T4 Complete Tuner Failure / Repair or Replace

[ample]

Hello

It seems that my trusty T4 has now given up the proverbial ghost.

For some months it was exhibiting picture breakup on some recordings. From previous discussions in this forum I believe that this may have been due to problems with the heat sinking on voltage regulators feeding one or more of the tuners (degradation of the heat sink compound?). The problem seemed to get better (or maybe I wasn't making so many recordings on multiple tuners simultaneously) so I didn't do anything about it - I didn't have the time to fix it myself and I was put off by there not seeming to be a Beyonwiz repairer in Melbourne.

Now the machine doesn't record at all - and also doesn't work as an HDMI output tuner for display on the TV. For lack of anything else to try, I did a USB-stick-based firmware update (to V19.3, I believe) and was careful not to restore the previous settings. The machine did a set up search for TV stations but the scan did not find any. This was with the TV antenna plugged into the Tuner A input. I suppose I could try it with the antenna connected to B, C and D , tuner by tuner, in case the RF passthrough from one tuner to the next isn't working. If the power to a particular tuner has failed, does that mean it wouldn't pass through power or RF signal) to the downstream tuners?

Q1. Is this an expected outcome when there has apparently been a problem with power to at least some of the tuners (i.e. those voltage regulators continue to run too hot and eventually fail altogether)?

Q2. Is this worth repairing, and is there a BWrepair shop in Melb that I'm not aware of? (If not, where are the others - Sydney, perhaps?)

Q3. If replacement is the better option, which machine should I look for? (I think I'd prefer a BW machine, but would be open to looking at others.) I like having four tuners, and it would be good if the (nearly full) 2TB internal HDD could be transferred across to a new bare-bones machine. I'd also like to be able to transfer video content files off the internal HDD to drives attached to a networked Win 10 PC (internal HDD and several external USB hard drives - yet to be set up). I don't really want to splurge on a new NAS or file server when I have this spare HP Win 10 workstation I can press into service

Many thanks
Paul
St Kilda

[prl]

This was with the TV antenna plugged into the Tuner A input. I suppose I could try it with the antenna connected to B, C and D , tuner by tuner, in case the RF passthrough from one tuner to the next isn't working. If the power to a particular tuner has failed, does that mean it wouldn't pass through power or RF signal) to the downstream tuners?

Q1. Is this an expected outcome when there has apparently been a problem with power to at least some of the tuners (i.e. those voltage regulators continue to run too hot and eventually fail altogether)?

It may be worth seeing whether the problem affects the C/D tuners. Because you've re-scanned and failed, you won't have any setup for receiving TV. You can fix that by restoring settings from backup.

Then you can try reception on tuner C by setting MENU>Setup>Tuners>Tuner allocation>Preferred tuner to Tuner C. Save the change, exit back to live TV and change channel to one from a different broadcaster. If you now start to see live TV, then Tuner C is OK. You can re-try with Tuner D if you like.

The problems with the tuner voltage regulators can cause a variety of problems, from one pair of tuners failing (A/B or C/D) right through to the T4 not being able to boot at all. Pass-through might or might not be affected if the regulators for a tuner pair fail.

Q2. Is this worth repairing, and is there a BWrepair shop in Melb that I'm not aware of? (If not, where are the others - Sydney, perhaps?)

The breakdown of the thermal cement attaching the regulators to their heatsinks releases compounds that corrode the tracks on the PVR's mainboard. If the problem is repaired quickly, the risk of damaging the board beyond repair is reduced. The only specialist Beyonwiz repairer that I know of is Nasa Electronics in Sydney (https://www.nasaelectronics.com.au/). Warkus (Mark), the forum member who used to do excellent Beyonwiz repairs (he repaired our T4 after this problem had rendered it un-bootable) no longer does PVR repairs.

Q3. If replacement is the better option, which machine should I look for? (I think I'd prefer a BW machine, but would be open to looking at others.) I like having four tuners, and it would be good if the (nearly full) 2TB internal HDD could be transferred across to a new bare-bones machine. I'd also like to be able to transfer video content files off the internal HDD to drives attached to a networked Win 10 PC (internal HDD and several external USB hard drives - yet to be set up). I don't really want to splurge on a new NAS or file server when I have this spare HP Win 10 workstation I can press into service

Beyonwiz no longer have any models in stock and are not accepting back orders. Nasa Electronics occasionally has refurbished Beyonwiz models for sale, but your choice will be limited. They currently have some Topfields on sale, but no Beyonwizes.

Of the other Beyonwiz models, the T3 and U4 have 3 built-in tuners and can be expanded to 4 tuners using USB tuners. The T2 has 2 built-in tuners and can be expanded to 3 tuners with a USB tuner. The U4 has 3 built-in tuners and can be expanded to 4 tuners using a USB tuner. The V2 has 3 built-in tuners and can be expanded to 4 tuners with USB tuners.

If the T4's HDMI input is important to you, the only other model that has a HDMI input is the U4.

Only the T3 and T4 have enough space inside to accommodate a 3.5" (desktop-sized) HDD. The T2 and U4 can accommodate a 2.5" (laptop-sized) HDD internally. The V2 can't take an internal HDD.

To use the same disk that you have on the T4 in any model other than a T3 or T4, you'll need to put it into a powered USB enclosure. The U4 and V2 each have one USB3 port. The other models only have USB2 ports, but that is more than adequate for PVR use.

[MrQuade]

Of the other Beyonwiz models, the T3 and U4 have 3 built-in tuners and can be expanded to 4 tuners using USB tuners. The T2 has 2 built-in tuners and can be expanded to 3 tuners with a USB tuner. The U4 has 3 built-in tuners and can be expanded to 4 tuners using a USB tuner. The V2 has 3 built-in tuners and can be expanded to 4 tuners with USB tuners.

Just a small addition to this. Both the U4 and V2 can handle up to 5 tuners with USB addons.
(6 is right out!!)

[IanL-S]

Just a small addition to this. Both the U4 and V2 can handle up to 5 tuners with USB addons.
(6 is right out!!)

V2 definitely only supports 5 tuners; the U4 can support 7 tuners, but it tends to drop tuners in excess of 5; for a while my U4 had 2 Sony PlayTV dual tuners attached, but keeps on dropping one.

In terms of repairs, I would only trust Nasa. The only ones with real expertise in repairing Beyonwiz and Topfiled PVRs are Nasa and Warkus, and only Nasa continues to do repairs.

The future for PVR lovers is bleak; those remaining on the market are nowhere near as good as the Beyoniz, or Topfield for that matter. The only glimmer of hope is that IceTV are working on NUC pc base PVR that uses Enigma2 like the recent Beyonwiz; the price likely to be relatively high and you may be locked into using IceTV which may put may potential buyers off. All going well it will be available before the end of 2022. Beta testing is due to start shortly.

Ian

[MrQuade]

V2 definitely only supports 5 tuners; the U4 can support 7 tuners, but it tends to drop tuners in excess of 5; for a while my U4 had 2 Sony PlayTV dual tuners attached, but keeps on dropping one.

When I say supports, I mean it works with 5 tuners. I know it will detect more than 5, but operation of any more than 5 will eventually fail and be unreliable. Hence unsupported.

[gawaterman]

Got a similar problem. Last week I bought a T4 off Facebook/Marketplace, but when I received it, it was faulty. When I go into the Menu/Tuners/Tuner Tunerconfiguration it only shows Tuners A&B and C&D are missing.
I know of this problem as I have already had it on my existing T4 and had it fixed by NASA and its been working great, but I can’t remember if when that was faulty if both those tuners didn’t show up or showed up but still didn’t work.
So my question is if the tuners don’t even show up in the menu will sending it to NASA and replacing the heatsinks fix it or will the tuners need replacing and if so can NASA do that to?
Bit of extra info:The TV signal will pass thru to the o/p of tuner B, but not to the o/p of C or D

[peteru]

It's the same problem. It manifests itself in many variations. Completely AWOL pair of tuners means complete regulator failure. It's certainly worth attempting to repair it.

[gawaterman]

Sent to NASA today

[gawaterman]

Got back on Friday and working perfectly, can highly recommend NASA.