Blind scan mayhem!

[linslademan]

What the hell is going on with Technomate receiver software!
Now that I have finally sorted out my disecq switching issue on 5402HD ( see "motorized to lnb issue " thread), I thought I would do a blind scan on 28 east and blow me its thrown out a load of garbage!
I got 45000 symbol rates, it did not pick up most of Hd 29500 transponders, and got a load of dead transponders etc... took me over an hour to sort out my fav list again!!!
I really thought established members were kind of too hard on Technomate when I first joined forum , but now must admit that I sympathise with them.
Are Phantom's patches throwing out all this rubbish , Technomate factory cock-up or a combination of both?
I am saving up for a VU box, can't handle much more of this cr-p:Mad2:

 

[Zorch]

Hi again linslademan,

What the hell is going on with Technomate receiver software!
...I thought I would do a blind scan on 28 east and blow me its thrown out a load of garbage!
I got 45000 symbol rates, it did not pick up most of Hd 29500 transponders, and got a load of dead transponders etc... took me over an hour to sort out my fav list again!!!

I don't understand why you needed to do a blind scan on any of your 4 satellites...? The cndf file I did for you contained every up-to-date transponder frequency... there was nothing else to find... I even added a couple of transponders for you that I had found myself that weren't on any of the satellite charts... and the 45000 symbol rates occur quite often with the blind scan...

I really thought established members were kind of too hard on Technomate when I first joined forum , but now must admit that I sympathise with them.

We only report what we see and experience... if everything was great... we would say so...

Are Phantom's patches throwing out all this rubbish, Technomate factory cock-up or a combination of both?

The same thing happens whether it is O/S or patches... the blind scan feature seriously need looking at...

P.S.
If you need a new cndf file compiling with all up-to-date transponders/frequencies... and which also contains your correct DiSEqC settings... just ask and I will happily do one for you mate...

Best Wishes,
Zorch

 

[jimihendrix]

Stick with it mate they really are well made receivers, it does not matter to much about the software it works and even if it needs a little "trimming" by the user then at the end of it you will have a well made receiver up and running.
I think the offer by Zorch deserves credit, he along with a few others provide all the help members need and often takes a good poke at Phantom/Technomate to keep them on their feet as well.

 

[Merliin]

It has been established by Zorch that the Blind Scan fault with the TM5402HD is a Hardware fault & should have been picked up by Technomate Quality Control before the production run started & not left to us enthusiasts to find,

I can confirm Zorch's findings & the Blind Scan fault of displaying 45,000 in the data base when some low symbol rates are found is a Hardware fault in the receivers original build so no software upgrades will cure the fault,

For this Blind Scan fault to be eliminated a new receiver hardware build is required = New Receiver Build with the hardware corrected so that the functions work ok,

There are a couple of other functions that are also corrupted on TM5203HD & the clones of this Hardware build such as the TM5402HD,Protec HD,Blade7000HD,Dr HD, the DiSEqC USALS & 1.2 give low signals in the Telecom band 12.5 to 12.75 GHz with some low noise Lnb's that is not present in the TM1000SD series & TM6000HD series software also the satellite positions are not accurate in USALS DiSEqC 1.3 being one degree out of calibration with some low noise Lnb's whereas the TM1000 & TM6000 are far more accurate in DiSEqC 1.2 with all Lnb types also the TM1000 & TM6000 are far more accurate in DiSEqC 1.2 than USALS.

 

[Merliin]

It has been established by Zorch that the Blind Scan fault with the TM5402HD is a Hardware fault & should have been picked up by Technomate Quality Control before the production run started & not left to us enthusiasts to find,

I can confirm Zorch's findings & the Blind Scan fault of displaying 45,000 in the data base when some low symbol rates are found is a Hardware fault in the receivers original build so no software upgrades will cure the fault,

For this Blind Scan fault to be eliminated a new receiver hardware build is required = New Receiver Build with the hardware corrected so that the functions work ok,

There are a couple of other functions that are also corrupted on TM5402HD & the clones of this Hardware build such as the Protec HD, Blade7000HD, Dr HD ect ect the DiSEqC USALS & 1.2 give low signals in the Telecom band 12.5 to 12.75 GHz with some low noise Lnb's that is not present in the TM1000SD series & TM6000HD series software also the satellite positions are not accurate in USALS DiSEqC 1.3 being one degree out of calibration with some low noise Lnb's whereas the TM1000 & TM6000 are far more accurate in DiSEqC 1.2 with all Lnb types also the TM1000 & TM6000 are far more accurate in DiSEqC 1.2 than USALS.

 

[jaymes]

What the hell is going on with Technomate receiver software!
Now that I have finally sorted out my disecq switching issue on 5402HD ( see "motorized to lnb issue " thread), I thought I would do a blind scan on 28 east and blow me its thrown out a load of garbage!
I got 45000 symbol rates, it did not pick up most of Hd 29500 transponders, and got a load of dead transponders etc... took me over an hour to sort out my fav list again!!!
I really thought established members were kind of too hard on Technomate when I first joined forum , but now must admit that I sympathise with them.
Are Phantom's patches throwing out all this rubbish , Technomate factory cock-up or a combination of both?
I am saving up for a VU box, can't handle much more of this cr-p:Mad2:

Can understand your frustration. Well documented the faults on this receiver. Full marks for sticking with it for so long . Looks like best option at moment is CNDF file Zorch did for you.

 

[linslademan]

Can understand your frustration. Well documented the faults on this receiver. Full marks for sticking with it for so long . Looks like best option at moment is CNDF file Zorch did for you.

I think that I went OTT yesterday, probably as a result of my "motorized to lnb" saga.
Many thanks to everyone for their support, especially the senior members of this great forum!!!!

 

[mdt]

i disagree.. do the engineers at technomate not test the blind scan function before the production run?? as the tuner sensetivity and blind scan option will im sure be a reason many people buy this reciever.... TM really are dropping clangers all the time and if it wasnt for valued members like @zorch ect helping people out their recievers would be alot poorer in day to day use than they are,regards mdt

 

[Zorch]

Hi mdt et al,

I have had no major issues with the TM-5402 HD tuner/tuner sensitivity... in fact I would say it is one of the best/most sensitive tuners to be found in any satellite receiver... there is one small problem however... and the problem only appears when you enter/scan in a new transponder/channel which uses a very low symbol rate... usually between 1000-2000 ...and even more so when the low symbol rate is also accompanied by a high/very high FEC code (forward error correction).

The TM-5402 HD tuner often seems to struggle to keep a stable signal lock on these transponders both before and after a channel is downloaded... and subsequently when the associated channel is selected in the channel line-up... it can take some time for the tuner to successfully lock-on to the frequency and show the channel on-screen... usually what happens is that the channel will go in-and-out of signal lock for some time before a stable signal lock is acquired.

The real problems start when the minor tuner frailties are combined with the blind search feature to find all active transponders on a selected satellite... if the blind search scanner races through (as it normally does - no matter which 'step' setting is employed) and if it does not take enough time to pause on certain transponders until a stable signal lock has been established... then the result of this is... those frequencies are either not located and not stored... or they are located and stored but the symbol rate is not determined... and is therefore allocated a 'default' symbol rate of 45000.

In conclusion... there is very little wrong with the TM-5402 HD tuner/tuner sensitivity... but the way the blind search scanner currently works is accentuating the very small tuner problem... and making this a very big problem... that's how I see it anyway...

Best Wishes,
Zorch

 

[Zorch]

Hi again all,

Addendum:
Technomate/Phantom team have repeatedly tried to address this problem in the software by altering the way the transmission signals are initially identified/acquired by the tuner... this is evident when you compare certain TM O/S/Phantompatches side-by-side...

e.g.
If you load TM O/S version 1.17 or Phantompatch 117p and look at the Signal Quality bar on any transponder/frequency... you will notice that the readings on the Signal Quality bar will fluctuate naturally... it will show the true Signal Quality reading no matter whether the transponder/frequency you are looking at has acquired a signal lock or if it has not acquired a signal lock...

If you load TM O/S version 1.23 or Phantompatch 124p and look at the Signal Quality bar on any transponder frequency... you will notice that the readings on the Signal Quality bar are not naturally fluctuating... it shows only a restricted Signal Quality reading of between 5%-11% if the transponder/frequency does not instantly acquire a signal lock... however this approach does speed up the signal lock of all transponders/frequencies that are immediately identified/acquired...

The significance of this subtle difference in Signal Quality readings to/from the tuner means that TM O/S version 1.17 or Phantompatch 117p will notice that certain transponders/frequencies have elevated Signal Quality readings (but no signal lock) and the blind search scanner will pause/hang to try to identify/acquire a transponder/frequency because of this elevated reading...

Whereas when using TM O/S version 1.23 or Phantompatch 124p the blind search scanner will not pause/hang to try to identify/acquire a transponder/frequency because it is being told by the tuner that there is no signal to try to acquire... so it's an all-or-nothing approach which is worse/causing more problems (in my opinion) than the previous method...

Best Wishes,
Zorch

 

[jimihendrix]

Thank you Zorch for the above post as it is interesting, now what I would like to see is a reply from Technomate stating just what is going on. Let them acknowledge first that the problem exists (I dont doubt it for one moment) and if it is possible to rectify OR not through software updates.
Lets make it clear that we NEED a definite answer no more flannel just the truth and we can then end the subject, for this sort of thread to appear with every new patch posted is a disgrace and can only reflect badly on TM's reputation, so come on TM give us the answer we deserve as your customers.

 

[Merliin]

Hi mdt et al,

I have had no major issues with the TM-5402 HD tuner/tuner sensitivity... in fact I would say it is one of the best/most sensitive tuners to be found in any satellite receiver... there is one small problem however... and the problem only appears when you enter/scan in a new transponder/channel which uses a very low symbol rate... usually between 1000-2000 ...and even more so when the low symbol rate is also accompanied by a high/very high FEC code (forward error correction).

The TM-5402 HD tuner often seems to struggle to keep a stable signal lock on these transponders both before and after a channel is downloaded... and subsequently when the associated channel is selected in the channel line-up... it can take some time for the tuner to successfully lock-on to the frequency and show the channel on-screen... usually what happens is that the channel will go in-and-out of signal lock for some time before a stable signal lock is acquired.

The real problems start when the minor tuner frailties are combined with the blind search feature to find all active transponders on a selected satellite... if the blind search scanner races through (as it normally does - no matter which 'step' setting is employed) and if it does not take enough time to pause on certain transponders until a stable signal lock has been established... then the result of this is... those frequencies are either not located and not stored... or they are located and stored but the symbol rate is not determined... and is therefore allocated a 'default' symbol rate of 45000.

In conclusion... there is very little wrong with the TM-5402 HD tuner/tuner sensitivity... but the way the blind search scanner currently works is accentuating the very small tuner problem... and making this a very big problem... that's how I see it anyway...

Best Wishes,
Zorch

Yes it could be an excellent receiver if the Hardware Blind Scan is fixed with a new receiver released as Mk2 TM5402HD not much else wrong with this receiver,
But as the current version has this problem with the blind scan using the TM5402HD to find all active transponders it can be very frustrating experience.