stemcell
Inactive User
I thought this was worthy of posting so i asked the author Bogget for permission to copy and paste it and he said it was ok (i thought it was good manners to ask and better than just stealing it).
Maybe between us we can add to it so it covers a broader range of solutions...any suggestions?.
: colors1
Updated - Freezing and Tuner Tutorial by Bogget
The following is a short tutorial produced by Bogget for those with picture freezing problems, or faults with their tuners.
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Locking up and the DBox tuner
If your box locks up ther are several possible causes.
Hardware i.e.
1. Tuner
2. Avia Chip (Graphics)
Software
3. UCodes
4. Older image (without Cydines new fixes)
I am not going to enter in to software fixes other than make shure your UCode is 001A
And make sure you have the newest Sportster image
Several simple checks will establish if you might have a faulty DBox
Firstly all DBoxes lockup and this varies from once a day to once a week THIS IS NORMAL If your box is working normally it may not lockup at all on FTA (Free To Air) Ch but will on Pay Ch, but if you think your DBox is faulty read below.
First check does the picture look normal, are there any unusual coloured blocks (usually green) apearing.
If yes .............YOU HAVE A FAULTY DBox.......... dont continue.
Do you have any areas in your picture that have problems with colour or pixelation (distortion of image) but only in that area of the screen.
If yes .............YOU HAVE A FAULTY DBox.......... dont continue.
Green picture or vertical green stripes, you may clear this by restarting your DBox if not check your UCodes
DBox button, Service, Check UCodes................. 001A seems to be the best to use.
Oh and its the one thats grayed out that is in use.
If you press the RED button then the BLUE button with most images it will display (amongst other things) three readings, a lot of people misunderstand these and think the BER is the most important IT ISNT.
BER is Bit Error Rate and bellow 20,000 is better but NOT essential, i have seen perfectly good pictures with it above 50,000
Sig is Signal strength and of course the higher this is the better, 0 can indicate faulty tuner but i have seen perfectly good pictures with very very low Sig i.e. 30 and less.
SNR is the most important (Signal to Noise ratio) this is how much of the AVAILABLE signal it can see above the noise, and that is why even with low Sig or poor BER if it can see enough signal above the noise it will work just fine.So this MUST be above 55,000, if it is less you will have freezing picture and jerky movement or even no picture at all. This reading is normally between 62,000 and 64,999.
And you may still get EPG but no picture with low SNR
If you cant get it above 55.000 check your cable feed, 1. with another box if poss 2. make sure there is no physical damage to the cable flattening or cuts, if there is change it try again.
If you havent had it working on this feed you may have an *attenuator in your wall box (see below). Remember just because your cable modem works does not mean your DBox will.
A splitter and an attenuator are different animals, a splitter will have NO db figures on it, an attenuator will, they can look the same and an attenuator can have 2 outs (looks like a splitter but its NOT) if it says somthing like 3db or -6db or the like it IS an ATTENUATOR, NOT a SPLITTER and should not be used as a splitter or you may get jerky or no picture
* Attenuators reduce your signal, i.e. 3db reduces it by half (50%), 6db reduces it by 3/4 (75%) 12db will only leave you 1/8 (12.5%) of your original signal. So as you can see if you have a 3db Attenuator removing it will double your signal !
Maybe between us we can add to it so it covers a broader range of solutions...any suggestions?.
: colors1
