Modded A850HD

[Scotster]

I read about a modded 850 that had been adapted so that no attenuator was required in the UK.

Is this a legitimate modification or is it a load of sales tripe?

Cheers

[faflefevre]

its an official modification and yes after its been done theres no need for an attenuator

[Scotster]

its an official modification and yes after its been done theres no need for an attenuator

Seems a bit clouded in secrecy. Is there any information on how to do the mod? I could really be doing with it as my signal is up and down like a yoyo.

[flyin]

My impression is that this only and repeat only resolves the attenuator issues and no other of the a850 issues so until there's a mod to resolve those other issues I find it rather pointless to waste time and money when an attenuator will do the job.

[Digicom]

You want a Mod for what other issues?
There was only 1 issue that required a Mod nothing else!!!!!

My impression is that this only and repeat only resolves the attenuator issues and no other of the a850 issues so until there's a mod to resolve those other issues I find it rather pointless to waste time and money when an attenuator will do the job.

[cactikid]

was there not missing or not viewable sly channels with an attenuator and when the mod was done channels were viewable.it also relies on how good a setup you have?

[Scotster]

If the mod ditches the need of an attenuator altogether then it's definitely worthwhile. It's a PITA having to adjust the attenuation for one set of channels only to have to readjust it for the next set.

I removed my attenuator AGES ago and have just lived with the bit of glitching I get as my signal is pretty good. If this mod sorted out the glitching then I would be over the moon.

However, I'm yet to find anything on how to carry out this mod. Is it being kept secret in order to make more money?

[ASEK]

Is it being kept secret in order to make more money?

yeah looks like it

[Scotster]

yeah looks like it

If that's the case that's really taking the piss IMO.

[cactikid]

kryptview are not doing the fix,other electronic repair shops are so they charge,it is been kept a secret as no one wants to hear someone got killed attempting a repair,its like car breaking down do you meddle or bring it to a garage?

[Scotster]

kryptview are not doing the fix,other electronic repair shops are so they charge,it is been kept a secret as no one wants to hear someone got killed attempting a repair,its like car breaking down do you meddle or bring it to a garage?

That's a load of bull for a start. The information isn't being passed on in order to create a monopoly.

Anyone stupid enough to work on these boxes while connected to the power suffers from darwinism. Anyone clueless to what they are doing may get a static shock (less than touching an electric fence) or they may blow their box but that's where common sense, competence and confidence comes into play.

I have made many informed decisions over the years, if my car breaks down I look to see if I can find what's wrong with it (9 times out of 10 I can) and either fix it or take it to a competent mechanic to be fixed.

I'm a calibration engineer with electrical and electronics background and learning. I know how to handle a soldering iron and chances are I'm more competent than the people selling on this 50p 20 minute resistor mod for ?20.

There are people who won't be confident doing this mod, there will always be customers looking to have this work done. I used to be the only person local who would only take ?5 to update the old d-boxes when everyone else was charging silly money. My reason? I didn't want people taking the piss so I charged a small fee, all information to do the job I was doing was freely available to them, they had an informed decision to make. Some tried and succeeded, some tried and failed and some just came to me safe in the knowledge that the job was being done safely and correctly.

If you really believe what you just wrote there and you don't think people are profiteering then we operate on different planes of existence.

[ASEK]

fantastic reply scotster and brutally honest

[cactikid]

they are supplying a service to do a job,if i bring a broken radio to you for a fix are you going to do it for free? think we should have you doing the repairs also as you are competent
i cant argue with internals of box as i dont have a clue and would pass it on to someone who works on circuits but some posts stated live discharge and you know yourself anybody might have a gamble in trying to repair it

[TheCoder]

There was a post on some forum about the mod. Apparently it very simple, just modfying slightly the order of the components in the tuner power supply filter.

However, the mods are on the psu board, which can hold significant charge even after the box is unplugged. This does pose a risk to the unwary/untrained. Whilst i'm sure many can safely do this mod for themselves I can definately see why the recommendation is for it to be done professionally.

[Scotster]

There was a post on some forum about the mod. Apparently it very simple, just modfying slightly the order of the components in the tuner power supply filter.

However, the mods are on the psu board, which can hold significant charge even after the box is unplugged. This does pose a risk to the unwary/untrained. Whilst i'm sure many can safely do this mod for themselves I can definately see why the recommendation is for it to be done professionally.

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.