I think my TM5400 SI Super usb is broken

[boragthung]

Hello there, I wonder if anyone has any knowledge of possible breakdown problems on satellite boxes. Please bear with me as this post is quite long as I try to detail as much as possible.

A summary of my set up:
I have had a TM5400 super with a motorised triax 88cm set up and working fine for about 2.5 years. Currently have the 1.53 patch on it. I have a quad lnb with the TM driving the motor on USALS. I have a Skystar HD2 on my pc connected to the same telly as the TM from lnb2. The other 2 lnb's feed upstairs for a freesat box (plus one spare at the mo'). The dish mainly points at 28.2 for freesat and only gets moved to watch other things when available.

There is no problem with dish alignment.

In the last few weeks I have had a few problems on my TM with no audio/video signal. When in this state I can still select a satellite to move to and the box will drive the motor properly but will still get no picture wherever it is. If I go into any menu to do something else other than 'Go to Sat' then the software/box freezes and I have to physically turn it off and on again via back switch. With no signal the time setting is also lost.

I have messed about redoing the cable terminations and tightening up, etc and have got the picture back, it's been fine for maybe a week then the next time I have turned on the box - no signal again. One of the ways I got a working signal was to put a (basic) satellite meter between the box and the feed from lnb. For some strange reason this seemed to work when the direct connection didn't, although this also worked one day then not the next.

Another of the problems (when working) is particular transponders can be troublesome, while those around are OK. For example on 39E I get all the transponders I would expect no problems good picture, but there can be one in the middle of the range (where Diema/The Voice is) that breaks up a lot and is sometimes lost altogether. This particular transponder is fine on my Skystar, even though it may break up or be no signal on the TM.

Anyway I decided something could be up with the cable connection and decided yesterday I would replace the cable from the motor to the box. Now I cannot get a picture again. With the sat meter connected I can see that there is signal coming through but no Audio/Video. I tried the spare lnb to motor instead to rule out a fault on lnb1. Still no pic. I connected back to lnb1 and tried the freesat box from upstairs instead of the TM and got picture and sound fine (currently left on 28.2E for Freesat). The Skystar also works fine.

So in conclusion I feel I have ruled out dish alignment, motor and lnb faults. I feel my cable and it's terminations must be good (Freesat box worked). I can only the conclude the problem lies with the TM5400 itself.

My question is this:
1. Could it be a bad/loose connection of the F connector? Remember motor signals work but not the tuner part.
One time when screwing down the F Connector I did feel as if the female connection on the box might also have turned a bit - so to my mind my most probable cause of the problem could be the physical connection here.
2. Could the Tuner or some chip related to it have failed?
3. Could it purely be a software fault? (I think unlikely personally). I did one time reinstall the older patch to see if an update (147 to 149) caused the problem but this didn't seem to be the case.

I hope someone more experienced who has an idea of the typical ways in which sat boxes break down can point me in the right direction or reinforce what I suspect already. I am going to open up my box now there is more light and see if it could be something simple like tightening the female F connector or something. I have no electrical/technical knowledge - just will look for something physically obvious.

If it turns out the box is a goner I am considering getting the same box again. However there seems to be a new M2 version out now and I cannot see what changes have been made (this version is not even mentioned on the TM website that I can see). I have noticed there is a separate patch (154) for the M2 version so assume therefore the usual 5400 super patches are incompatible with the new M2 one.

Alternatively I might consider the TM5402, but as money is tight at the moment this is almost twice the cost of the 5400. The main emphasis for the box is to drive the motor as I can get HD from my Skystar. I tend to watch mainly Novasports and Diema when my team is on.

Thanks for reading all this anyone who has the patience and will check back later to see if anyone can help. So box opening time...

[Nutsandbolts]

Hi. I have a TM5400 SUPER with patch 153 and working fine. If you say that you are getting pictures and sound on 28 EAST then there is nothing wrong with your receiver. I have had problems of this sort before and it was to do with dish/lnb alignment. The best way to check is to go to 39 EAST and check for signal strenth in the transponders that you are not getting. Do this in the INSTALLATION menu. Do you get channels on other satellites like HOTBIRD??? Regards.

[ramjet]

Hello there, I wonder if anyone has any knowledge of possible breakdown problems on satellite boxes. Please bear with me as this post is quite long as I try to detail as much as possible.

A summary of my set up:
I have had a TM5400 super with a motorised triax 88cm set up and working fine for about 2.5 years. Currently have the 1.53 patch on it. I have a quad lnb with the TM driving the motor on USALS. I have a Skystar HD2 on my pc connected to the same telly as the TM from lnb2. The other 2 lnb's feed upstairs for a freesat box (plus one spare at the mo'). The dish mainly points at 28.2 for freesat and only gets moved to watch other things when available.

There is no problem with dish alignment.

In the last few weeks I have had a few problems on my TM with no audio/video signal. When in this state I can still select a satellite to move to and the box will drive the motor properly but will still get no picture wherever it is. If I go into any menu to do something else other than 'Go to Sat' then the software/box freezes and I have to physically turn it off and on again via back switch. With no signal the time setting is also lost.

I have messed about redoing the cable terminations and tightening up, etc and have got the picture back, it's been fine for maybe a week then the next time I have turned on the box - no signal again. One of the ways I got a working signal was to put a (basic) satellite meter between the box and the feed from lnb. For some strange reason this seemed to work when the direct connection didn't, although this also worked one day then not the next.

Another of the problems (when working) is particular transponders can be troublesome, while those around are OK. For example on 39E I get all the transponders I would expect no problems good picture, but there can be one in the middle of the range (where Diema/The Voice is) that breaks up a lot and is sometimes lost altogether. This particular transponder is fine on my Skystar, even though it may break up or be no signal on the TM.

Anyway I decided something could be up with the cable connection and decided yesterday I would replace the cable from the motor to the box. Now I cannot get a picture again. With the sat meter connected I can see that there is signal coming through but no Audio/Video. I tried the spare lnb to motor instead to rule out a fault on lnb1. Still no pic. I connected back to lnb1 and tried the freesat box from upstairs instead of the TM and got picture and sound fine (currently left on 28.2E for Freesat). The Skystar also works fine.

So in conclusion I feel I have ruled out dish alignment, motor and lnb faults. I feel my cable and it's terminations must be good (Freesat box worked). I can only the conclude the problem lies with the TM5400 itself.

My question is this:
1. Could it be a bad/loose connection of the F connector? Remember motor signals work but not the tuner part.
One time when screwing down the F Connector I did feel as if the female connection on the box might also have turned a bit - so to my mind my most probable cause of the problem could be the physical connection here.
2. Could the Tuner or some chip related to it have failed?
3. Could it purely be a software fault? (I think unlikely personally). I did one time reinstall the older patch to see if an update (147 to 149) caused the problem but this didn't seem to be the case.

I hope someone more experienced who has an idea of the typical ways in which sat boxes break down can point me in the right direction or reinforce what I suspect already. I am going to open up my box now there is more light and see if it could be something simple like tightening the female F connector or something. I have no electrical/technical knowledge - just will look for something physically obvious.

If it turns out the box is a goner I am considering getting the same box again. However there seems to be a new M2 version out now and I cannot see what changes have been made (this version is not even mentioned on the TM website that I can see). I have noticed there is a separate patch (154) for the M2 version so assume therefore the usual 5400 super patches are incompatible with the new M2 one.

Alternatively I might consider the TM5402, but as money is tight at the moment this is almost twice the cost of the 5400. The main emphasis for the box is to drive the motor as I can get HD from my Skystar. I tend to watch mainly Novasports and Diema when my team is on.

Thanks for reading all this anyone who has the patience and will check back later to see if anyone can help. So box opening time...

could be bulging capacitors or other faults causing trouble inside the box , so maybe it could be fixed but the cost of boxes like yours is so low its not worth fixing it unless you can do this yourself

I would just get another box , as cheap as possible if you only want it to drive the motor , so tm1500 or similar will do

ideally you should get a new HD box , like the tm5402 , spiderbox HD , or blade bm700s , or an openbox or the new eagle-HD box , to get more up to date ( the new eagle is less than ?100 )

a tm1500 or similar would be typically ?20 or so , as would the clarketech 1500 too ( similar box ) , but no usb so null modem cables for messing about with them

I would tend to have a sly dish with quad or octo lnb sat on 28e , and have the motorised system for diema , hotbird , thor and hispasat , not just rely on the one dish

[boragthung]

I can get pictures and sounds only with another (freesat) receiver on the same lnb1/cable connection. There is no audio/video at all with the TM5400. My sat card works fine on lnb2.

I have just opened it and could not see anything I could do inside. I reconnected it all back up and there is definitely some twist of the female F connector on the box as I screw down the male F from the cable. So I still think that something has disconnected inside there - although I can still drive the motor with the box to each satellite so the power and commands for that are getting through. It is the audio/video that is not working any more.

[boragthung]

could be bulging capacitors or other faults causing trouble inside the box , so maybe it could be fixed but the cost of boxes like yours is so low its not worth fixing it unless you can do this yourself

I would just get another box , as cheap as possible if you only want it to drive the motor , so tm1500 or similar will do......


Cheers for the input.

The reason for the one dish does all - apart from the fact that legally you are supposed to have a maximum of 2 aerials per house and I have the big dish and 2 terrestrial already - is normally I live alone but my brother and his fiance have been living with me for some time while they save for a house and will be moving out next year. So rather than get a dish just to provide Freesat for him upstairs I decided to motorise it so we had other options when wanted. I myself have cable downstairs and only rarely watch the satellite - mainly when there is a football game on or big boxing on FTA germany 19E (while the mugs pay 15 quid to S** to watch what is really german freesat). So a dish exclusive to freesat is not an option and not wanted or needed.

When he has his own house he will be wanting a motor system as well rather than one fixed dish.

I don't know anything about the Eagle you mention so will have to have a read, but I am used to the TM5400 and generally I think the TMs are good simple boxes so my preference is really to get another 5400 (and then patch) or possibly upgrade to the 5402. The problem at the moment is money. So maybe a cheaper model could be the best option now and then get a better one in January or February when I can afford it. Having said that the one I have now can still drive the motor to each sat when needed to watch via sat card rather than box, so short term I suppose I could just leave it till next year when the Christmas presents are paid for.

Any way thanks for your response. The fact that I can send diseqc to the motor but not receive pictures - does that make sense?

PS By the way, as I have my pc connected to my TV as well I have a null modem cable permanently connected to the TM as this is where I send the keys and all other updates and leave the usb connected to an ext hard disc. Have you noticed the extortionate costs of hard disks at the moment - what was ?50-60 is now all of a sudden ?190 + !!!!! Flooded Asia is the excuse I think.

[Nutsandbolts]

Hi. I take it you have checked the scart leads are in properly . Also do the radio channels work?? Also try to turn your CAS menu off (this will disable the patch ). If the motor is working fine then it is not a cable issue. Do you get any error messages on the receiver display.??

[boragthung]

Hi. I take it you have checked the scart leads are in properly . Also do the radio channels work?? Also try to turn your CAS menu off (this will disable the patch ). If the motor is working fine then it is not a cable issue. Do you get any error messages on the receiver display.??

Beware: The following post is quite long, annoying and monotonous :(. Sorry.

I have it connected by component. I do get a display. The only thing I cannot get is video and audio. I cannot get radio. Nothing tunes in. All I get is the red info display.

I can't really go into any menus because when I do that it freezes up after a few seconds requiring use of the switch at the back. All I can really do is select the satellite menu and move to a satellite which works fine - it just cannot tune into a channel. So I am really thinking there has been something broken down on the tuner side of things. As I mentioned in an earlier post when I screw down the connector and tighten it up, the input connector on the box does turn slightly - so maybe this is the problem it has become loosened. Either that or some chip for tuning is knackered.

The other alternative is could it really be buggy software causing it?

More detail of the hassles:

Original set up was 2 lnbs upstairs to a mounting box and 2 downstairs to a mounting box. I am downstairs with lnb1 to the TM and lnb2 to the sat card.

Everything was fine until about 2 months ago. Nothing had been touched or moved but when powering on the box one Sunday (was working the day before) there was no audio/video signal. Just blank. The Sat card was fine on the pc at the same time so it was not dish movement, etc. This first instance I tried undoing and reconnecting the cables. I recut and redone the connections to the mounting box and connecting cables. Made sure extending pin was long enough, etc.

It's hard to explain the hassle. I could connect a sat meter between box and incoming. Got picture. Tried without. No pic. Put meter back on , no pic. Messed about with and without the meter, tightening connections, switching off and on. Eventually got it working without meter attached. I was thinking at that time maybe there was some weak connection somewhere in the cable run, perhaps some connector not having a long enough protruding pin or similar. But it then worked all week.

Then the following weekend, tested the football channel cleared on Friday night - was OK. But Saturday morning blank screen again (and I don't mean channels not decrypting - I mean absolutely no A/V). This time I decided to replace the mounting box and put F connectors on the cables coming in and using couplers instead to attach the ones to the box and card.

I had the box on numerous times during the week and it worked perfectly, apart from the afore mentioned complete loss or picture break up on certain transponders in the middle of one I received perfectly (like the Diema one). Then all of a sudden one day I get the same problem again with another blank screen on turning the box on.

In the end it seemed to only work when I left the meter attached in between. Although I could trun it on and ranomly it would have stopped working then more messing about got it working again.

So yesterday I decided to completely replace the cable from motor to TM5400 so that it was one run, rather than one to the wall and one connected to that internally.This is the situation I am now in and cannot get any A/V. Testing this connection with a freesat box produces a perfect picture. My sat card on lnb2 still works fine. The upstairs ones are fine. So the dish is still aligned correctly, the lnb works, the cables and connections seem OK - it is just the TM that cannot get a channel.

There is not much more I can say - as you can see it's been a right pain the last few weeks.

If it a hardware problem I will have to (eventually) replace the box. The only possible rescue could be if it a software problem. I am not sure how to turn off the patch. What would the firmware revert to? I think I did see that option somewhere but cannot remember. I have though about going into the menu and doing the reset and reloading firmware via the null link, etc. The problem is a few clicks into any menu the box freezes and requires switching off and on again.

Not sure what I can really do...apart from bin it.

[thijs]

you turn off patch by going into the system info menu and press 2004 on your remote if you want it back again do the same
sounds like the tm is dying did you get it new?

[Nutsandbolts]

Hi. As thijs mentioned try to turn off the patch and see what happens. To do press MENU - enter pin number 0000- SYSTEM INFORMATION- Should give you details of current software and date etc. At the bottom you will see CAS and BISS options. Now on remote press 2004 and CASS and BISS options will disappear. This will take patch out. Now exit out of menu and see what happens. If all else fails you can try to restore the original firmware from TM site via null modem cable. I must admit i am puzzled because usually TM receivers are quite reliable. I have had a few of them over the years and hardly any problems. It could well be you have a corrupt patch. Regards.

[boragthung]

I knew I'd seen that 2004 bit before, just forgot. Thanks for bearing with me.

Removing the patch doesn't help. I tried to channel up (even though blank screen) and it froze again so had to switch off and on. I will back up the channels now to pc before proceeding.

If I install the latest official firmware over the top would this completely overwrite the current firmware or could there be remnants? Normally I just apply any updates via the null modem link and I don't do any reset. If I attempt a reset now I fear I will get a freeze up again which might cause more hassle than writing over the top.

[boragthung]

you turn off patch by going into the system info menu and press 2004 on your remote if you want it back again do the same
sounds like the tm is dying did you get it new?

This is what I suspect as I have been having random hassles for a few weeks. What other explanation could there be for it working fine one day and then losing a signal when nothing is ever moved or interfered with? Then getting it to work only for it to not work again all of a sudden.

I did buy it new from Satellite Superstore about 2.5 years ago (April 2009 -ish) along with the motor/dish, etc. I think I probably paid slightly over the odds but their website was very useful at the time for me to understand some of the set up requirements. Since then I have read a good bit more and it was only after I had bought it I discovered the patches for it to make it more useful. Their prices are still ?100 for this model but I can get the M2 for ?75 elsewhere.

[boragthung]

Well I've just tried the reset, load original firmware 116 add channels back in. Still no A/V. If I try to go into motor menu to set lat and long the software freezes up and have to switch off and on again. Have loaded the latest patch 153 back on and get exactly the same problems. Still freezes going into menus.

I can still select a sat and it moves to it. I can receive channels on my Skystar once moved to a sat with the box, so the motor positions are still OK. Leaving it on 28 and not messing with it any more. I think it's well and truly buggered. There is something obviously wrong. Maybe even memory has gone bad or something - who knows. I think I'll give up. Will get a new box some time and hope any future TM I get is more reliable than this one. I don't think 2.5 years is that long a life for a box even if it was a ?100 one.

[Nutsandbolts]

Hi. TM5400 SUPER PLUS are about 85 pounds new. I must admit i find it strange the after 2.5 years you get a problem with them. like i said i have installed many TM5400's over the last 6 years and not one problem reported. Have you tried to phone TM for their advice ( phone number 0208 884 0701). They will certainly be able to tell you what it is. I have seen this problem in other receivers mainly to do with corrupt memory. Have you tried to reload a different patch??. Regatrds.

[boragthung]

I tried the original 116 fw and then the latest 153 patch (re-downloaded) again. Even with the original fw I got freeze ups - when entering the motorised menu it would freeze up not allowing me to do anything. If it had suddenly started working with the original fw I could then maybe consider that the fault was software and put in different patches.

But I really think it must be some hardware problem, possibly associated with memory. Without repeating what I've said before I can logically associate the no/poor signal on Diema tx (while the other Tx around it worked) with a sign that tuner problems were creeping in. The was another Sat with a similar problem to this where an odd tx inside a range could not be got.

I don't think it is worth the hassle even trying to attempt to fix it now, with the costs of carriage, etc.

Anyway it's not exactly the end of the world ('til next year at least :)). I have had far more expensive 'toys' break down over the years and have pretty much decided I will get just get another 5400 (M2 version) in the black I prefer (mine is silver as black was not in stock when I bought that).

It would probably save me re-programming my Harmony remote as well :) and I can just load in my current channels on the new box so should be just plug and play as everything is all set up.

[boragthung]

Just a last addition to my strange box problems.

With the 153 still on, I diabled the patch and did a reset again losing my channels, sats, etc. In this way I couldn't access the motor menu because no sats had been 'saved'.

Going into the sat setup I could select a sat from the list. If I chose 28E everything would freeze up again. After switch off/on this time I chose an empty 0 sat setting. I could then actually save this, exit out and enter the motor menu to set my latitude and longitude.

I loaded back up my channel list giving me my list of sats and channels again. Made sure I could go back to 28E. No A/V again.

Then I connected the incoming cable to my little sat meter with a short cable to go from that to the box. Now believe it or not I got pictures again. I cannot see any problems or differences between the different cable terminations and extruding pin length is identical.

Reconnected the box directly again. No A/V. So put the meter back in between - worked again. Put it into standby and on again to check it would still work. Then switched it off at the back and on again to see if would still be working after that. But now there seems to be no power up at all, no front display. Changed the plug fuse just in case. But now seems completely dead.

So my final conclusion there must have been something wrong internally and now seems it might have been to do with power levels - maybe something gone awry causing fluctuations or not always powering something up?

So a new 5400 M2 is now on the shopping list which means I will have to put off some Christmas shopping 'til next month to allow me to afford it now.

Thanks to all you who offered some advice. Done and dusted with all this hassle now.

[dick b]

you could just try a longer pin length on the co-ax where it enters the box.

[boragthung]

you could just try a longer pin length on the co-ax where it enters the box.
I had tried that weeks ago when I recut and redone the cable connections. It just seemed it would stop working at random times on turning the box on.

Anyway got the new box delivered today and am setting it up. The other week when watching the football on BBC Scotland 28E I was getting a badly breaking up picture. With this new box I am getting nice strong signals again.

On 39E on the Diema/The Voice Tx - this was troublesome on the old box, sometimes no pic at all, other times pic break up with 60-70% ish quality. With the new box I am getting a strong 94% quality here.

The old box is now dead but it seems apparent the tuner circuitry or power provided to that part was on the wane and finally went.

[Manic01]

The signal strenght guide on all receivers is sketchy at best.
All tuners are calibrated different and show wildly different readings.
Some tuners will break up on 35% qualitya nd others on 60%.