Upgraded freesat firmware, lost BBC HD channels

anydroid

I upgraded the firmware on a friend's freesat HD box, a Strong SRT 7002, but have managed to lose channels.

The reason for trying to upgrade was to "fix" the EPG which didn't fully load.

Doing a channel re-scan on Astra 28.2E appears to find a cluster of BBC HD channels, but once the scan & save is complete, none of the BBC HD channels appear in the EPG? The only HD channels are ITV1 HD and NK and RT.

Fixes I've tried:
Rolling back the firmware to earlier releases; no change
Looking for any address/location settings before channel scan; no option exists

I'm beginning to think the local sat supplier had put some custom firmware, or custom channel list, on this box before installing it?

Please help!

zg3409

Freesat is actually a brand, I think that box is free to air, so no location would be asked. The installer may have loaded a channel list on to it, which speeds up installation.

On an autoscan, you can sometimes miss channels. One reason could be they are a little weak. Another reason is channels move, and sometimes transponders change setting. A normal "auto" scan quickly looks for channels. If the box has the option a "blind" scan is slower, but tends to find more channels.

If no blind option is there during search or it does not find it then you need to manually add a transponder.

According to Lyngsat the BBC channels are at a frequency of
10847 Vertical 23000-2/3 8PSK

So you would normally go into manual scan settings and add transponder and put in the settings above. Then it will just pick up the few extra channels. Note manual scans sometimes put the new channels as the last numbers, meaning it could be in the 400s

http://www.lyngsat.com/Eutelsat-28A-and-Astra-1N-2A-2F.html

anydroid

@zg3409

Thanks for reply.

I did a blind scan and fiddled with the DiSEqC1.0>LNB settings and hey-presto, channels are back.

steveon

I have a channel list done for that box so if you need it just pm me :-)

NIMAN

Freesat branded boxes automatically tune in new channels, and is one of the reasons they are the best ones to buy if you want a user-friendly FTA satellite box.

anydroid

NIMAN wrote: »

Freesat branded boxes automatically tune in new channels, and is one of the reasons they are the best ones to buy if you want a user-friendly FTA satellite box.

Pity nobody told our local sat man! This Strong box seems to be pretty obscure.

NIMAN

anydroid wrote: »

Pity nobody told our local sat man! This Strong box seems to be pretty obscure.

Free-To-Air boxes are often called Freesat, when they aren't.

They can receive the same channels, but Freesat in essence is a branded bit of EPG software loaded into the box, that has a certain look and features like auto-retune etc. They are usually more user friendly, require less user input wrt tuning, new channels etc, and are generally worth paying a little extra for if you can do it.

The FTA ones are everywhere but some of them have horrible software on them.

steveon

Freesat boxes also give u less channels unless you switch over to non freesat mode, which most people cant get their head around.

Grats

I have a Walker WP645TS-HD Saorview Combo STB. I have all the channels on SatFree with the exception of ITV2 and BBC4 - I did have them previously and cannot understand why they've disappeared. Can somebody throw some light on this for me please. Thanks.

ps I have ITV2+1

radiowaves

NIMAN wrote: »

Freesat branded boxes automatically tune in new channels, and is one of the reasons they are the best ones to buy if you want a user-friendly FTA satellite box.

They also force a channel order on you.

And give you a lot less channels than free satellite boxes (unless you hop between Freesat and non-freesat modes).

NIMAN

radiowaves wrote: »

They also force a channel order on you.

And give you a lot less channels than free satellite boxes (unless you hop between Freesat and non-freesat modes).

For the vast majority of TV viewers, these 2 issues aren't really significant at all.

The user-friendliness of the Freesat box will far outweigh any benefit gained by these features.

maringo

Whas the current best freesat box thinking of getting rid of sky after Christmas

NIMAN

If you go with a Humax you won't go far wrong.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HDR-1000S-Freetime-Receiver-Requires-Satellite/dp/B009P2H3NQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385490196&sr=8-1&keywords=humax+freesat


or the older model
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Humax-500GB-Recorder-Requires-Satellite/dp/B0039J42LM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1385490196&sr=8-6&keywords=humax+freesat

I think the Manhattan ones are also getting good reviews
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Manhattan-HDR-S-Receiver-Built-In-320GB/dp/B009EO8CW6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1385490238&sr=8-2&keywords=manhattan+freesat

When it was launched the Samsung one was riddled with bugs and got awful reviews, but I think new software releases have sorted all this out now, so may also be a good buy
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-SMT-S7800-500GB-Freesat-Recorder/dp/B004S5ZUJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385490293&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+freesat

Finally, this Echostar is well reviewed too
http://www.amazon.co.uk/EchoStar-HDS-600RS-SlingLoaded-Anywhere-recorder/dp/B004S9OT92/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385490319&sr=8-1&keywords=echostar+freesat


btw, all these are recording boxes, a la $ky+

maringo

Thanks Niman. Had been trawling boards satellite threads your info is great. Will go for the Humax.
Hope its an easy setup - assume i will need to get a saorview box for my old-style tv. Won't be getting a modern flatscreen till it gives up the ghost.

NIMAN

Its easy yeah, just plug in the cables coming from your Sat dish, power it on, enter a UK postcode and it does the rest itself.

I am sure if you search YouTube for Humax HDR you will see plenty of videos of it.

maringo

Thanks for your help, will check them out on utube.

Rick_

Yes, and if you're entering a UK postcode, you'd be best at the moment having a Manchester postcode which will give you access to a higher bitrate and resolution version of ITV HD and also an ITV+1 service. Entering a NI postcode will give you UTV HD but you won't get UTV+1

steveon

NIMAN wrote: »

For the vast majority of TV viewers, these 2 issues aren't really significant at all.

The user-friendliness of the Freesat box will far outweigh any benefit gained by these features.

I totally disagree with you there, have had to change plenty of FREESAT boxes for the exact reason that people cannot figure out the change over procedure particularly if they are elderly, having the same problem with the walker combos having to press a button to switch between the two, thankfully as freesat picks up more channels its not so much of an issue

NIMAN

steveon wrote: »

I totally disagree with you there, have had to change plenty of FREESAT boxes for the exact reason that people cannot figure out the change over procedure particularly if they are elderly, having the same problem with the walker combos having to press a button to switch between the two, thankfully as freesat picks up more channels its not so much of an issue

Sorry, change between the 2 what?

radiowaves

NIMAN wrote: »

Sorry, change between the 2 what?

Freesat & non-Freesat modes I'm assuming.

When people realise a channel they want is hard to locate they'll get annoyed. This isn't an issue on a freesat box.

And to my earlier point - maybe people coming from Sky won't mind channels in a forced order on a Freesat box but if they realised they could order channels whatever way they wanted, and on a much cheaper box to boot, the reason why it might not be a issue to lots at present is because they know no better.

NIMAN

Paddy C wrote: »

Yes, and if you're entering a UK postcode, you'd be best at the moment having a Manchester postcode which will give you access to a higher bitrate and resolution version of ITV HD and also an ITV+1 service. Entering a NI postcode will give you UTV HD but you won't get UTV+1

What is the difference in ITV HD and UTV HD in terms of bitrate?