Channel 4 Channels Encrypted

Fortyjocks

Hi - I have a Normende soar view/ satellite combi box and recently noticed all the Channel 4 channels (i.e. More 4, E4, Film 4 and Channel 4 itself) had suddenly dropped off the channel lists. I tried retuning them with the various frequencies but they now appear to be showing up as encrypted on the box and I can no longer view them. Could this be an issue with the box or were there recent changes with these channels, any advise is appreciated? Thanks

kbell

Sounds like you've tuned in the encrypted (sky) versions.
There's a sticky on top of this page where you should find the FTA versions or google King of sat where you'll find sat updates and channel frequencies.

pegasuspub

yea I noticed on a nordmende 32 inch tv with internal free to air box yesterday that all these channels were coming up on the channel list as encrypted with a key symbol next to them, they could be viewed alright though so I do not know why this is happening.

StreetLight

The OP is correct. The clear versions are showing up as scrambled on certain Saorview approved equipment.

I emailed Walker about this and they replied that they are aware of the issue, they hope it is temporary, but they fear it may be a design by the C4 group to prevent reception to Irish viewers.

Dave..M

StreetLight wrote: »

The OP is correct. The clear versions are showing up as scrambled on certain Saorview approved equipment.

I emailed Walker about this and they replied that they are aware of the issue, they hope it is temporary, but they fear it may be a design by the C4 group to prevent reception to Irish viewers.

How could they do that, FTA is FTA, no? Even if they could do it though, why would they do it?

Confused....

Infoanon

StreetLight wrote: »

The OP is correct. The clear versions are showing up as scrambled on certain Saorview approved equipment.

I emailed Walker about this and they replied that they are aware of the issue, they hope it is temporary, but they fear it may be a design by the C4 group to prevent reception to Irish viewers.

Unlikely given that C4 target the Irish market

khumbu

Infoanon wrote: »

Unlikely given that C4 target the Irish market

The versions with Irish advertising are encrypted. The UK versions are in the clear & not gaining any money for channel4 through Irish advertising.

Instead of flagging UK FTA versions it would make more sense to make Irish versions FTA also but as Sky pay for carriage & encryption of the Irish versions its not up to Channel4 to decide when to turn off encryption even though the (sky owned) Irish versions of Challenge & Pick are FTA

I assume the encrypted flag is an oversight more than a conspiracy to block UK FTA versions of all the channel4 channels from being received in Ireland to drive up the number of Sky subscribers.

byte

Hmm, somebody left in a Nordmende combi at work this evening with the same issue. We didn't get much time to mess much with it, but it wasn't getting any channels from 10714H when scanning FTA channels. I didn't think to scan encrypted too, will try that tomorrow, though no odds I guess if they still won't view.

Quite odd as the channels are definitely FTA. I don't know if they can be flagged a certain way so that they won't work on certain hardware. I vaguely remember Sky boxes used to sometimes block channels from working even though they were FTA with a basic FTA receiver.

The box that came has the SatFree option as well, I dunno if it'd work if I had the firmware that didn't have the Satfree option. I don't have that version to install and find out.

pegasuspub

4music on that transponder seem to be fta this evening also.

lertsnim

pegasuspub wrote: »

4music on that transponder seem to be fta this evening also.

That went FTA recently

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/02/4music-drops-encryption-on-satellite.html

The Cush

I remember a similar issue with Channel 5 and/or its sister channels a long time ago, on some FTA receivers they wouldn't be found with a FTA scan but would be with an all services scan (incl. encrypted channels) and appeared in the channels list with a key symbol beside them. Also seen it happen on occasion with a Sony combi TV with the odd channel.

I always assumed it was a broadcaster/channel error, ticking the wrong box. No problems here with Channel4.

Fortyjocks

byte wrote: »

Hmm, somebody left in a Nordmende combi at work this evening with the same issue. We didn't get much time to mess much with it, but it wasn't getting any channels from 10714H when scanning FTA channels. I didn't think to scan encrypted too, will try that tomorrow, though no odds I guess if they still won't view.

Quite odd as the channels are definitely FTA. I don't know if they can be flagged a certain way so that they won't work on certain hardware. I vaguely remember Sky boxes used to sometimes block channels from working even though they were FTA with a basic FTA receiver.

The box that came has the SatFree option as well, I dunno if it'd work if I had the firmware that didn't have the Satfree option. I don't have that version to install and find out.

Thanks, you might let us know how you get on. On my Nordmende box the channels come up with a key beside them when I include a scan for FTA and encrypted and when I then select the channel to view it just brings up a message saying the channel is scrambled. V strange and fairly recent issue, I am no expert in the area so if anyone comes up with a way to resolve the problem that would be much appreciated!

STB.

Incorrect Channel flagging.

Is there a channel editor available for the box ?

If there is then you could use that to reflag it as FTA so the CA will not ignore it.

Otherwise Normende will have to issue a firmware patch.

Antenna

Already a thread about this issue (maybe mods could merge them if possible?):

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057697220

(thread title did not draw the attention it should have though)


Also affected is UTV-HD (and STV-HD and other ITV region HDs) but UTV-SD etc is unaffected

It appears Non-saorview approved receivers (with Sat reception) are unaffected

Might there have been some Saorview OTA update to receivers that affected something ?

byte

I've tried 2 old software versions on this rxr - v2.9 and v2.8. The former has no SatFree option, the latter does. Before this, the box had v3.xx which was taken from the Walker download page.

Using v2.9, it again ignored the 10714H freq after a scan, so I scanned that frequency manually allowing it to scan encrypted channels. The channels scanned in fine, and work fine. However, when I started deleting duplicate channels etc and left the menu, I returned to notice considerably more channels had deleted, along with all the encryption flagged C4's etc.

Flashed v2.8, and it did the same as above. However, the Satfree part scanned in fine and C4 and 4HD all work without issue (so far, anyway...)

As it stands now, I'm wary to start deleting any channels in Satellite mode, in case a sudden chunk of channels go too, including flagged ones. More research needed

Fortyjocks

Tuned in the FTA CH4 frequencies again tonite & while they are still appearing on the encrypted list they were viewable now which is progress on earlier in the week!

lgs 4

Fortyjocks wrote: »

Tuned in the FTA CH4 frequencies again tonite & while they are still appearing on the encrypted list they were viewable now which is progress on earlier in the week!

Are using the Freesat frequency 10714 , H ,22000 , 5/6

Dave..M

I checked them on an old walker sat box (75SAT-HD), they are tuned in via the Satfree option (which uses the Freesat transponder to tune in and replicate Freesat Channel order & EPG), the word scrambled pops up briefly for a second and goes away but the channels are all perfectly fine. The fw on that box has never had an update so defo something C4 have done although why eludes me.

pigtail33

I have the Walker WP645TS-HD box and noticed these encrypted a while ago. When re-tuned, they all display fine, but the box won't let you record any of the encrypted channels though.

Fortyjocks

lgs 4 wrote: »

Are using the Freesat frequency 10714 , H ,22000 , 5/6

Hi, yes that's the frequency I used, thanks

StreetLight

Things are going from bad to worse. In addition to all the Channel 4 group stations, now the Walker box thinks all the Channel 5 group stations are scrambled and refuses to display them!

Trying to get a technical answer from Walker is trying to get blood out of a stone.

byte

StreetLight wrote: »

Things are going from bad to worse. In addition to all the Channel 4 group stations, now the Walker box thinks all the Channel 5 group stations are scrambled and refuses to display them!

Trying to get a technical answer from Walker is trying to get blood out of a stone.

Yeah, been like that a while too. UTV HD and STV HD are the same also.

STB.

Has anyone with these problems tried deleting the channels and rescanning the TP ?

byte

STB. wrote: »

Has anyone with these problems tried deleting the channels and rescanning the TP ?

Yup. Doesn't matter what you do. Factory reset also.

The channels are all just flagged as encrypted for reasons unknown

pegasuspub

this is a proving to be a right hassle on the nordmende/walker gear
if the customer rescans the unit it will not find the channel4 and channel 5 transponders unless you do a full scan of all encrypted channels which takes a very long time and then you have to delete all unwanted/encrypted channels
I have a list backed up on usb drive but since we have 5 different saorview transmitters its difficult to include all data and make sure its correct.

byte

pegasuspub wrote: »

this is a proving to be a right hassle on the nordmende/walker gear
if the customer rescans the unit it will not find the channel4 and channel 5 transponders unless you do a full scan of all encrypted channels which takes a very long time and then you have to delete all unwanted/encrypted channels
I have a list backed up on usb drive but since we have 5 different saorview transmitters its difficult to include all data and make sure its correct.

I would just scan all FTA channels, then manually scan the frequencies for C4 and C5 (turning on the setting for adding encrypted channels first again).

All settings saved onto a USB drive is handy when doing it regularly.

Antenna

Even if a subsequent scan is done of just an individual transponder with channels unrelated to the above issue (some music channels etc have moved transponder in recent months), you must do so as 'Encrypted' otherwise all the Encrypted-flagged FTA channels will all get deleted.

StreetLight wrote: »

I emailed Walker about this and they replied that they are aware of the issue, they hope it is temporary, but they fear it may be a design by the C4 group to prevent reception to Irish viewers.

Anyway has anyone managed to get any further response from Walker / Vestel about this issue ?

STB.

Doesnt Chansort work for Vestel's ?

wizardman

I got Walker 32 smart TV WPS32SM287. To get channel 4, film 4 etc I set country as Ireland, scan satellite and digital aerial, selected free and encrypted when scanning.

When it finished it asked to use preset list I selected yes. And all the channel 4 group of channels came up.

Hope this help someone.