Modded A850HD

[ASEK]

exactly someone is making money? they must be, that's the reason for the secrecy.

[Digicom]

All new models already have the Mod done so no one will gain anything from them.
Really seems like your more upset because the information wasnt given to you first!

I don't mind a recommendation, I would be very happy to be given the option and recommendation of having someone "official" to do the job for me/everyone but the fact that it's not being released is just creating a monopoly. Imagine "back in the day" if only official distributors could load firmware onto boxes and they were charging ?xx for the privilage. It's a very simple task that tutorial after tutorial was written for, when people struggled "we" helped. There were people making good money off of it, I was making some myself, but the option was always there to either have a go yourself or get someone experienced to do it.

There is no risk to working on a non-live PSU board. Yeah, you can get a little shock from the capacitor(s) but it's not going to hold anything in it to cause any damage. It'll be a fright and a "oh ya barsteward ye" moment, but that's it. The only real danger would be frying part of the board by contacting a charged component and a delicate component thus cooking it. Them's the risks though. I firmly believe anyone unsure WILL consult someone who knows what they are doing, and it's very fair that they charge for their time/expertise/work. That isn't my point, my point is that this should be shared information so that competent people can do the job themselves. Not sharing the information and keeping it to themselves creates a monopoly.

If people kill their boxes then on their own head be it, it'll be fairly obvious if they are having a go and don't manage it. As I said earlier, if they want to stick a fork in a power outlet then it's only time that is their enemy, not information on how to swap out a resistor.

However, I honestly don't know anyone who owns a soldering iron that can't use it. That's not to say there aren't people who need to own absolutely every bit of kit but have no idea how to use them.... I just don't know any such person.


Lets put it this way. There are millions upon millions of tutorials, guides, how-to's, circuit diagrams, etc, etc, etc. There are arc welding tutorials, fix your own washing machine/cooker tutorials. You name it, it exists. There are tutorials on seriously dangerous heavy duty applications/appliances where the risks really are great.... yet they exist? They aren't shrowded in secrecy behind

"We don't want you to hurt yourself, honestly"
"but I'm a full time electrician with 42 years experience... I just need the circuit diagram"
"Sorry, we don't want you to get electrocuted on a capacitor"

Think about it.

[cactikid]

i was so upset also as i never got the info either and would know what to do with it

[Hadron]

Provided the warnings about possible damage to you or your board are clearly made beforehand, I don't see why the information couldn't be made public.

People who don't have much knowledge about electronics would be put off & send their boxes off to be modified, while those who have electronics knowledge would go ahead & do the mod themselves.

It's only a matter of time before someone who has had the mod done lets us all know what has been changed.

Having said that, how does the mod affect the guarantee? If the box is less than a year old, modding it yourself would almost certainly invalidate the guarantee, but what about if you send it away to be modded? What happens if it's buggered up during the mod? What happens if you get it back, & a day later the PSU goes bang?

[lincsat]

I have boxes with the "new" board, looking at the PSU, the only difference I can see is 1 resistor (R6) is 10 ohm on the new board and 47 Kohm on the old board. In any case, when tested here, the "new" boxes perform exactly the same as the "old" boxes.

[ASEK]

perform the same u say? you mean they still glitch?

[Hadron]

I have boxes with the "new" board, looking at the PSU, the only difference I can see is 1 resistor (R6) is 10 ohm on the new board and 47 Kohm on the old board. In any case, when tested here, the "new" boxes perform exactly the same as the "old" boxes.

That's quite a big difference. I wonder if the original value was miscalculated?

[cactikid]

but there was no change in qam then when first checked,problems came when upgrading to qam 256.

[lincsat]

perform the same u say? you mean they still glitch?

Occasional glitch on a few of the SD channels, although not tested since the A750 got switched off, maybe the server is better now.

[Scotster]

All new models already have the Mod done so no one will gain anything from them.
Really seems like your more upset because the information wasnt given to you first!

First? I only asked about it a few days ago, incidentally when I first saw it advertised. It makes no odds if I personally get told, my point is it should be available for current owners to make an informed decision in order to do the modification, or get the modification done by someone, to improve their current system.

[Scotster]

I have boxes with the "new" board, looking at the PSU, the only difference I can see is 1 resistor (R6) is 10 ohm on the new board and 47 Kohm on the old board. In any case, when tested here, the "new" boxes perform exactly the same as the "old" boxes.

Sounds like that could well be the mod. If that is the case then that only backs up my point on people trying to profiteer. Certain individuals are keeping the information to themselves, not because it isn't safe to do but because it is so easy to do that anyone with a soldering iron and common sense could do it.

If the information was released officially then the money train would lose some passengers.

I'll switch out the resistor in my box and see what difference it makes.

[Scotster]

but there was no change in qam then when first checked,problems came when upgrading to qam 256.

Problems were mentioned and attenuator has been recommended for as long as I have known. When did the QAM256 changeover happen? I thought it was March?

[cactikid]

the tut i made was in late feb and the attenuator was added,as it was a temperary fix until box fault was found,it was and now fixed at source,older boxes needed the mod.

[Scotster]

I have boxes with the "new" board, looking at the PSU, the only difference I can see is 1 resistor (R6) is 10 ohm on the new board and 47 Kohm on the old board. In any case, when tested here, the "new" boxes perform exactly the same as the "old" boxes.

Have you maybe got them mixed up? I just had a look at mine and it has a 10ohm resistor in the R6 position (As in brown, black, black).

My power board is a 2011 one so I'm guessing it's not new.

Or do you mean the difference between the 750 and 850 boards?

[Scotster]

the tut i made was in late feb and the attenuator was added,as it was a temperary fix until box fault was found,it was and now fixed at source,older boxes needed the mod.

The point I was making is that I believe there was always a fault with the boards and that the change to 256 only made things worse. I don't think the switchover was the cause of the hassle, it was always there..... 256 just made things worse.