New Freeview HD hardware: eXtra Terrestrial Freeview HD tuner

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › New Freeview HD hardware: eXtra Terrestrial Freeview HD tuner

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30 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#187651 5-Jan-2009 21:53

Peter I have new 6m run of RG6 with Crimped F connectors with a GPS aligned antenna, ITS NOT a bad installation. Wih 25yrs writing and of debugging communications software for PABX's Telephone exchanges etc etc, using both voice and video codecs and I know a SW bug when I see one. If it was a bad antenna power a power cycle would make no difference, neither would a fresh load of sw. The pixalation should reutrn immediately. It doesn't it takes 2 to 4 days after the power cycle for the issue to apeear. That rules out antennas and cables. It STINKS of a memory leak and hastly written software.

Hinko

282 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#187652 5-Jan-2009 21:56

The problem, pete9321, is that you are on record making similar dogmatic statements on this list, which subsequently seem to be somewhat less than reliable.

Consumers need and deserve consistent and reliable, nothing less.

Keep the fixes coming please Pete.

Also please let us know what is proposed to fix the audio distortion on the lower audio pair please???

kiwisat

147 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#187653 5-Jan-2009 22:08

Just look on the bright side guys. In 10 days time you will be able to record via PVR the "supposed" pixellation for review by the supplier. Can't wait.

Paul

broozm

48 posts

Geek

ID Verified

#187658 5-Jan-2009 22:41

Also, after EXTENSIVE reading on this exciting topic ("how can I get a top end Terrestrial PVR using my own USB HDD for less than the price of a medium trip to the supermarket?")!, and dithering between Zinwell and ET, this forum and the replies by Pete (even if, understandably at this time, are somewhat terse), have convinced me to go ET. (And the price is almost acceptable to u-know-who ;)

Oh yes, the big, new, flashy internal HDD models are appealing - but is the silence on their performance an indication that no-one has them yet, or that there are no problems - or that those who buy them aren't geeky enough to realise when they are not working!?

kiwisat: Just look on the bright side guys. In 10 days time you will be able to record via PVR the "supposed" pixellation for review by the supplier. Can't wait.

he he, yet another use for youtube :)

.. oh and Just a big "me too" on keeping thread this open.
Bruce.. Hawkes Bay

dodgemnz

51 posts

Master Geek

#187668 5-Jan-2009 23:53

Thanks for all the replies and I agree the post should be left open for newbies and prospective buyers of any STB to see that it aint as easy as advertised on many sites.... "if you have an existing UHF aerial and can recieve Prime or Moari tv it should work no problems, just plug and play" hmmm has bill gates had anything to do with freeview

I made a couple of calls today one to Lincrad the aerial manufacturer that made my now on the shed floor Gizmo, they said i was most likely on the verge of a low reception area as the digital signal can do srange things for various reasons. He recomended i check my cable to make sure it was RG6 spec and told me it should have a Foil and Wire sheathing + a slightly heavier core. He said it was possible that the older cable was a major factor in low signal levels.
Ascot tv also told me the same but didnt give much clue as to how to check my cable but was quite sure there was significant gains by using the newer digital/ satelite coax cable and advised some were indeed labelled for satellite and digital signal use.

I have now checked my cable that i know is at least 10 years old and it is not double sheathed with foil so im going to replace this first before going to any other steps. Lincrad also recomended using F connectors every where if possible as they said there was possibly up to 3db loss using the older push fit coax conectors and the same for similar type connectors if used on a splitter.
His advise after this was to fit an amplifier if there was no improvement in signal strength. I figured that this was good advise and the fact that the ET does have a 5V output available for aerial signal amplifiers might be saying somthing?????

Im off to get new cable tomorrow and an F conector wall socket!

RustyViewer

298 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 33

#187737 6-Jan-2009 11:10

pete9321: Message for "rustyviewer"
did you return box to Ascotts?

They're not gonna give me a refund if they can help it, that's for sure!

Like I said in my last post, it worked for them though, even so, it pixelated a little bit once but it was minor.

At home, it starts pixelating immediately, I don't have to wait for a memory leak.

I've had my box reboot randomly too. Currently, it's hardly worth watching on (particularly TV3), and it's certainly not worth recording with. extremely unreliable.

It's a shame because, in the little time when it does work, it looks really good picture. I was watching Ugly Betty the other day and it looked great - like watching a movie.

Will the firmware update also allow us to use other USB flash drives? I mean, is that fact it doesn't recognise seom USB drives a software issue that can be fixed. So I could borrow some ele's flash drive once for the update and then use mine for any future ones.

Incidentally, Ascot had one of the latest flash drives which they used to update with the Nov 21st update (my box already had it but they wanted to maske sure) - and the box recognised it - the stick lit up and it did the 1 to 100 count.

I'm planning to talk to Stewart at Rex Radio tomorrow. He's very good with technical things and maybe he can sort it all out.

Funny, I bought the ET on advice from another technical expert who told me it was much better than the Zimwell.

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

jonathan18

7415 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2850

ID Verified

Trusted

#187742 6-Jan-2009 11:34

RustyViewer:
They're not gonna give me a refund if they can help it, that's for sure!
...

At home, it starts pixelating immediately, I don't have to wait for a memory leak.

...

I've had my box reboot randomly too. Currently, it's hardly worth watching on (particularly TV3), and it's certainly not worth recording with. extremely unreliable.

For me, the random re-booting would be enough to insist on a refund. I reckon that if you wanted the unit returned/replaced, you'd have good grounds to do so under the CGA, however unkeen the supplier is on doing so:

Guarantee of acceptable quality

Goods must be:

fit for the purpose they are made for
safe
durable - last for a reasonable time
have no minor defects
acceptable in look and finish.

Source: Consumer Affairs' website

RustyViewer

298 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 33

#187743 6-Jan-2009 11:41

The random reboot may be the same reason for the pixelation - some sort of jumbled signal due to inferior cabling.

Unfortunately, Rex Radio isn't open until tomorrow so I'll have to be patient.

Incidentally, it says I'm getting about 60% signal strength and 100% quality. I guess that desn't take into account the cable quality somehow?

smac

338 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 40

#187848 6-Jan-2009 18:30

I too am on the verge of buying a receiver....was leaning toward the ET until I read this thread fully. What strikes me as a little weird is that the freeeviewshop's own forum has been virtually silent on the topic of any issues with this unit. I asked specifically about the audio issue and they said they were only aware of one type of HT amp having a problem.

Leaves me kinda wondering where to jump.....ET because of price and the promise of recording.....or shopping someplace like Dick SMith where I know I can walk down the road and exchange the unit on the spot at the first sign of trouble. Not actually that much difference in price anyway.....

DaveB

1139 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 456
Inactive user

#187855 6-Jan-2009 18:57

smac:
What strikes me as a little weird is that the freeeviewshop's own forum has been virtually silent on the topic of any issues with this unit.

Freeviewshop is well known for deleting threads that go against the "official line", hence it comes as no surprise that they are pretty silent on the numerous ET problems. There were numerous comments made within days of this unit's release, but unless they were complimentary to the product, the comments only survived a few hours max.

I have other comments that I could make with regards to this product, but I wont - I think enough is coming to light through this forum and most of the comments are well thought out and logical.

dodgemnz

51 posts

Master Geek

#187892 6-Jan-2009 22:00

My ET has rebooted several times and it always happens if changing a channel or when going to check the EPG which i find is very frustrating to use and when changing from the guide to list view it jumps back before you can make another selection! ....
Pixilation occurs instantly even if the unit is turned off for a period of time.

I dont think any supplier will be keen on refunds especially if noted on forums like this they would get a tidal wave of returns!

If you recently purchased the reciever i would say under consumers act you could take it back just because of the pisture quality problems alone. Has Ascot tv offered to check your aerial istallation with a spectrum analyiser? I dont know much about how they work but i believe it is the only way to check properly the signal your aerial is providing. Im not to hopful mine is going to improve if you have 60% signal strength and still have picture stability problems. Admittedly the pixilation is not to bad here but its still not the picture expected on the Freeview advertising, maybe i should have ordered the screen cleanng mop to go with it!

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pete9321

105 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#187897 6-Jan-2009 22:19

More rubbish from Zinwell...
heres a report on the latest Zinwell PVR...total crap!!

Regularly when the machine is put into standby, it will continue to
run the hard disk and fan as noted by others. You have to power up
and down a couple of times before it properly goes into standby.

Exceedingly slow response to the keys on the remote - a lag of up to
2 secs behind. Harmony 1 remote with Zinwell codes is far quicker.

Poorly written manual - nothing in the manual mentions OTA firmware
updates - it shows the use of the USB port! No mention of the segment
keys on playback for jumping to "chapters"

Display lights on the front panel (such as timer recording light)
randomly do or don't display.

The unit will not always come out of standby when it has timer
recordings set by using the remote - you have to use the standby
button on the machine. If the machine has been off for the day, then
the remote won't power it up. Pushing the standby button powers it on
and it goes through the "boot" process. After that, if the duration
between power on/off is not too long, the remote will power it on
quickly - weird.

Random loss of set recordings in the rec list - including loss of
series recording. This seems to happen if you power it off/on in a
particular way but I haven't worked it out yet! Bizarre that it
should lose all the settings though - and a bloody annoyance
especially if you have gone through the EPG for the whole week!

Regular loss of sound when playing back recordings. You have to turn
off the machine a couple of times until it will bring back sound. The
annoying thing is that the loss of sound is random - if you exit the
playlist, the sound of "live" broadcasts will be there and also for
some of the recorded programmes - just not all. See below for more details.

Loss of audio
Zinwell connected by HDMI through Denon 3808 receiver to Sony 1080P LCD.
SPDIF coaxial connection to Denon.
Denon set to pass HDMI video to TV and ignore HDMI audio. Set to pass
Dolby Digital through coaxial cable connection.

Turn on all equipment and watch live TV broadcast - all channels play
video and audio correctly. Denon decodes TV3 Dolby digital and
displays all channels being received. For other channels, AC3 is
decoded and converted to Dolby PLII, then output over the 5.1 channels.

Record programmes (all channels). Now the fun starts.

Watch recorded programmes - sound will play as normal (as above) with
TV3 correctly playing Dolby digital. Stop watching programmes and
turn off for the viewing session. Turn everything back on later in
the day and guess what? No sound being played back EXCEPT for TV3
recordings in Dolby digital. Turn off Zinwell and turn back on. Play
any programme NOT recorded on TV3 = no sound. Select a programme
recorded on TV3 = sound and now, the programmes that previously had
no sound, do have sound! (randomly works)

Set the Denon to ignore the coaxial cable and play HDMI audio. Result
- all programmes play audio as 2 channel. However, this defeats the
purpose of the Zinwell outputting Dolby Digital for the receiver to
decode when we are watching programmes encoded with it.

Therefore, it appears that at some point the Zinwell loses the
ability to play non Dolby recordings - probably a codec failure?

Setting the audio options during playback or before playback makes no
difference either. It is only playback of recorded TV - watching live
TV through the Zinwell properly decodes the audio without a problem.

(also randomly occurs with HDMI audio as well - go figure!)

InspectorGadget

208 posts

Master Geek

#187898 6-Jan-2009 22:24

pete9321: More rubbish from Zinwell...
heres a report on the latest Zinwell PVR...total crap!!

Regularly when the machine is put into standby, it will continue to
run the hard disk and fan as noted by others. You have to power up
and down a couple of times before it properly goes into standby.

Exceedingly slow response to the keys on the remote - a lag of up to
2 secs behind. Harmony 1 remote with Zinwell codes is far quicker.

Poorly written manual - nothing in the manual mentions OTA firmware
updates - it shows the use of the USB port! No mention of the segment
keys on playback for jumping to "chapters"

Display lights on the front panel (such as timer recording light)
randomly do or don't display.

The unit will not always come out of standby when it has timer
recordings set by using the remote - you have to use the standby
button on the machine. If the machine has been off for the day, then
the remote won't power it up. Pushing the standby button powers it on
and it goes through the "boot" process. After that, if the duration
between power on/off is not too long, the remote will power it on
quickly - weird.

Random loss of set recordings in the rec list - including loss of
series recording. This seems to happen if you power it off/on in a
particular way but I haven't worked it out yet! Bizarre that it
should lose all the settings though - and a bloody annoyance
especially if you have gone through the EPG for the whole week!

Regular loss of sound when playing back recordings. You have to turn
off the machine a couple of times until it will bring back sound. The
annoying thing is that the loss of sound is random - if you exit the
playlist, the sound of "live" broadcasts will be there and also for
some of the recorded programmes - just not all. See below for more details.

Loss of audio
Zinwell connected by HDMI through Denon 3808 receiver to Sony 1080P LCD.
SPDIF coaxial connection to Denon.
Denon set to pass HDMI video to TV and ignore HDMI audio. Set to pass
Dolby Digital through coaxial cable connection.

Turn on all equipment and watch live TV broadcast - all channels play
video and audio correctly. Denon decodes TV3 Dolby digital and
displays all channels being received. For other channels, AC3 is
decoded and converted to Dolby PLII, then output over the 5.1 channels.

Record programmes (all channels). Now the fun starts.

Watch recorded programmes - sound will play as normal (as above) with
TV3 correctly playing Dolby digital. Stop watching programmes and
turn off for the viewing session. Turn everything back on later in
the day and guess what? No sound being played back EXCEPT for TV3
recordings in Dolby digital. Turn off Zinwell and turn back on. Play
any programme NOT recorded on TV3 = no sound. Select a programme
recorded on TV3 = sound and now, the programmes that previously had
no sound, do have sound! (randomly works)

Set the Denon to ignore the coaxial cable and play HDMI audio. Result
- all programmes play audio as 2 channel. However, this defeats the
purpose of the Zinwell outputting Dolby Digital for the receiver to
decode when we are watching programmes encoded with it.

Therefore, it appears that at some point the Zinwell loses the
ability to play non Dolby recordings - probably a codec failure?

Setting the audio options during playback or before playback makes no
difference either. It is only playback of recorded TV - watching live
TV through the Zinwell properly decodes the audio without a problem.

(also randomly occurs with HDMI audio as well - go figure!)

So I take it that eXtra Terrestrial will be showing Zinwell how it's done, on or before the 15th then . . . .

pete9321

105 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#187899 6-Jan-2009 22:30

yes, so long as factory gets it right..
But how the hell did a thing like the zinwell ever get approved?
what a total joke...
They cocked up always when bringing a new item into the market,...now again...total joke...

dodgemnz

51 posts

Master Geek

#187901 6-Jan-2009 22:56

Im begnning to think that freeview has been released on the NZ public too soon. I dont mind a few teathing problems but if that report on Znwell is anything to go buy there are going to be alot of unhappy customers reading the forums!

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