EX5000 PVR - Poor reception on certain frequencies

[premiump]

Hi there all, I'm hoping you can help me

I borrowed a friends EX5000 PVR the other day (I was thinking of buying one in the near future) and have spent a few days acquanting myself with it. Most channels are spot-on, but certain channels are terrible. My friend told me that it should be "all or nothing", and the box is fine at his house. We have both flashed it with the latest firmware (Dec 08), I'm in Teesside (VM on 6887).

I did some digging, and have found that any channel on a certain set of frequencies is affected. Out of the 34 frequencies it has stored, the following frequencies are unwatchable.

• 267.000
• 283.000
• 347.000
• 371.000
• 395.000
• 731.000
• 739.000

ALL other frequencies are over 80% signal/quality, the above frequencies are all under 20%. Is there a guide somewhere to manually tune these frequencies? I fiddled with it last night, and know how to manually change a frequency, but I don't know how much I need to change it, or indeed, if it will make any difference at all???

I have a cheap signal booster which I also tried last night with little success. I don't think its my cable or my splitter, most of the channels are spot-on.

So I'm a bit stumped, as I think I have tried just about everything I can think of ... and all of this so my partner can bloody watch Most Haunted on Living (Living IS on one of the poor frequencies too, yet Living+1 is fine, typical).

Also been reading on here about channels going one-by-one in Ireland, due to a higher encryption starting to get used. Will this happen in the UK eventually, and therefore, is it worth me buying a box at this moment in time?

Sorry for the long post, thanks for any help given.

Pete

[gmb45]

Hi there all, I'm hoping you can help me

I borrowed a friends EX5000 PVR the other day (I was thinking of buying one in the near future) and have spent a few days acquanting myself with it. Most channels are spot-on, but certain channels are terrible. My friend told me that it should be "all or nothing", and the box is fine at his house. We have both flashed it with the latest firmware (Dec 08), I'm in Teesside (VM on 6887).

I did some digging, and have found that any channel on a certain set of frequencies is affected. Out of the 34 frequencies it has stored, the following frequencies are unwatchable.

• 267.000
• 283.000
• 347.000
• 371.000
• 395.000
• 731.000
• 739.000

ALL other frequencies are over 80% signal/quality, the above frequencies are all under 20%. Is there a guide somewhere to manually tune these frequencies? I fiddled with it last night, and know how to manually change a frequency, but I don't know how much I need to change it, or indeed, if it will make any difference at all???

I have a cheap signal booster which I also tried last night with little success. I don't think its my cable or my splitter, most of the channels are spot-on.

So I'm a bit stumped, as I think I have tried just about everything I can think of ... and all of this so my partner can bloody watch Most Haunted on Living (Living IS on one of the poor frequencies too, yet Living+1 is fine, typical).

Also been reading on here about channels going one-by-one in Ireland, due to a higher encryption starting to get used. Will this happen in the UK eventually, and therefore, is it worth me buying a box at this moment in time?

Sorry for the long post, thanks for any help given.

Pete

could be the splitter m8 someone had the same prob took the splitter out and it was sound try a direct cable feed, nag 3 is being introduced in ireland and they are losing channels, as for england it will be a while yet, nobody knows for sure, as for buying a new box the newer boxes will have more chance of a fix when and if 1 comes along.

[premiump]

could be the splitter m8 someone had the same prob took the splitter out and it was sound try a direct cable feed, nag 3 is being introduced in ireland and they are losing channels, as for england it will be a while yet, nobody knows for sure, as for buying a new box the newer boxes will have more chance of a fix when and if 1 comes along.

Thanks for the quick reply gmb45, I'll certainly try a direct feed this afternoon when I get home. My current splitter is a 4-way from B&Q (Tower I think), which I bought last week. I'm struggling to understand how the splitter could be at fault when all the other frequencies are fine?

If it is the splitter, where do I go from here? Recommendation for a proven splitter?

Can I try manually tuning a frequency, or is this just a dead-end?

[gmb45]

Thanks for the quick reply gmb45, I'll certainly try a direct feed this afternoon when I get home. My current splitter is a 4-way from B&Q (Tower I think), which I bought last week. I'm struggling to understand how the splitter could be at fault when all the other frequencies are fine?

If it is the splitter, where do I go from here? Recommendation for a proven splitter?

Can I try manually tuning a frequency, or is this just a dead-end?

maplins m8 bit dearer but good, u could try manual scan m8 ask some one for the missing channel frequencies and try it, if the box is sound at your mates house it sounds like a signal issue to me, let us know how u get on, some of the other members might have ideas to, so keep checking your post, if you cant sort it post another thread stasting what u have done
and we will take it from there m8

[premiump]

maplins m8 bit dearer but good, u could try manual scan m8 ask some one for the missing channel frequencies and try it, if the box is sound at your mates house it sounds like a signal issue to me, let us know how u get on, some of the other members might have ideas to, so keep checking your post, if you cant sort it post another thread stasting what u have done
and we will take it from there m8

Right, there is a Maplin on the way home, I'll pick one up. 2 things to try this afternoon then, direct feed and new splitter. I'll report back later on how I get on. Thanks.

EDIT: Maplin splitter - will give this a whirl.

[satsmo]

I have updated the firmware links with the latest firmware. You may want to give that a try also as it now has a booster option in config.

[premiump]

I have updated the firmware links with the latest firmware. You may want to give that a try also as it now has a booster option in config.

Thanks Satsmo, I read last night that there was a newer firmware but that nobody had tested it, which is why there was no link. I have to try this first before I buy another splitter.

[satsmo]

I tested it and it appears to be fine, however I do not have a signal problem so couldnt test the booster option.

[premiump]

I have now had a chance to update the firmware to the newest available and I'm quite pleased with the result. I did try it with a direct feed, and the signal was 95%+ on some frequencies! In the real world though, I need to split it for my broadband, so had to add the Maplin 2-way splitter(taking the B&Q 4-way splitter out of the equation).

On the stronger frequencies, I'm now getting 90%+ with the booster enabled (BBC1, BBC2, ITV2, etc). S*y channels seem to be 88%+ so I'm happy with that too.

I'm still getting pixelation on some channels though. Living, for example, has a signal strength of 85% (level and quality), but it is unwatchable (its on frequency 643.000). Bravo, British Eurosport and Challenge are on 643 too, and are the same

Why would this frequency give me such trouble?

UPDATE: I have gone through the channels to see exactly which ones are giving me problems, here are the results:

Anything on 395 is scrambled, this includes Virgin 1
355, 371 and 627 say Code bieng updated
Anything on 555 is unwatchable
Anything on 643 is unwatchable

Total channels about 30 odd. Most I'm not even bothered about, but imagine explaining to my fiance that she has a choice of 270+ channels but not actually the none she wants, which is Living. LOL

[premiump]

*BUMP*

Can anybody please explain why these certain frequencies are unwatchable and what I can do to put it right?

thx

[satsmo]

Was it OK in your friend's house? You signal looks too high on certain TPs.

[premiump]

Was it OK in your friend's house? You signal looks too high on certain TPs.

He says it was fine, though he does live about 8 miles from me.

If I manually change the frequency on 643.000, will it make any difference at all?

Thx

[chrisully]

I tested it and it appears to be fine, however I do not have a signal problem so couldnt test the booster option.

hi where can i download the new firmware mine is dated 16 jan

[satsmo]

Yes you could try adding to each TP in 250Mhz steps. If that doesnt help go the opposite way and take 250Mhz away.

But I dont think that is your problem. It looks like a signal issue, and this can be caused by numerous things, i.e. bad splitter or isiolator, cabling, RF connections, cab position, etc.

Did you so a factory reset before rescanning? It will wipe all your channels but at least you are starting afresh. You said your friend is a few miles away, was he on the same provider. I do not mean VM, but ex areas, i.e. NTL, TW, or C&W?

After that you may need to try a variable attenuator to see if you can manually attenuate the signal.

[premiump]

Yes you could try adding to each TP in 250Mhz steps. If that doesnt help go the opposite way and take 250Mhz away.

But I dont think that is your problem. It looks like a signal issue, and this can be caused by numerous things, i.e. bad splitter or isiolator, cabling, RF connections, cab position, etc.

Did you so a factory reset before rescanning? It will wipe all your channels but at least you are starting afresh. You said your friend is a few miles away, was he on the same provider. I do not mean VM, but ex areas, i.e. NTL, TW, or C&W?

After that you may need to try a variable attenuator to see if you can manually attenuate the signal.

Thanks for the help (and patience)

I have already swapped the splitter, and if it was RF connections or cabling, then surely I would see the issue right across my channels? My mate is on old NTL, just like me.

With the newest firmware now on the box and the booster set to ON, I have the most channels working than ever before ... but still not Living on 643.000

I think I'm at the point where its going to be as good as I can get. I'm not prepared to spend any more money on it. Thanks for all the help.

Pete