Wanting to get hold of faulty DVB-T freeview tuners.

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Wanting to get hold of faulty DVB-T freeview tuners.

Agent24

89 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#79654 20-Mar-2011 21:52

I am interested in a diagnosing a faulty freeview tuner unit, I have some theories but want to check to make sure.

Common faults seem to be total startup failure, random lockups or inability to receive channels.

If anyone has a broken one they wouldn't mind parting with, please let me know. I can pay postage if needed.

Non-system disk or disk error. Replace and strike any key when ready.

z80man

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#455322 4-Apr-2011 21:31

I have a faulty Zinwell ZMT-620HD receiver. It has no signal out. The power supply is fine and the box obeys the remote control on/off led. I believe it is a 'chip' fault in the signal processing area.

I bought it in 2007 when HD transmissions started, it ran fine for 2 years, 7 months, then it just stopped while in use. The vendor doesn't want to know even though it cost close to $400 at the time, boo-hoo.

On the basis that electronics can be pretty unreliable these days, I invested in a cheap replacement from
Trademe, costs $99. Guess what! its starting to play-up too. When I contacted the vendor they said it only had a 30 day warranty - can you belive that!

But hey, there is always analogue, at least its reliable....

Agent24

89 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#455345 4-Apr-2011 22:56

But not for much longer... eventually they'll kill off Analog and we'll all be stuck with these pieces of junk.

I wonder if anyone actually makes decent ones?

Don't suppose there's any chance I can have a look at your broken one?

Non-system disk or disk error. Replace and strike any key when ready.

z80man

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#455351 4-Apr-2011 23:05

Yes, you are welcome to have a look, how do I get it to you?

freeviewfan

259 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#455428 5-Apr-2011 10:13

yes it weird lots and lots and lots of freeview dvb-t boxes brake

Agent24

89 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#455443 5-Apr-2011 11:15

z80man: Yes, you are welcome to have a look, how do I get it to you?

Guess that depends on where you are. If you're local I may be able to pickup, otherwise I suppose you'd have to post it.

Be aware that if you wanted it back it may not be in the original state I received it. Please advise on this.

Non-system disk or disk error. Replace and strike any key when ready.

z80man

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#455525 5-Apr-2011 13:47

Out of curiosity, what is it you actually want to look at. There's not much inside, its all based on a single BGA chip, and a tuner module.

I live in Auckland (Papatoetoe) so if thats handy then you can collect it, otherwise email me your address and I'll send it to you.

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

JimmyH

2898 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1554

#455709 5-Apr-2011 22:50

I think if a vendor claimed there was only a 30 day warranty on something I bought, after it failed shortly after I got it, I would go back to them invoking the Consumer Guarantees Act.

While I am not a lawyer, my understanding is that the goods supplied have to be of acceptable quality - which includes the durability that a reasonable consumer would expect - and they can't contract out of it by stating a silly warranty length in the fine print. To my mind, 30 days isn't a reasonable life expectancy for a product of that type.

I have found that merely referring to the act has worked wonders with uncooperative retailers a couple of times in the past.

If they don't want to play ball, send an email with details to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, who I think enforce the Act, The Penalties on traders fro not complying can be very steep!

z80man

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#455843 6-Apr-2011 11:22

Yes, I am aware of the CGA, the problem is that the Ministry itself does not enforce the act, you have to be prepared to take the trader to the Small Claims Court to get redress, and while its highly likely they may find in your favour, you will not get a new replacement, instead the value of your usage to date is taken into account and you wind up getting maybe half of the value of a replacement. On top of that is the cost of taking the case, around $30 I believe, and all for a product that only cost $99 in the first place.

Its not surprising a lot of people can't be bothered for relatively low value items. I guess the traders count on that in the first place. I basically just have to take it on the chin and write it off to experience, the lesson being do not bother buying 'cheap' electronic items on Trademe.

I tried threatning the retailer of my first dvb box with the cga, they just laughed and said go for it, but the economics just don't stack up. It is the one that is the subject of this link, it cost over $400 when I bought it and only lasted 2years 7months.

What would be interesting to know is what is the real failure rate of modern electronic stuff like dvb boxes,
which are basically built around single-chip solutions from chip makers, and how can we tell which are reliable.

A few years ago, electronic equipment used to last 10 to 20 years or more if it had no moving parts so what has changed?

Agent24

89 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#455848 6-Apr-2011 11:28

z80man: Out of curiosity, what is it you actually want to look at. There's not much inside, its all based on a single BGA chip, and a tuner module.

Anything and everything, really. Just to get an idea of what is going on inside these things.
I wouldn't be sure exactly until I actually see it and how it's put together.

Non-system disk or disk error. Replace and strike any key when ready.