Reception problems - info only

jackmarshall · Post by **jackmarshall** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 22:58

The Idea of this thread is to aid the BW team in addressing concerns over the relative performance of the BW tuner.

Please only post here if you have reception problems with the Beyonwiz which you do not experience with other Digital tuners on the same aerial piont. please provide the following information for the BW team

Location

Channel / frequency(Mhz) / Quality

No need to spcify UHF/VHF you can tell by the frequency
30-300Mhz = VHF
300mhz - 3Ghz = UHF

Other notes as you believe are helpful.

Please post general comments on any of the other threads which deal with this topic, please do not whinge here, but feel free to do so elsewhere.

jackmarshall · Post by **jackmarshall** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 23:06

Ballarat, Victoria

Win(9) / 592.5 Mhz / Usually perfect, some small breakups, rare 'No Signal'
Ten / 613.5 / Constant small breakups, regular 'No Signal'
ABC / 620.5 Mhz / Always perfect
SBS / 634.5 Mhz / Always perfect
Prime (7) / 655.5 / Always perfect

Notes:
10 has never been perfect on most tuners but the BW has performed much worse than other tuners. A "strong" brand tuner was able to perform perfectly.
The problem has been replicated in two locations in Ballarat, in the second location (The good Guys (shop)) the Beyonwiz is the only tuner, of all the models they stock, which does not obtain perfect reception.

j s · Post by **j s** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 00:00

Sydney, NSW (receiving from Bouddi, Central Coast

Nine / 767500/
Ten / 788625 / The worst - very unreliable
ABC / 592500 / (Note: SFN with rest of Central Coast / Newcastle)
SBS / 571500 / The best - (Note: SFN with Gore Hill)
Seven / 760500 / Better than Ten

Because it's so bad in general I am still using the Toppy to watch and record.

Reception is/was stable and mostly excellent on two Toppies, a DigiCrystal PVR, a DSE HD STB, a Thomson STB and five different Tuner cards

grunta · Post by **grunta** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 12:55

Selby UHF transmitter Melbourne
Topfield --------- Beyonwiz
ABC 662.500
ABC 226.500 ---- 226.5

SBS 683.500---- both
SBS 634.500

7 620.500
7 177.500---- 177.5

9 641.500
9 191.625 ---- 191.6

10 711.500 ---- both
10 219.500

I have a powered kingray 4 way masthead splitter with 3 cables off it, with a 91 element aerial
the low freq ones on the beyonwiz perform better than the toppy - but still pixilate off and on occasionally
I scanned the beyonwiz with and without the toppy connected, after last firmware upgrade (sept) I got a couple of Win channels, but with no signal

using infodisplay tap on the toppy I'm in the 95 - 100% for both signal and quality and stable, most are at 100%

I'd prefer not to have to get a VHF aerial ..... as I get very big winds and bloody cockies that love to jump about on the longer elements having a see saw, little sh^ts line up and watch each other and have turns showing off
- Is a whinge about the cockies ok ?

EDIT
A manual scan of individual channels has fixed the problem ..... higher freq. available for all channels
So I'm good to go now

So the problem appears to be in the scanning

greypeter · Post by **greypeter** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 19:47

Gympie Qld
Gympie Town Transmitter

WIN68 809.5Mhz - Always has Black Bars on Top and Bottom and picture is squashed.

Other than this reception is perfect on all channels.

Post by **Wiz Support** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 00:42

Nobody else?

I assume by the silence that everyone else has perfect reception on every channel with no issues????

brianh · Post by **brianh** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 08:10

Haven't checked with a comparison yet, been waiting for the Ten 1/10 switch to retune & test....

Crawf · Post by **Crawf** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 23:52

Brisbane (Kangaroo Point)

ABC 226.5 Poor reception worst of all channels freezes regularly, lost signal and corrupted recordings.

SBS 585.6 Excellent reception - no issues

Seven 177.5 Good reception - occasional glitch but no lockup or lost signal

Nine 191.6 Marginal reception, regular freeze, and lost signal + corrupted recordings

Ten 219.5 Good reception - occasional glitch but no lockup or lost signal

DaveR · Post by **DaveR** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 00:16

Crawf wrote:Brisbane (Kangaroo Point)

Is this a regional area?

Crawf wrote:ABC 226.5 Poor reception worst of all channels freezes regularly, lost signal and corrupted recordings.

Do you mean all 'ABC' channels?

DO you have other digital tuners? TV or other STB/PVR? Do they behave the same?

Crawf · Post by **Crawf** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 00:46

Dave,

I also have Media Centre with excellent reception on all channels..... following is a log from ScanChannelsBDA run on my MCE PC to show the reception on all channels is excellent:

-----------------------
ScanChannelsBDA-UK starting
Build - v2.4.5.1
Checking for new BDA DVB-T Cards
Tuner - AVerMedia BDA DVBT Tuner
@device:pnp:\\?\pci#ven_1131&dev_7133&subsys_2c051461&rev_d1#4&169c35e&0&3090#{71985f48-1ca1-11d3-9cc8-00c04f7971e0}\{3ff44ee5-8547-402a-94f3-d447f4d7c400}
Finding Demod and Capture filters
Trying - AVerMedia BDA Digital Capture
@device:pnp:\\?\pci#ven_1131&dev_7133&subsys_2c051461&rev_d1#4&169c35e&0&3090#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{5bb3dbd0-9e1e-424c-9281-6b5e7109f100}
SUCCESS
Checking for Capture filter
Trying - BDA Slip De-Framer
@device:pnp:\\?\root#system#0000#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{03884cb6-e89a-4deb-b69e-8dc621686e6a}&global
Trying - BDA MPE Filter
@device:pnp:\\?\root#system#0000#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{8e60217d-a2ee-47f8-b0c5-0f44c55f66dc}&global
Finished Finding Demod and Capture filters
Capture - AVerMedia BDA Digital Capture
@device:pnp:\\?\pci#ven_1131&dev_7133&subsys_2c051461&rev_d1#4&169c35e&0&3090#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{5bb3dbd0-9e1e-424c-9281-6b5e7109f100}
Finished Checking for new BDA DVB-T Cards
Found BDA device: AVerMedia BDA DVBT Tuner
# signal locked = N present = N strength = 90 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = Y strength = 89 quality = 0
# signal locked = Y present = Y strength = 87 quality = 100

============================================================================

Frequency (Scanned) = 177500kHz
Frequency (Actual) = 177500kHz

Transmitter Name = Seven Network

Channel Name LCN SID Vid Aud PMT
-------------------------------------------------------------------
7 Digital , 7, 1344, 1025, 1026, 1024 # Teletext=1028
7 Digital 1 , 71, 1345, 1025, 1026, 1040 # Teletext=1028
7 Digital 2 , 72, 1346, 1025, 1026, 1056 # Teletext=1028
7 Digital 3 , 73, 1347, 1025, 1026, 1072 # Teletext=1028
7 HD Digital , 70, 1348, 1089, A1091, 1088 # Teletext=1028
7 Guide , 77, 1350, 1121, 1122, 1120 #

# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 87 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 87 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 87 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 87 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 87 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 87 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 90 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 90 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 87 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 90 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 89 Quality = 100%

# Average quality on 177500kHz = 100%

============================================================================

Frequency (Scanned) = 191500kHz
Frequency (Actual) = 191625kHz

Transmitter Name = Nine Network Australia

Channel Name LCN SID Vid Aud PMT
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Nine Digital , 9, 1025, 513, 660, 257 # Teletext=577
Nine Digital AC3 , , 1025, 513, A661, 257 #
Nine Guide , 99, 1030, 517, 700, 256 # Teletext=577
Nine High Definition, 90, 1152, 512, A651, 258 # Teletext=576

# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%

# Average quality on 191500kHz = 100%

============================================================================

Frequency (Scanned) = 219500kHz
Frequency (Actual) = 219500kHz

Transmitter Name = Network TEN
#Alternate frequencies
#Network_3("Network TEN", 669500, 7, 1)
#Network_3("Network TEN", 725500, 7, 1)
#Network_3("Network TEN", 725625, 7, 1)

Channel Name LCN SID Vid Aud PMT
-------------------------------------------------------------------
TEN Digital , 1, 1601, 512, 650, 257 # Teletext=576
TEN Digital AC3 , , 1601, 512, A651, 257 #
TEN Digital , 10, 1605, 512, 650, 256 # Teletext=576
TEN Digital AC3 , , 1605, 512, A651, 256 #
TEN Guide , 11, 1607, 513, 660, 262 #
TEN HD , 12, 1608, 514, A672, 263 # Teletext=577
TEN Guide , 100, 1609, 513, 660, 264 #

# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%

# Average quality on 219500kHz = 100%

============================================================================

Frequency (Scanned) = 226500kHz
Frequency (Actual) = 226500kHz

Transmitter Name = ABC Brisbane

Channel Name LCN SID Vid Aud PMT
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ABC HDTV , 20, 576, 2314, A2315, 258 # Teletext=2316
ABC TV Brisbane , 2, 577, 512, 650, 256 # Teletext=576
ABC TV Brisbane AC3 , , 577, 512, A660, 256 #
ABC2 , 21, 578, 2307, 2308, 257 # Teletext=2310
ABC TV , 22, 579, 512, 650, 259 # Teletext=576
ABC DiG Radio , 200, 582, 0, 2317, 260 #
ABC DiG Jazz , 201, 583, 0, 2318, 261 #

# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 97 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 97 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 97 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 97 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 99 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 97 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 98 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 97 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%

# Average quality on 226500kHz = 100%

============================================================================

============================================================================

Frequency (Scanned) = 585500kHz
Frequency (Actual) = 585625kHz

Transmitter Name = SBS NETWORK

Channel Name LCN SID Vid Aud PMT
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SBS HD , 30, 816, 102, 103, 1024 # Teletext=41
SBS , 3, 817, 161, 81, 1025 # Teletext=41
SBS NEWS , 33, 818, 162, 83, 1026 #
SBS 2 , 31, 819, 161, 81, 1032 # Teletext=41
SBS RADIO 1 , 38, 830, 0, 201, 1027 #
SBS RADIO 2 , 39, 831, 0, 202, 1028 #

# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%
# Locked = Y Present = Y Strength = 100 Quality = 100%

# Average quality on 585500kHz = 100%

============================================================================

Crawf · Post by **Crawf** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 00:47

Dave,

Missed part of your response... "is it a regional area"

No... Kangaroo Point is effectively Brisbane CBD - around 550 meters east of the GPO

grunta · Post by **grunta** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:35

update: still minor glitches only now and then

with no problems with the toppy

Crawf · Post by **Crawf** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 19:30

We must be just the "unlucky few" with BW tuner problems then....

jackmarshall · Post by **jackmarshall** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 17:21

Crawf wrote:We must be just the "unlucky few" with BW tuner problems then....

If there are only three of us then do we have faulty units? I have had mine in for repair and sent back? Anyone tried an actual replacement? I know Madelaide had some success that way?

Vortical · Post by **Vortical** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 19:39

There are a few people with glitchy playback that don't think it's reception issues that are causing the glitches.

I can record the same program on an S1, H1 & a Toppy 7000

While a recording on the S1 can have pixellation, slight picture pauses and audio dropout the same show on the H1 and 7000 have no such problems at the same point in the recording but can occur in different points on the H1 only.

And likewise when a H1 has the same problems for a recording the S1 and 7000 have no such problems for the same recording at the same point in the recording but can occur in different points on the S1 only.

The 7000 never has pixellation, screen pauses or audio dropouts on any of the recordings.

So perhaps people are hesitant to label it as a reception bug/problem.
But we shouldn't rule it out.

DaveR · Post by **DaveR** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 20:27

Beyonwiz are keen to come out here to fix any 'location related' tuner problems. But they aren't going to come all the way here just for 'individual people's antenna problems'.

So far all I'm 'seeing' is the fact that the tuners in beyonwiz may be a bit weaker than a lot of other DVBt device's tuners.

The area specific info I did have mostly turned out to be antenna related whenever I followed up on it.

The only real problem seems to be the Win HD letterbox issue. And Nine/Prime's SeaWatch.

craigh · Post by **craigh** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 21:19

As Vortica said I think the issues of pixellation, slight picture pauses and audio dropout that are often thought to be reception issues may more likely be an issue with the BW handling the stream once it has been received.

If you look at a recording that overlapped other recordings you will often see the pixellation, slight picture pauses and audio dropouts at the same time other activities kick off. (more often with HD streams)

So as an extension of that example it may be that at other times the BW becomes overstreched and results in some stream corruption.

Outside of this I have found the reception very good.

Vortical · Post by **Vortical** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 00:19

To be honest I don't think it's very acceptable for one of the most expensive pvr's on the market to have weak tuners.

I certainly hope that the BW doesn't have 'weak tuners', and I don't believe that it does.

I've also never seen a loss of signal and also spent quite a bit of money to ensure my reception was as good as it can be.

I used a dtvforums recommended Antenna Installer that came recommended by a few dtvforum users.

He changed my antenna, recabled all my tv cables to quad shielded cable and upgraded all my tv connector wall plates. And all the pvrs are connected to these wall plates via quad shielded cables as well. He ensured there was a good seal between the antenna connection plate and the roof sheeting.

He was very friendly, punctual and professional and he checked every single tv and tv wall plate connection both before and after the installation.

At the end he'd made a massive difference to analog reception as well as the digital.

My reception has been perfect for a few years now.

DaveR · Post by **DaveR** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 01:30

craigh wrote:As Vortica said I think the issues of pixellation, slight picture pauses and audio dropout that are often thought to be reception issues may more likely be an issue with the BW handling the stream once it has been received.

You could very well be right there. A chipset / middleware / firmware issue after the signal is received.

Scenario A (problems)
> Signal Strength ok
> Reception ok
> Tuners ok
> Processing of unusual HD or UHF Signal ???
> Recorded or Displayed stream sometimes results in glitches

Scenario B (all ok)
> Signal Strength ok
> Reception ok
> Tuners ok
> Processing of normal or VHF Signal ok
> Recorded & Displayed stream ok

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:17

Haven't we already determined the Wiz doesn't do the +/- 125kHz offset that some broadcasters use? This would explain the "weak tuner", because it isn't tuned to the correct frequency. This +/-125kHz offset is mainly used in regional areas, and because of this, often on UHF, so this may explain why people are seeing the issue on a UHF channel.
I actually sat down and watched 3 recordings on the Wiz for the first time yesterday (everything else has been life, or playing files off my network), and all three of them had one "glitch" in the recording (something I haven't had since putting up the Fracarro LP345HV and quad shielded coax for the Toppy) so maybe CPU load does occassionally cause these? They were non-obtrusive anyway, the audio was very quick to recover. But usually I saw a part of the screen break up too. I am running the Wiz from the tuner out of the Topfield, so it is essentially passing through 2 topfield tuners, with all that digital noise added along the way, before it hits the Wiz, so this may explain it too? But one glitch per recording is hardly worth complaining about for me.
Regards

jackmarshall · Post by **jackmarshall** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:19

The BW is the only Set top box that experiences this problem in the Good Guys store on thier aerial in Ballarat. All of the 20 or so other brands give them perfect reception. This rules out problems in the broadcast signal and a poor antenna as causes.

The antenna guy has suggested that I could upgrade until I go blue in the face (and I have) with little or no improvement and said based on his equipmet the signal should be fine. He even plugged in a chepo box into my antenna point and left it running to prove it. It was perfect.

It used to happen on two channles but now usually only occurs on one since all of my antenna upgrades. This reinforces the idea that it is a reception issue, not an unusual signal.
Yes I am close to the digital cliff edge on 10, the problem channel (It's very hard to pick up on my computer tuner too compared to other channels, but thats only hooked to an indoor antenna)

The only conclusion I can see is a tuner performing poorly (less well than every other brand). All other channels perform flawlessly and do not loose signal. This I would think rules out most software issues other than those that acually drive the tuner. If the 10 signal is unusual it is only unusual to the BW every other STB can make perfect sense of it.

The only senarios I can see are is these.
1. The BW is suceptible to some kind of intereference which no other STB is due to board layout or some other issue?
2. There are a small number of BW's going around with an unusual fault in their tuner circuits (not detected when sent in for repair) and I need a replacement.
3. The BW has tuners do not tune as well as other brands of tuners in the UHF range (this seems unlikely as I imagine the BW is not the only box containing this brand of tuner) In other words I assume that the tuner is an OEM component and the issue must be in how it has been used?

jackmarshall · Post by **jackmarshall** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:22

tonymy01 wrote:Haven't we already determined the Wiz doesn't do the +/- 125kHz offset that some broadcasters use? This would explain the "weak tuner", because it isn't tuned to the correct frequency. This +/-125kHz offset is mainly used in regional areas, and because of this, often on UHF, so this may explain why people are seeing the issue on a UHF channel.
I actually sat down and watched 3 recordings on the Wiz for the first time yesterday (everything else has been life, or playing files off my network), and all three of them had one "glitch" in the recording (something I haven't had since putting up the Fracarro LP345HV and quad shielded coax for the Toppy) so maybe CPU load does occassionally cause these? They were non-obtrusive anyway, the audio was very quick to recover. But usually I saw a part of the screen break up too. I am running the Wiz from the tuner out of the Topfield, so it is essentially passing through 2 topfield tuners, with all that digital noise added along the way, before it hits the Wiz, so this may explain it too? But one glitch per recording is hardly worth complaining about for me.
Regards

Try a direct connection? some people report tat running through other boxes actually improves things. I would love to know more about the +/-125KHz issue. if this could be handled in a software update I would be over the moon.

Vortical · Post by **Vortical** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:00

tonymy01 wrote:I am running the Wiz from the tuner out of the Topfield, so it is essentially passing through 2 topfield tuners, with all that digital noise added along the way, before it hits the Wiz, so this may explain it too? But one glitch per recording is hardly worth complaining about for me.
Regards

If i remember correctly a couple of people on here have tried this and then taking the other pvr's/stv's out of the equation and yielded the same problem.
So it didn't make any difference with a direct connection.

In my TV room the cable goes from the wall to the 7000 then loops through to the S1.
In another room the H1 is connected directly to the wall.

I'm pretty sure BW can fix this via firmware as the 7000 suffered from similar problems some time ago (although I'm not sure if it had reception issues early on).
All these items were fixed in firmware updates.

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:09

jackmarshall wrote: Try a direct connection? some people report tat running through other boxes actually improves things. I would love to know more about the +/-125KHz issue. if this could be handled in a software update I would be over the moon.

I would direct connect, if it was my primary STB. But it is most definitely my secondary box. As soon as we get some method of setting timers based on favourites (with similar clash rules to TED and with padding), it will probably become my primary box, but not before then. I know there are some die hard BW owners here who have never had the luxury of owning a 5K, so they don't know what they are missing, but the interface, usability, epg etc for the 5K is way better than the wiz as far as I am concerned, so the Toppy remains my #1 box.
Regards

grunta · Post by **grunta** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:29

I'm with you there Tony ...... until the api is opened up and a solution like or including teds is achieved then the Wiz will never be the primary box in my house

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:29

Hi Tonymy01,

tonymy01 wrote:Haven't we already determined the Wiz doesn't do the +/- 125kHz offset that some broadcasters use? This would explain the "weak tuner", because it isn't tuned to the correct frequency. This +/-125kHz offset is mainly used in regional areas, and because of this, often on UHF, so this may explain why people are seeing the issue on a UHF channel.

In my humble opinion this has not been determined. In fact I strongly disagree that this is an issue. Channel 9 Melbourne ( VHF 8 ) is running with a +125KHz offset and the reception is perfect on my DP-S1 and the status menu shows that the tuner is using the correct offset ( 191.6MHz ).

Regards,
Ian.

sub3R · Post by **sub3R** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 13:01

Just in case there is a possibility that my issues are S1 tuner related instead of S1 firmware issues I have put links here & here to my posts on the ?Firmware 01.04.144 Bugs List & Wish List? relating to audio dropouts & pixilation.

Signal Strength & Quality Details:

Code: Select all

Mux       Frequency        Signal         Quality         Signal
             MHz           on 7000        on 7000        on DP-S1s

ABC        184.625          69%            99%        100% along the green
SBS        205.500          71%            99%        100% along the green
Prime      198.625          72%            99%        100% along the green
NBN        226.500          73%            99%        100% along the green
SC10       641.500          74%            99%        100% along the green

Reception from Middle Brother NSW Mid North Coast.

The issues I'm seeing only now & again on both S1s never occurred on the TF7000HDPVRt when recording the same shows at the same time. These shows are on various HD services. It is very hard to pick which show will cause issues & probably 80% of recordings are very good ? as good as the 7000. The recordings that show pixilation &/or audio dropouts are not up to the standard of a PVR in this price range.
Possibly the tuners in the S1s aren?t sensitive enough, in which case the signal strength would have to be in the S1?s red sector to give results as good as the 7000 or both our TV?s inbuilt HD tuners.

j s · Post by **j s** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 18:22

jackmarshall wrote:
Crawf wrote:We must be just the "unlucky few" with BW tuner problems then....
If there are only three of us then do we have faulty units? I have had mine in for repair and sent back? Anyone tried an actual replacement? I know Madelaide had some success that way?

If it's faulty then both my S1 and P1 are faulty.

In my case I know that my reception is marginal (I had to upgrade all my cabling to quadshield etc to get stable reception) but while the Toppies (and other STBs, cards,etc) can cope with that the BWs don't handle it as well.

My guess is that those without problems have excellent reception.

Mantorok · Post by **Mantorok** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 19:52

I've also been getting occassional pixelation problems on my bwiz S1 which I've never experienced on my Toppy 5000 for the last 3 or 4 years. Here's my info:

Code: Select all

Mux       Frequency        Signal         Quality         Signal 
             MHz           on 5000        on 5000        on DP-S1 

ABC        226.500         100%            100%        10 - 20% orange/red 
SBS        536.625         100%            100%        100% green - 10% orange/red
Seven      177.500         100%            100%        100% green 
Nine       191.625         100%            100%        100% green - 10% orange/red 
Ten        219.500         100%            100%        100% green - 10% orange/red

Notes:
1. Signal is received from Mt Dandenong transmitter (Melbourne)
2. Both the Toppy 5000 and bwiz data were taken when antenna was plugged directly into the units
3. Toppy 5000 figures were determined by using the "Info Display 7.3" TAP
4. Reception problems I've encountered on the bwiz are: picture breakup pixelation, brief audio dropouts and brief picture pauses
5. Further information about the problems I'm having and what I've tried to resolve it can be found in this topic: http://www.beyonwiz.com.au/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=1016

BlackMX · Post by **BlackMX** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 19:24

Sydney,NSW

Nine (9) / 191.5 Mhz / Usually perfect, occasional breakup
Ten / 219.5 / Constant small breakups, regular 'No Signal'
ABC / 690.5 Mhz / Always perfect
SBS / 571.5 Mhz / Always perfect
Seven(7) / 177.5 / Always perfect

Channel 10 signal strength appears weaker compared to others on the HDSTB as well but no dropouts or pixellation.

jackmarshall · Post by **jackmarshall** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 08:52

BlackMX wrote:Sydney,NSW

Nine (9) / 191.5 Mhz / Usually perfect, occasional breakup
Ten / 219.5 / Constant small breakups, regular 'No Signal'
ABC / 690.5 Mhz / Always perfect
SBS / 571.5 Mhz / Always perfect
Seven(7) / 177.5 / Always perfect

Channel 10 signal strength appears weaker compared to others on the HDSTB as well but no dropouts or pixellation.

can you verify that this does not happen on a tuner of a different brand from the same antenna point?

BlackMX · Post by **BlackMX** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 17:49

Hi Jack

My Digicrystal HDSTB doesn't drop out at all. In fact i have it set to 10 so I can change inputs while watching live TV in the event of a protracted period of lost signal on the Wiz.
The HDSTB is also tuned to 219.5 MHz and signal strength at 49%,Quality 56% on Channel 10 compared to Channel 9 191.5MHz with signal strength 66% and signal quality 76%.
So it appears that 10 is weaker but the HDSTB handles this better.

Wombass · Post by **Wombass** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 20:36

I've had this problem for a while now. Where I live can see the lights of the towers at Knights Hill Illawarra. My BW will only scan SBS @ 711.500 so I'm getting very poor to no reception

SBS On-Air UHF 54 Hor 711.625 MHz Broadcast Australia Digital Television Tower KNIGHTS HILL

My Toppy 5000 with the same connection has NO problems and scans SBS @711.625 with no reception problems.
With no way to fine tune it is extremely frustrating. The BW has a direct connection to antenna.

jodyms · Post by **jodyms** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 13:27

Location: Saratoga / Yattalunga (Central Coast NSW - near Gosford)

Poor reception using BeyonWiz.

We have a powered external antenna on the roof & we had perfect reception on all stations (unless we were experiences high winds) using our LG settop box (approx $350). We still have our LG hooked up to out little tv in the bedroom & it's fine.

Have installed the latest upgrade (Nov07 I think).

Channels 10 & 90 (& sometimes 70) are jumping (is that the right word) regularly. ABC reception is non-existent & we do like to watch ABC. Sorry, not sure of the codes for these stations.

bohemian · Post by **bohemian** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 14:03

I supppose here is the as good a place as any to put this ?

Location : Geelong, Victoria, recieve broadcasts form Mt Dandenong Melbourne.

Channel: 7 HD 177. 5 MHz : reception full scale

Problem : Since seven has been multichanneling 7 SD and 7 HD I have had many lockups when recording the 7 HD multichannel.

I think all have been when I was time shifting a 7HD recording, and most of the times I was also recording another channel .

I think I have four or five recording failures due to this.

The most recent I noticed when playing back the part of the recorded program bofore the lockup, that the lockup occured at the exact moment that 7 HD faded to go to one of their 1 minute commercial breaks.

This happened using the DPS1-01.03.084 and DPS1_Firmware_22Sep2007_ver_01.04.144 firmwares.

I have now loaded the December 18 firmware and hopfully wont have to report back about this

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 08:53

Hi Bohemian,

This also sounds like it could be related to the media player instabilities that are sometimes encountered. If it is a media player issue then this firmware may not help all that much. It is planned that the media player will receive a major rewrite and enhancement early in the new year.

If you still have issues after installing the 01.05.192 firmware then keep an eye open for the next firmware (hopefully) that has the optimised and improved media player code.

Regards,
Ian.

amyf · Post by **amyf** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:44

Hi all,

My debut post.

Problem: No SBS channels will tune in via usual antenna.

The aerial pass-through from the Beyonwiz goes to my Bravia, which plays SBS brilliantly, so I think it a safe assumption that something is up with the P1. My old Strong SD box also worked flawlessly.

I managed to tune the SBS channels into the P1 by plugging in rabbit ears and dancing around my lounge like a ninny; now that I have plugged the standard antenna back in, however, the signal comes and goes.

This is extremely frustrating for what is supposed to be a high-end piece of kit.

Cheers!
amyf.

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:13

Welcome Amy

What does it show for the signal strength?

grampus · Post by **grampus** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 13:16

amyf wrote:Hi all,

My debut post.

Problem: No SBS channels will tune in via usual antenna.

The aerial pass-through from the Beyonwiz goes to my Bravia, which plays SBS brilliantly, so I think it a safe assumption that something is up with the P1. My old Strong SD box also worked flawlessly.

I managed to tune the SBS channels into the P1 by plugging in rabbit ears and dancing around my lounge like a ninny; now that I have plugged the standard antenna back in, however, the signal comes and goes.

This is extremely frustrating for what is supposed to be a high-end piece of kit.

Cheers!
amyf.

Hi Amy, nice to see you got registered and active so quick.
Now that you are here and have had a look around. There are a number of places this issue is being canvassed actively.
http://www.beyonwiz.com.au/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=1743
http://www.beyonwiz.com.au/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=1121

It may be in your interest to have a look at those threads for a start, and get the feel for what has gone on so far.

If you feel it is warranted you might want to put something on the end of Daves list.
http://www.beyonwiz.com.au/phpbb2/viewt ... 4563#14563

Welcome.

amyf · Post by **amyf** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 13:18

Gully wrote:Welcome Amy

What does it show for the signal strength?

Thanks Gully.

Signal strength currently has the black bar extending almost all the way into the green on the Fruit Tingles scale thingy; the most I have on any channel is all the way through the green.

At the moment I can get all SBS channels with the same strength.

This morning, when I did the rabbit ear tuning (after trying the P1's own tuning again to no avail), the strength was varying, with signal loss not uncommon.

I have had odd problems with glitches on SBS through the years here, so realise it doesn't have the beefiest signal around. I guess my rabbit ear thing has sort of solved the problem for now, however my concern is that if the P1 is finicky on signal strength then recording SBS is going to be a dead loss for me.

Hopefully the tech (Beyon)wizards can weave some magic.

Cheers!
amyf.

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 13:35

Amy

Please update your profile to include your location.

prl · Post by **prl** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 13:45

Hi, Amy. The fact that the rabbit ears antenna works better than the external antenna makes me wonder whether there's some problem with the external antenna. It would be useful if you could tell us your location so (amongst other things) we can see if there's anything particular about the SBS transmissions in you area that may give a clue to the antenna problem.

amyf · Post by **amyf** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 14:09

prl wrote:Hi, Amy. The fact that the rabbit ears antenna works better than the external antenna makes me wonder whether there's some problem with the external antenna. It would be useful if you could tell us your location so (amongst other things) we can see if there's anything particular about the SBS transmissions in you area that may give a clue to the antenna problem.

I'm in an apartment complex in Kew, Melbourne, so I believe there is one big antenna and the signal is pumped through out the building.

The fact remains, though, that the only device I've had trouble with in picking up SBS here is the BW - as stated somewhere else above (I think) my Bravia is fine, as was my old Strong STB.

Cheers!
amyf.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 15:09

Hi Amyf,

As I posted on the DTV forums...

IanSav wrote:
amyf wrote:The antenna cable is fairly long, but just goes directly from the wall socket to the Beyonwiz.
Always try to keep leads as short as possible.
amyf wrote:I live in an apartment building where the antenna signal is pumped from a central location, and SBS has always been a tad touch and go.
Have you spoken to your "body corporate" about the problem. Many central antenna systems are not up to the specifications appropraite for digital TV reception. Some block or attenuate the signals that make quality digital TV reception difficult. If the building's system is at fault then all the occupants can share in the costs of improving the system for everyone. If the system is fine then there may be an issue with the feed to your apartment, they could help you sort it out. (You could verify which is the likely cause by taking your Beyonwiz to another apartment, a friend or neighbour , and testing it out there.)

I accept your DTV forum comments about your body corporate person but as I resident I do think you have a right for support (even if you only rent). Have a look through the http://www.dba.org.au/ info to see if they offer any advice or assistance with shared antenna systems in body corporate situations.

Regards,
Ian.

prl · Post by **prl** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 15:51

amyf wrote:
prl wrote:Hi, Amy. The fact that the rabbit ears antenna works better than the external antenna makes me wonder whether there's some problem with the external antenna. It would be useful if you could tell us your location so (amongst other things) we can see if there's anything particular about the SBS transmissions in you area that may give a clue to the antenna problem.
I'm in an apartment complex in Kew, Melbourne, so I believe there is one big antenna and the signal is pumped through out the building.

The fact remains, though, that the only device I've had trouble with in picking up SBS here is the BW - as stated somewhere else above (I think) my Bravia is fine, as was my old Strong STB.

Cheers!
amyf.

SBS is the only UHF transmitter of all the digital transmissions from Mt Dandenong (which I assume is where you're getting your TV signal from). It's also four times the power of all the other digital TV transmitters on Mt Dandenong.

I've had more reception issues with the Beyonwiz S1 and H1 than I had with the Topfield TF7000 PVR I used to have, though none as bad as what you are having.

It sounds like a problem of either signal strength or signal quality on SBS, though it's not clear why it affects the BW more than your TV or Strong box, beyond the observation that a several people on the forum have found that the BW seems to be more susceptible to reception problems than other digital TV receivers.