i-y.

Not home-owners consumer items wankfestr


And you then have a permanent online library of ALL your DVDs, plus the
functionality of a TV recorder that will do as many channels as you add
dongles up to the five that represent all the UK muxes in general.

There aren't enough hours in the day to watch the many hours of nonsense
I have recorded on my simple, easy to use Humax HD Fox T2.


And its a heck of a sight easier to set up recording schedules with a
mouse and keyboard than a sodding remote.

Are you being serious ?. Setting up a once-off or series recording
is just one button press on my Humax.

If you can navigate to the right page and have the remote



--
"Corbyn talks about equality, justice, opportunity, health care, peace,
community, compassion, investment, security, housing...."
"What kind of person is not interested in those things?"

"Jeremy Corbyn?"

On 04/06/2017 13:40, Bill wrote:
When a local Currys closed down, I made the mistake of buying a Humax
video recorder.
I've never liked it - it takes forever to start up from cold and lights
the same red led to show both "off" and "recording". Utterly stupid
design and just one of the weirdly incompetent human interface decisions.

Because whatever incompetent body that replaced the BBC in transmitter
site planning (Ofcom?) excelled themselves, we are now plagued by a
relay for BBC Wales nearby and in line with and thus much stronger than
Winter Hill. This makes tuning up any TV apparatus a nightmare. This may
or may not be relevant.

When setting up a programme to record, within the last few weeks the
Humax has now started deciding it will record the Welsh channel as well
as the English. So I've been having to go through and delete lots of
duplicate recordings.

Today when trying to set up to record tonight's political debate (we
look after even older people than us) it decided that it couldn't record
the Winter Hill channel because it already had two channels set to
record. Having scrolled through all the channels in the recording
schedule and finding nothing pre-programmed, it occurred to me that the
clash was with the two BBC Wales channels (HD and SD?) in the list which
it was waiting to set up. Accepting the only option of deleting the
English recording and allowing a Welsh lets it record, so we may be OK.

I wonder if anyone else has seen anything like this and whether there
may have been a recent over the air software update that has caused it.
Or is it my finger trouble?

Do a full retune and delete the channels you don't want. Preferably a
'manual' retune so you only get the channels from your preferred
transmitter.

--
Max Demian

In message , Tim+
writes
Max Demian Wrote in message:
In answer to:
Today when trying to set up to record tonight's political debate (we
look after even older people than us) it decided that it couldn't record
the Winter Hill channel because it already had two channels set to
record. Having scrolled through all the channels in the recording
schedule and finding nothing pre-programmed, it occurred to me that the
clash was with the two BBC Wales channels (HD and SD?) in the list which
it was waiting to set up. Accepting the only option of deleting the
English recording and allowing a Welsh lets it record, so we may be OK.

I wonder if anyone else has seen anything like this and whether there
may have been a recent over the air software update that has caused it.
Or is it my finger trouble?

Do a full retune and delete the channels you don't want. Preferably a
'manual' retune so you only get the channels from your preferred
transmitter.

--
Max Demian


+1.

If you go to http://www.digitaluk.co.uk you should be able to work
out exactly which channels you need to scan.

If your aerial can pick up more than one transmitter doing an
auto-scan can make a right dog's dinner of your channel line
up.

Yes, I'm afraid I'll have to do this, but it will necessitate finding
some undisturbed time with access to the room the recorder is in.

Somehow, every single device we have here responds differently in the
way it has to be set up - even the Sony TV is different from the (older)
Sony recorder that we have under the telly as a standby device.

I was really wondering if anyone else with a Humax 2000T had noticed a
change in its behaviour in the last few weeks. It never used to program
2 or 3 instances of the same programme simultaneously on different
channels. This seems to happen whether or not the broadcasts are at the
same or different times.
If someone else has one of these recorders that doesn't do this then
I'll have to try to find what button I've pressed that I shouldn't.

--
Bill

En el artículo , Bill
escribió:

Because whatever incompetent body that replaced the BBC in transmitter
site planning (Ofcom?) excelled themselves, we are now plagued by a
relay for BBC Wales nearby and in line with and thus much stronger than
Winter Hill.

That's Storeton or Moel-y-Parc. I had the exact same problem

This makes tuning up any TV apparatus a nightmare.

Older stuff will assign channels from both transmitters, this is what
you're seeing. Newer stuff will either put the duplicates up in channel
800+ or ask you which transmitter you want to use.

I wonder if anyone else has seen anything like this

yes

and whether there
may have been a recent over the air software update that has caused it.
Or is it my finger trouble?

I think you're probably getting better reception because of the good
weather, and the Humax is now able to detect the extra transmitter and
is adding the channels from that when it tunes.

I fixed it two ways for different kit:

1) for a Topfield PVR, I put an 18dB attenuator in line with the aerial
cable. This worked to filter out the weaker signal from Moel-y-parc such
that Winter Hill was the only transmitter detected

2) for another device, I ignored the auto-tuner and manually added the
channels using the information found at

https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Winter_Hill

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) "Between two evils, I always pick
(")_(") the one I never tried before." - Mae West

In message , Mike Tomlinson
writes
En el artículo , Bill
escribió:

Because whatever incompetent body that replaced the BBC in transmitter
site planning (Ofcom?) excelled themselves, we are now plagued by a
relay for BBC Wales nearby and in line with and thus much stronger than
Winter Hill.

That's Storeton or Moel-y-Parc. I had the exact same problem

Yes, Storeton in front of the aerial and Moel-y-Parc aimed at the back.
I am fairly sure that I remember that when planning permission was
finally granted for Storeton, one condition was that it would not relay
Welsh transmissions, but I haven't been able to find any record of the
permission.

This makes tuning up any TV apparatus a nightmare.

Older stuff will assign channels from both transmitters, this is what
you're seeing. Newer stuff will either put the duplicates up in
channel 800+ or ask you which transmitter you want to use.

I wonder if anyone else has seen anything like this

yes

and whether there
may have been a recent over the air software update that has caused it.
Or is it my finger trouble?

I think you're probably getting better reception because of the good
weather, and the Humax is now able to detect the extra transmitter and
is adding the channels from that when it tunes.

It has put one of the Welsh transmissions on 801, but the other is in
the normal list. It hasn't been a problem juggling the channels round
so that BBC1NW is 1, BBC2 is 2 and so on.

It never used to record anything but the channel and programme that it
was programmed for, but now it seems to want to record the programme
selected plus the same programme on a different channel and from a
different transmitter. That's why it would be helpful if anyone with a
similar Humax and multiple channels with the same programme could
confirm it hasn't happened to them.

I fixed it two ways for different kit:

1) for a Topfield PVR, I put an 18dB attenuator in line with the aerial
cable. This worked to filter out the weaker signal from Moel-y-parc
such that Winter Hill was the only transmitter detected

2) for another device, I ignored the auto-tuner and manually added the
channels using the information found at

https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Winter_Hill

Thanks, When I have full access to the TV, I'll fiddle around.

I do know of one local elderly lady who has reverted totally from TV to
radio, and most others round here have moved from Freeview to Freesat.
I do have a biggish dish mounted on the garage but will probably now
never embark on my plan of steering it by stepper motors interfaced with
a PC that would log satellite positions. That once seemed like a good
idea, but I never got round to investigating and re-purposing the old
industrial printers' motors.
--
Bill

En el artículo , Bill
escribió:

Yes, Storeton in front of the aerial and Moel-y-Parc aimed at the back.

I had the same problem despite the aerial pointing straight at Winter
Hill with Moel-y-Parc behind. They're both horizontally polarised,
unfortunately.

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/moelyparctx.html

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/winterhilltx.html

Maybe you'd benefit from a more directional aerial - one that is more
capable of rejecting the unwanted signal from Moel. There's an aerial
fitter that contributes to these groups, he may chip in.

You should also try posting to uk.tech.digital-tv. There's a bunch of
very knowledgeable and helpful people there.

It never used to record anything but the channel and programme that it
was programmed for, but now it seems to want to record the programme
selected plus the same programme on a different channel and from a
different transmitter

I think you need to delete the duplicate channels from the channel list
by hand

[Freesat]

I do have a biggish dish mounted on the garage but will probably now
never embark on my plan of steering it by stepper motors interfaced with
a PC that would log satellite positions. That once seemed like a good
idea, but I never got round to investigating and re-purposing the old
industrial printers' motors.

Why do it yourself when there are commercial motorised dishes widely
available, plus support in the STBs for finding satellites? Google
DiSEqC.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) "Between two evils, I always pick
(")_(") the one I never tried before." - Mae West

In message , Mike Tomlinson
writes
En el artículo , Bill
escribió:

Yes, Storeton in front of the aerial and Moel-y-Parc aimed at the back.

I had the same problem despite the aerial pointing straight at Winter
Hill with Moel-y-Parc behind. They're both horizontally polarised,
unfortunately.

As is the Welsh relay from Storeton which is in a straight line from
Winter Hill to here. The English relay which Storeton was originally
built to provide is about a quarter of the power, vertically polarised
and points the other way, so that is fine.


You should also try posting to uk.tech.digital-tv. There's a bunch of
very knowledgeable and helpful people there.

I did post there some years ago. The lady with the problem with her set
top box that I asked about preferred to give up TV altogether rather
than spend any money or look at it further. She remains happy with radio
alone.

I think you need to delete the duplicate channels from the channel list
by hand

Yes.



[Freesat]

I do have a biggish dish mounted on the garage but will probably now
never embark on my plan of steering it by stepper motors interfaced with
a PC that would log satellite positions. That once seemed like a good
idea, but I never got round to investigating and re-purposing the old
industrial printers' motors.

Why do it yourself when there are commercial motorised dishes widely
available, plus support in the STBs for finding satellites? Google
DiSEqC.

Hmmm. DiSEqC looks interesting, but the person who wanted to watch
different satellites has now left the area, so my incentive has gone.

I have this elderly dish, but I was never sure that the arc it followed
was accurate. I even brought in some "professionals" but they couldn't
improve on what I'd achieved.
So, the mad idea was to build a new drive assembly using stepper motors
and set it mapping the sky and recording repeatable positions where it
found satellites, then a manual revisit to them all to work out what
they were and perhaps even watch something.
But, as often happens, I ran out of time and enthusiasm, the receiver
became obsolete, and the replacement receiver, LNB's and the printers
containing the motors have just gathered dust ever since.
Just one more example in my rich pattern of failed useless-but-fun
projects. I really must clear out the shed.
--
Bill