In May 2008, a bunch of Freeview boxes served by the Sutton Coldfield transmitter stopped working. Now it looks like boxes in Scotland have gone the same way.
Boxes powered by the SetPal technology, including those made by Daewoo, Labgear, Portland and Triax, lack sufficient internal memory to cope with the number of Freeview stations after a transmitter upgrade, and become useless.
More on the story, including a quote from our sister site, Radio & Telly can be found here: Daily Record 5 July 2008
There are believed to be between 200,000 and 350,000 affected boxes in the UK, and as the transmitter networks get upgraded ready for the Switchover, more and more boxes are set to become landfill fodder
July 6th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I have three of the Daewoo boxes and one LabGear one. The two which have forced channel scanning on are now dead since the other morning in Northern Ireland (Divis transmitter.)
Daewoo don’t want to know. They advised me to buy a new box, are not offering any sort of discount or even an apology.
I replaced them with Clarity ones from Teco at £14.97, which appear to perform well so far, though I had to buy a RF Modulator for use with an older tv.
Hope this helps anyone reading from Northern Ireland!
Gary.
July 6th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Oops. Correction! They did offer sincere apologies, but that hardly helps!
July 7th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Is this just box’s or does it include areals? - all freeview boxes in our house (Bristol area) have gone blank.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:27 am
I have a Sagem PVR62160T.
This box is still being sold by some shops, and is not just a cheap unit it has a 160gig Hard-drive with twin tuner.
I have also lost BBC channels, not happy.
However I have noticed that is I remove the area after it has scanned the BBC Channels (Mux 1, Channel 41) I get the BBC Channels, but obviously none of the others.
I noticed that SAGEM is not currently listed, however I have seen several people on other fourms with similar problems.
However the error only happens if you re-scan. My box alerted me that new channels have been placed on the network, so I rescaned and lost BBC!!
I heard about this website from Chris Evans Show, keep up the good work.
Chris
July 8th, 2008 at 9:27 am
I have seen that on the 14/07/08 Sagem are broadcasting a update to for the Sagem PVR62160T, Hopefully that will fix the box.
However they are broadcasting it on MUX 1 (the Channel My PVR has lost!)
Crossing my fingers!
July 9th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Hi I live in the belfast area (Divis Transmitter) and all 3 of my setpal boxes went dead on Saturday. I wouldnt mind if it was near to the analogue switch off but thats not until 2012. I would like to know what are these new channels that we will get and then I will think about going back to SKY and will leave all my freeview boxes up on Divis mountain.
John
July 9th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I have just spoken to Sagem today a month after I alerted them to the loss of BBC channels to find out if anything is happening. Surprise! Surprise! Nothing is happening.
The problem appears to be with Freeview, who’s management appear to be both crass and arrogant. I guess the issue is that there is no real sanction, particularly with that toothless Watchdog called OFCOM “monitoring the situation”.
This is particularly disgraceful as we ultimately have no option but to go digital. The thought of lining the pocket of Murdoch or Branson to get digital does not appeal; however, I think the problem lies with the fact that Freeview does not appear to face any direct competition.
Does anyone know if there is an action group for this problem?
July 9th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
My Phillips DTR 1500/05 has just got the dreade flashing red light . Could this be connected? I am in Worcester and signal could be from Sutton coldfield.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
If it is only some of your channels like bbc have gone you will probably find them in the 300 or 800 range and it will be sorted sometime.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I’ve lost count of the number of Freeview boxes I’ve bought over the last few years that have all developed faults of one sort or another. The industry should be ashamed of itself. The only one that has consistently worked perfectly, if a little slowly, is my original OnDigital box bought for £200 on the first day of digtal transmissions.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Why, why, why do we need digital television??… Analogue television via terrestrial transmitters is a tried and tested medium and in my opinion should be left well alone. Do we honestley need all these extra digital channels, most of which offer a load of crap as their entertainment fayre. Even the existing BBC channels that used to be a halmark of quality television programming have been dumbed down so much it’s just like “Chewing gum for the eyes” now. What we need is a return to higher broadcasting standards, less downmarket programming and even less low quality digital television broadcasting. The fact that certain digital Freeview boxes have stopped working as a result of transmitter upgrades is, again in my opinion, a blessesd release for the viewers concerned. Maybe these viewers might do something more worthwhile with their televisions instead of watching poor, highly data compressed, blocky digital tv services that have to be the worst looking pictures ever! Sorry to sound so negative, but since the loss of the IBA and quality ITV stations such as Thames and ATV and the mess that the 1990 Broadcasting Act has made of UK broadcasting, is it any wonder that the television industry is the way it is these days. This digital switchover is being forced on the public, an analogue picture will beat a a highly compressed picture any day, so why, if the manufacturers of digital Freeview boxes want to be part of this digital revolution, don’t they at least work out a standard of broadcasting digital tv once and for all and stick with it. I think the reason is that most digital equipment manufacturers want these Freeview boxes and other digital items to last only a short time so that they can have repeat sales when the old box or equipment fails or stops working when broadcasters upgrade the transmission network.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:46 am
So you’ve never watched, or don’t feel you need, the “quality television programming” of BBC FOUR? And you don’t feel the need for HDTV? Let’s all go back to three channels of ghosting, shadowed, wobbly analogue. In fact, why bother with moving pictures at all? There are some caves with very nice paintings that you could look at…
July 15th, 2008 at 9:49 am
The Tyne-Tees area is undegoing this upgrade and as of today 15/07/08 the Channel 5 signal for Top-Up TV Anytime is still not available. It’s no use hauraning TUTV they are helpless in the given circumstances, though they have reassured me that , once the transmitter at Pontop Pike is back in service all will be well after a retune
July 20th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
technika aestbs7 lost some of my channels channel 5 has also gone scotland
July 21st, 2008 at 8:14 pm
I can confirm that the recent update to the Tyne Tees transmitter has rendered my Daewoo DS608P freeview decoder to the graveyard!!!
After ringing the Daewoo help no. given on the Freeview website, in the hope of a replacement or discounted freeview box —- forget it!!!They blame the problem on Setpal who went bust years ago.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Why couldn’t anyone warn us not to press ‘yes’ to scan for new and updated channels? It ruined a good saturday night, and now today, after reading frequencycast, I realised what went wrong. Thanks to all those concerned who don’t care and the help I’ll never see. 2012 is time for the great digital TV rip-off. CAN’T WAIT.
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:28 am
This problem is also affecting some TVs, for instance a three year old Sony 37inch Plasma TV, original cost £2800
July 25th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Border TV Area ( Caldbeck Transmitter ) seems to have gone the same way on the 23rd July .Message ‘NO DIGITAL CHANNELS CAN BE FOUND’ This is unbelievable - I bought my SetPal powered set top from a Radio Times offer because it offered ’superior reception’ for areas with poor signals . £85.00 .
July 25th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Also Border TV region , LabGear DTT100 Set Top Box (SetPal)
Wasted many hours scanning on all channel frequencies , swapping cables and re-reading instructions ,trying to get any reception .Nothing .
If I didn’t have access to the internet I would be puzzled and angry .After finding frequencycast.co.uk information , I’m just angry .
What other surprises in store when we face switchover in April next year?
Ofcom - what are you doing about this? Does anyone care?
July 26th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
My Grundig box, bought at the start of the digital service in this area (Lark Stoke off Sutton Coldfield) now gets BBC1 etc in the 800s region, at the end of all the rubbish channel. Better than nothing but very irritating. Who’s fault? The BBC?
July 31st, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I am well pissed off with Daewoo as I had a Daewoo SV900 { cost bnew £ 130 so not a cheap unit } that was impossible to cancel the ‘ Found new Channels ‘ automatic update so I had no choice and of course it went dead .
I complained to Daewoo - they blame everyone except themselves.
When I wrote back pointing out that machines I bought two years before the Daewoo SV900 are still working they ‘ very grudgingly offered a price reduction.
DS700T SET TOP BOX for £19.99 (P&P included)
DSD800M SET TOP BOX for £19.99 (P&P included)
DSD9502TFP + 80GB HDD (TWIN DIGITAL TUNER) for: £67.99 (P&P incl )
DSD9503T + 80GB HDD (TWIN DIGITAL TUNER) for: £71.99(P&P incl )
DRT10 - DVD RECORDER + DIGITAL TUNER for £78 .99 (P&P included)
DSD9520 - STB with 80GB HDD - for £56.99 (P&P included)
calling 0870 100 2525
and quoting ‘Split NIT Affected Customer Offer’
Now personally I will not be taking them up on their offer as after all there is no guarantee their current units will work after the next split.
Units I bought ‘ two years ‘ before the Daewoo are still working so really it was just pure ‘ penny pinching ‘
It will take a lot more than a tenner discount to get my Custom Back.
I own nine units and the best one by a mile is the Wharfedale LPDV832B { £ 25 } so take a tip from me buy that instead.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Confirmation about the DAEWOO DS608P - it stopped on the 31/07 - No signal found etc.. I checked all the installation and it is fine.. I will buy another box.. but not a DAEWOO
August 1st, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Well, failing Freeview boxes this is the price the consumer is now paying for deregulated broadcasting unfortunately… I am in favour of increased channel choice both on TV and radio, but without a well thought out technical standard to begin with what chance has digital broadcasting got?? When we had both the BBC and the IBA regulating the technical broadcasting standards, then this Freeview set-top box fiasco wouldn’t have happened in the first place. Even with BBC’s Teletext and IBA’s Oracle text services the industry shared the same technical standards, so that all the TV text decoders would work properly. With the toothless OFCOM regulating the broadcasting standards in the UK, then what do you expect? These transmitter upgrades to the digital network should have been planned for years ago so that equipment should be future proofed to allow for such expansion. Even as I write they are using two different methods of digital transmission, QAM 16 on BBC channels and the much more inferior QAM 64 digital transmission coding on the commercial channels. Why can’t the broadcasters do as they did in the olden days of broadcasting and agree on one technical standard for a particular system, I.E: PAL I for colour television on analogue, and not keep upgrading a system like they are now doing with digital television and making the hardware that the viewing public have paid for totally useless. I have nothing against digital TV, but surely the broadcasting industry could try and strive for a quality system, that uses much less digital compression, which would give a better picture quality, with less blocky looking pictures, rather than the multi channels squeezed into a single 8MHz channel spacing on UHF. HDTV really should also standardise it’s line standard, is it going to be, 720 interlaced, 720 progressive, or 1080 progressive as the final line standrad for HDTV? I would rather we had a mere 3 or 4 real quality channels broadcasting in digital quality, (Remember the rather good BSB D-MAC broadcasts from the Marco Polo satellite?) rather than 700 or more in lower picture quality on the current digital platforms. As an engineeer myself, I get to see a lot of people with failed digital freeeview boxes, even without the latest transmitter upgrades these boxes pose a great problem with reception of signals, especially here in a fringe reception area, Southend-on-sea, in the East of England. Our regional transmitter at Sudbury has such a low digital output on some channels until the 2011 switchover, that not all channels are receivable even with an aerial upgraded to group W or group E. I am begining to think that the best way to watch television in the future is by using a PC and watching online via broadband.
August 1st, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I have had this happen today with my portland unit - moved tv had to re scan now got nothing. Sooooooooooo peeed of as rely on the kids channels to get jobs done. REally cant afford new unit - will be calling manafacture tomorrow but doubt will get any joy.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:19 am
Grundig box lost some of its EPG (Mux2) I rescanned and now BBC is up in the 800’s but the EPG is back.
My Toshiba TV has lost EPG - I might risk a rescan…
London - Crystal Palace - so I suspect quite a few grumpy TV viewers out there.
WHY WASNT THIS PUBLICISED ANYWHERE???
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Can someone advise on a replacement box? Had a Daewoo DS608P and it stopped finding any channels at all during the week. Signal is from Crytal Palace. Went out and bought a new box Sagem ITD59NG - same problem (aaargh), bought new connecting co-ax cables, changed Scart cable etc still no channels. Could the Sagem have the same problem or should I start tearing down all the Co-ax cable to my aerial (miles above on the roof)??
August 3rd, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I’m joining the klub. My BT Setpal stopped picking up signals from Blackhill, for probably the same reasons above. I contacted BT, but no response,…
August 5th, 2008 at 6:07 am
To Caroline - take back the Sagem ITD59NG and demand a full refund.
Go to Argos and buy a Wharfedale LPDV832B { £ 25 } - that can cope with the latest change.
————————-
I don’t think some people { who are not affected by the recent change } fully appreciate that the only reason why we have units sitting in the corner ‘ dead as a dodo ‘ is because there was no switch that could have been selected to stop the box making a rescan.
Yes I know the vast majority of box’s have selective default settings at least in my case I had two separate units both impossible to prevent them committing hari kari.
Once they lock up - they lock up and therefor will not see any OTA update so really any Company that claims there is one in the pipeline is talking a load of Bollocks.
All this should have been sorted out Months ago but the Companies have made a Corporate decision not to make a update available well before the split.
Lets look at it in Money terms - most of them could have sorted the problem out well in advance but they realised they could ‘ wash their hands of the whole affair ‘ so generating extra Sales although only a fool would buy more products from the same Companies that have a built in Self-destruct mechanism.
So far Daewoo Blame Freeview - Sagem point out they are not on the list but that is no comfort to me as its Buggered.
Make no mistake about this - this is only the first wave.
We need a standard - like the ‘ HDTV READY ‘ or ‘ Full HDTV ‘ so that Consumers would know what they are buying.
So far all they have been doing is passing the buck - there is no point trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted.
I was aware the split was going to be made { unlike many Consumers } but as it was not possible to prevent the units making a rescan
‘ Both hands were tied behind my back ‘ and I was not the only one
August 5th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Daewoo have no right to blame Freeview. Split nits were always in the DVB-T spec and Daewoo and the other manufacturers are clearly at fault for not making the boxes to the spec, i.e. fit for the purpose. All these manufacturers should be forced to give refunds under the sale of goods act.
August 5th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I have a Grundig GTD1500 v3.6 which is putting BBC channels in the 800’s. Someone I know of has one v5.3 which is OK. Have I missed an update or are there different versions out there?
Also have a Panasonic TU-CT30 which is putting BBC channels on empty channels above 104. No one else has mentioned Panasonic, is mine unique?
August 5th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
From Daewoo —- I write with reference to your e-mail below regarding the loss of signal to your Daewoo VCR/Digital Receiver SV900. I can confirm that when this product was manufactured it was designed to meet all the criteria for it to receive
the digital signal, and operate as it should do. Therefore, we had no prior knowledge that these products would not be compatible with future digital signals. Please review the statement that has been released by Freeview in relation to this “signal shutdown”:
a later e-mail stated - I am sorry for not apologising for this situation, ‘ but if the DMOL had not cut the signal then the box would still operate ‘ , so we have not caused this situation
Now if I was a normal Consumer who did not understand Electronics - { in fact I am retired University Lecturer in Advance Computer Design } I would get the impression that Daewoo was Blameless when in fact I know they did not build their unit to be compatible with other units sold around the same period.
The Daewoo VCR/Digital Receiver SV900 was not a Cheap box - it cost £ 140 which was more expensive than a Video and stb but at the time I needed space hence a combined box made sense although once I got it out the box I worked out the designer was a FOOL - for example press stop and hold it down for a nano second longer then the tape would eject as the idiot had combined the stop and eject button { with hair trigger sensitivity } - even worse it was crammed right above the play button so close together that 50 % of the time I would press play and accidentally eject the tape at the same time.
every week it would attempt to download adverts from ‘ setpal ‘ although they had gone bust so while all that was going on it would stop recording.
it was a Rubbish Unit and I would never buy from Daewoo again.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Having caught a one minute broadcast on the local TV news, we at least had some idea why our Daewoo box was no longer working. What a pity we were not informed before hand so at least we were not disappointed when we sat down to watch TV only to find that we need to buy another one. We work full time and have to wait til the weekend to shop - let alone the cost and time.
Who exactly is responsible for NOT telling us!!
Emma
Devon
August 9th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Caught in the final tranch of this like everyone else on here. Found this statement:
http://www.freeview.co.uk/help/faq/id104963
It says “The number of affected boxes represents around 1% of all Freeview equipment sold to date, although the number of people who’ve contacted Freeview and the manufacturers so far suggests the actual number could be much lower.”
And digital is the future, “they” tell us.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:33 am
In reply to ‘ Emma Hines ‘
When you bought Your New Box did you ask how long that will remain working for as the next so called ‘ Improvements ‘ is due next Year so unless the store has a crystal Ball there is no way they can Predict which units will survive the next round of Improvements.
The STB builders know what is next in the pipe line and they know which units is next for the Chop.
Just you wait and see when the next ‘ Improvements ‘ kick in Freeview will be Claiming its still only 1 % - there is something like 3,500,000 setpal units that were in use in the UK but as far as I am aware they are all useless so really the figures don’t add up.
Its all spin spin and more spin.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Well, well … the suppliers of IT equipment won’t keep us informed, via their devices, of impending faults. And neither will our government. Lies, distortions, spin, profits by any means, and politics corrupted by money are legacies we suffer from Thatcher and Blair. Don’t buy from crap companies and don’t vote for crap governments.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Its Clearly a Conspiracy.
Think about .
How many Adverts for STB Units Highlight how future proof their unit’s are ?
Now I owned a Original OnDIGITAL Box { bought just before they went on air }
I did not expect it to last as long as it did but it was a right kick in the teeth for box’s half its age not being able to cope with the so called Improvements.
Remmeber some of the dead box’s were still on sale this year - they are the lucky ones but if you bought it over a year ago its a major hassle to get a refund.
August 10th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Thank you forgiving out some sensible information about what is going on with Freeview.
I am angry about the lack of publicity and consultation about this change which affects so many people. I came across this problem by chance when browsing the Freeview website. I i e-mailed (12.7.08) and asked when it was going to affect London. I received a reply (18.7.08) which did not answer my question and simply repeated what was on the website and the went on:
”From the information we have, it is likely that your box will be affected by future enhancements. Please look out for further information in local press.”
Subsequently the date for the London change has been put on the website. It happened on 29.7.08 which must have been known when Mr Burns replied to me. I replied asking for an address to complain to and he kindly provided the following:
”Please find below details regarding making a complaint. If you could put your complaint in writing to Ms Newey, she will raise it at the relevant industry committee;
Ms Heather Newey
Freeview
Broadcast Centre (BC3 B6)
201 Wood Lane
London
W12 7TP”
It would be great if others would write too.
My Labgear box (Setpal) is still working but I think only because I have not switched it off or accepted new channels.
I am now trying to find a replacement with the same functionality but it is proving difficult. Does anyone reading this blog know of a freeview receiver or PVR which has any of the following features?
1. Signal boosting for use in weak signal areas
2. A button which allows you to swap between two channels
3. Volume control
I would be grateful for any advice
August 11th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I live in Tiptree, Essex and looks like my SetPal Unit died today as a result of the recent transmitter upgrade in my area (We feed off the Sudbury transmiter). My wife switched the unit off to access TeleTex and when the Unit was switched back on I could not tune the Unit in to receive the channels.
It really does annoy me that no warnings were given of these upgrades, the timetable and the Units that would possibly be affected. I was completey puzzled why my Unit suddenly failed and only found out the info from this website.
Oh well looks like i will be going to Chelmsford tomorrow to purchase another Unit. I’m looking to purchase the Philips DTR220. I’m hoping this Unit is compatible with the Transmitter upgrade. Once its setup i will turn it off and see what happens. If it fails, I shall return it to the Retailer.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Anyone who owns a SetPal Unit and there is 3,500,000 users in the British Isle’s
They cant switch the unit on standby or switch it off
If you get a request ‘ New Channels in the Flow ‘ Don’t be a fool and accept it .
Some units will allow you to Cancel.
If you accept it - you have set a ticking Bomb and it will go DEAD.
Put it this way far better having 99.9 % of Something than 100 % of NOTHING
A message to Alan White - when you buy the Philips DTR220 ask them what Guarantees they offer as to if that unit will be able to cope with ‘ the next changes due in a few Years ‘ and see what they say.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
No doubt the majority of the 3.5 million Setpal users and the vast majority of Freeview Users, are like me, not aware of the Transmitter upgrade and as such it would have been really helpful if some form of advertising campaign had been run by Freeview/Ofcom/TV Companys, to warn users of these boxes what will happen if they turn off their boxes/accept a channel update.
Someone should now take ownership of this issue and launch a “damage limitation” exercise.
As for asking shop staff the question posed in Brian Carson’s reply, I bet 99.9% of the staff won’t have a clue what one is asking.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Yes I agree with Alan White as Customers were left high and dry and no one had the Balls to stand up and say ‘ The Buck stops Here ‘
My two units were three and four year old - not exactly Ancient and the really annoying part is that units bought years before have still been able to cope so clearly someone is not telling the whole Truth.
Its really the same situation with DAB and DAB+ - for years they have been flogging DAB Units and most of which don’t stand a hope in hells Change of ever being upgraded to DAB+
Yes I will admit that ‘ PURE ‘ have been doing their best but walk into any High street chain and ask for a DAB+ set and they will look at you if you were from Mars.
There are millions of people in the UK that have a DAB radio so Ofcom will have to weigh up the advantages of phasing in a DAB+ system with the disadvantage of phasing out the current digital system.
It’s also likely that if DAB+ were to be adopted in the UK, there would be a period when both DAB and DAB+ would run alongside one another
But once it goes that’s another load of units being sent to the scrap heap.
I don’t like being treated as a MUG and I will not buy units that I know have only a limited time scale
August 13th, 2008 at 6:18 am
my Bush 28″ widescreen IDTV set has done this
so have brought external freeview box
August 13th, 2008 at 7:23 am
By the way I read on another Forum that a Sony IDTV has also packed up due to the same problem so really Freeview is kidding them self that its only 1% of the market.
They dont have a clue how many of the Cheaper Buffers were used - all they did was Guess.
Really its not Good enough.
With no advance warning Consumers were taking a ‘ Blind gamble ‘ as after all with no advance information how can Consumers make a educated Choice.
By the way the words at
http://www.freeview.co.uk/help/faq/id104963
has remained unchanged so I would advise as many people as possible to send a e-mail to info@freeview.co.uk and tell them to get their Head out of the Sand as its very annoying they claim that very few people have been affected.
the two key question to ask them is
How can a Consumer know in advance which units would stop working after the latest so called improvements. ?
When they may make further improvements what Guarantee that any box sold today will not end up in the scrap heap ?
August 14th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
To put it simply..Daewoo have handled this appallingly..Their attitude stinks and quite simply IT WILL NEVER ENTER INTO MY HEAD TO BUY A DAEWOO PRODUCT AGAIN!
August 14th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
A notice supplied with a Panasonic TU-CT20 Digital box states:-
We are pleased to advise you that this model is capable of detecting new services as they become available, and informing you of their existence via an on screen message.
At the time of manufacture, this feature was not supported by the broadcasters, therefore, the default setting for “New Service
Message” is OFF.
To switch this feature on, when it becomes available from
broadcasters, this is then followed by relevant instructions.
So.the broadcasters have known about it all along - this box, I
think, is about 4 years old and is still working.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
If you haven’t done so already, please take a look at todays Daily Express. It features an article on this issue in which my comments have been included…… Fame at last !!
It appears that Freeview are still not budging from their stance of providing no compensation.
August 14th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Hi
To be honest I’ve given up with Freeview.
I had a state of the art aerial installed, it works quite well in the conservatory but as soon as you spit on it I would half the channels in the front room. CBeebies was a godsend. Just as somebody else has written, it allowed me to get some housework done.
I’ve had an old battered Phillips OnDigital Box since 2002 and it’s served me well but enough was enough.
I already had Virgin B/band & phone & I’ve added a TV package to it via their retention team. By doing this I also upgraded to a free calls pack 24/7 except to 0870 & mobile.
The kids are happy, the wife is happy, I’m relieved! It absolutely chucked it down last week and I know I would have lost loads of channels & my patience but everything worked as you’d want it to.
The picture is great - I can even email my telly when I’m in work.
I’d never go back now - I still have the other Freeview box in the conservatory that one is a SAGEM so I will say no to the upgrade.
I agree with the sentiments that it’s all a great big con. The government has already spent the money from the Terrestrial signal sell off - even though it’s not happened yet.
As for LCD & Plasma - they’re just a great big rip as well. Flimsy, dodgy picture - I’m not that convinced!
I’ve loved my Freeview for years - no more.
Regards
August 15th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Lost signal from my Bush freeview box. The menu proclaimed that there was no signal coming in. After hours spent dismembering all my wiring I finally gave up. Thanks freeview for any information saying that my box was now inoperable. A truly miserable service, and yet another expense. Are they (Bush/Freeview)allowed to get away with what amounts to taking money under false pretences.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Just by chance I spoke to an aerial installer today re. our poor TV signal. Asking about the Freeview problem we have been having this past 3 weeks - he says that he had just had a note round about it. We have a Daewoo Setpal which is now completely useless and the sony freeview has very limited channels now. I was completely in the dark about it until today thinking that the boxes/aerial had gone wrong. Hence me looking at the internet this afternoon.
What freeview box is best to buy do you think now?
August 15th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Wrote to BBC WATCHDOG today,a bit of bad publicity would help.
Both Daewoo&Freeview need to compensate owners of boxes.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I have a Fergusson FDT600 - I wasn’t getting any programme info for a number of channels so tried a re-tune. I’ve now lost all of the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV Channels except BBC4!
CAn anyone explain this?
August 16th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
My Tosumi TOMSTB01 occasionally stops displaying any information about programmes on some channels. Cure is a quick rescan. Or was, first rescan lost everything on BBC ITV and C4. Reset to manufacturers defaults and scan lost everything.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I have a Daewoo which was working perfectly well up till two days ago. I bought this box at £80 a couple years ago. I am very disappointed with this service and I believe that this is all about getting people to spend more money(like we don’t already) I am not sure what I will do now, whether i should just buy a digital tv or a new box set cause i dont want to be buying another one every other year :-(
August 16th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Anyone got Dawoo’s UK address? - maybe we should all send out now worthless boxes back to them - they might (NOT!) get the picture then.
August 17th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
GOT SONY idtv KD32DX150U ALSO HAVING PROBLEMS SINCE TRANSMITTER UPDATE.(CRYSTAL PALACE).NOT ABLE TO RETUNE, NOW WORRIED IF I TRY AGAIN IT MIGHT STOP WORKING ALTOGETHER.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Have also complained to Watchdog about my Setpal set-top box from Daewoo becoming obsolete without warning or compensation.
I think they should provide free set-top boxes to whom have been affected, surely its a breach of trading standards?
August 19th, 2008 at 5:57 am
The Mail printed my name with regards my Complaint regarding Daewoo and some of the comments { Re ‘ split NIT ‘ }
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1044291/Up-250-000-TV-screens-blank-upgrade-leaves-Freeview-boxes-obsolete.html
Daewoo have put their foot in it as they claim ‘The two boxes from Daewoo that were affected were made before the digital tick logo, which set a standard for digital TV (in 2004).
Which sounds fair enough except I have proof on my Computer that the Daewoo SV900 did not go on sale in the UK until February 2004
I am still annoyed it all could have been avoidable if they had allowed a default switch as I did not want to update the list as I was happy with what I have .
Better to have 99 % than 100% of NOTHING.
August 19th, 2008 at 7:11 am
..at least DAewoo are giving you something potentially back…I’ve got 2 labgears - one I stupidly rescanned…and is now a doorstop..the other one won’t stay stable and is poor…its only in the kitchen..
Pretty pieved about this… guess its “off to Asda to get a cheapo”
August 19th, 2008 at 7:46 am
With regards Steve comment ‘ at least Daewoo are giving you something potentially back ‘
which would be true if they were willing to reset the units or offer a substantial discount but I don’t think a £ 10 reduction on a product I could Buy £ 20 Cheaper elsewhere is showing Good Faith.
Even if I was daft enough to buy a new Daewoo unit there is no guarantee that it will not self destruct in 2012 { the next time they mess about with the NIT }
All these Companies can get away with it because Consumers in Britain don’t protest enough.
My Daewoo SV900 has a Video Recorder but when I plug in a separate Feeview box it will not record as it claims ‘ There is no Channel’s set ‘ even although when the split NIT came about it could not handle the split so therefor it claims it cant find any Channel’s - So its a Catch 22.
I paid £ 130 in June 2004 and really a unit that has a life of four years is not what I would call Good Value.
There are others who bought it two years ago so they are worse of than me.
Actually the age of a unit is a smokescreen - they were making up their own standards and using cheap Buffers to make a few pence extra Profit.
I am sure anyone reading this thread will not buy any products from the Companies that have washed their hands of the whole affair.
I certainly will not be buying anything from Daewoo again.
Once Bitting twice Shy
—————-
By the way if their claim that only 1 % have been affected then it would not break their Bank Account by replacing all the units for free but I suspect they know that a lot more are affected so therefor unwilling to make that offer.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I have 4 Grundig GDT1000 one has v2.8,two have version 3.6 and one has v5.8 (including teletext +) the 2.8 works but some channels are mixed up, the two with v3.6 make a right mess off the channel numbers, the one on v5.8 works fine,I hope we get a OAD soon.In the mean time i’ve bought a Humax F2 FOX T (£49.95p freep+p at John Lewis Direct)as I don’t hold out much hope with Thompson/Grundig. My two Sagem IDT602 keep rescaning everytime I turn them on.The OLD Nokia Mediamaster (ex on digital) is as slow as it ever was but still works fine ! ! !
August 19th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Sony are about to release an Over The Air software download to fix the acknowledged NIT problem on their IDTVs (including KD32DX150).
Deatais here
http://sonycic.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/sonycic.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=369&p_created=1216219189
August 19th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Good for Sony but as my Daewoo claims there is no Channels even if there was a OAD for the Daewoo it would never see it .
With regards ‘ Dave’s ‘ two Sagem IDT602 they can be sorted.
Unplug both machines ‘ from the mains ‘ - wait a few Hours then plug them back in.
Go to BBC1 and search for new Channels and this time it will stop asking to rescan every few minuets.
———————–
The Humax F2 FOX T is a great unit its just a shame that other Companies did not stick to the standards.
August 19th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Just to update you all my Labgear box is still working despite switching itself off last night. I did not accept the new channels when I switched it back on and it is fine. I would not have known that this was the right action to take if it not been for the helpful advice on this website so a big thank you to all. Why could’nt Freeview have given this advice?
August 24th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Same problem here with a 200£ SAGEM box with 80GB hard drive.
I can’t believe those idiots didn’t bother making a page on one of their freeview channels warning us “NOT TO DO THE UPGRADE IF THE BOX IS OLDER THAN XXX ETC ETC…”
Does anyone know if there’s a way to go around this problem?
August 25th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Hi there,
yep I’m another “victim” of a forced change with a Daewoo DS608P box. I was happily watching the Olympics on Friday 22nd via “The Red button” when there was a period of distortion of both sound and vision and a message appeared stating that the signal was weak and the Box recommended a re-scan, and then voila nothing!!
I find this shocking that nothing was publicised with regards this “known” problem, as I unfortunately don’t listen to Radio 2 or Five Live I didn’t hear the relevent broadcasts. However there was nothing in the local or national press as far as I’m aware. I was wondering if there is a recommended box that I could use via the RF channel as I have an old fashioned RF multicast ariel box, and it was good to be able to connect the old Daewoo box and “tune in” a channel as the digital channel for the various Televisions in the house without requiring a STB per TV. I have purchased a Bush DFTA16 box, but despite being advertised as having an RF loop, it needs a scart connection to work and rather than taking a sales persons advice, I was wondering if anybody else knows of a STB which will work via normal RF conectivity?
Many thanks and sympathies
August 25th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Simon - I replied to your e-mail today - I would advise a ‘ Humax F2-FOX T ‘ which has a ‘ RF Modulator ‘ which is what you need -
so unlike a RF loop-through a on-board modulator with adjustable output channel - is useful for repeating the received Freeview channel to other rooms via coax cable.
Yes I agree they were bloody quiet over this problem but at least we can use this to our advantage and not buy anything from any Company who tried to wash their hands of the whole affair.
August 26th, 2008 at 7:36 am
A copy of my message to Freeview. Don’t suppose it will get any action but I firmly belive quite a lot of Pensioners will be in the group affected and this is just another weight on their backs regarding the expenses they are expected to cover.
Copy
It is disgraceful that you have carried out this upgrade without making it backward compatible and informing people that it will happen or at least making some offer of recompense.
I was called by my 85 year old Mother complaining that she could not get her machine to work.
She is 3 hours journey from me and suffers greatly from Old age problems. She is house bound so depends greatly on her TV. She is also afraid of Technology so she was panicking. Thinking she had done something wrong I made the trip to her house to find that it just would not work. Not knowing about the changes you had made I decided to disconnect the machine and return home with it to see if I could work out the problem at home!.
Having searched the Internet for the machine and the problem I found that you had made these amendments which made the machines useless.
Thus you have made it a requirement for a new machine to be purchased to replace a perfectly operating one (less than 5 years old) which has been made useless by your actions.
This is an expense an 85 year old pensioner can well do without and the inconvenience you have caused is to say the least unacceptable.
The switch over to Digital is one which is likely to be very difficult for Pensioners to cope with (and accept) and the actions you have recently taken will certainly remove some of the trust in the systems in addition to giving the impression that there will be continuing expense to be accepted as a result.
We note you say only 2500 people have complained but we would ask how many have called out engineers etc because of your actions and how many are still trying to sort out the issue.
We fully believe that you have a responsibility to replace or refund the people involved for this absolutely disgusting set of actions you have carried out.
Perhaps the Government or trading standards people should be involved as there is a line of argument that the machines were sold but were unfit for the purpose as you do not expect to have to replace this sort of equipment in less than 5 years. TV equipment is now very reliable and for operators like you to change direction with NO regard to the inconvenience you cause is totally unacceptable. Maybe the government should review any licensing issues that may be in place to ensure that future occurrences of this type of thing are prevented or covered by a compensation package?
August 26th, 2008 at 9:20 am
To ‘ John Perkins ‘ - Well done but I expect you will get the standard reply which points to everyone apart from themselves.
They have recently updated the link that takes you to
http://www.freeview.co.uk/features/transmission
but funny enough they have never admitted Sony had a problem although if that was true Sony would not have released the update for a selection of their IDTV’s but at least ‘ they did something ‘
Its a bit like ‘ Pass The Parcel ‘ as each Organisation will admit there was a problem but ‘ its nothing to do with us Governor ‘
I think you have highlighted a very important Specific problem.
There must be loads of OAP’s who don’t have a handy son/daughter to check out the problem and I bet some will call in repair men or think its their aerial is at Fault. Who knows how much is being spent to solve a problem that could have been sorted years ago.
We are now encouraged to buy ‘ digital tick ‘ equipment but none of us know how many years before that equipment becomes Obsolete.
We do know that the whole Country will be switched over but at this current time its not clear if units will still work when they add in a extra HDTV Multiplexes it may be the same as what happened over the split NIT.
At worst is shows a Huge Failure of Planning and someone should except Blame.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Take a look at http://www.berr.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html
It seems to me that as the split nit is part of the original Freeview spec that any manufacturer selling a Freeview box that did not conform to the Freeview spec is liable. Your claim however (up to 6yrs) is with the retailer who sold you the faulty goods. Suggest you all bombard your local trading standards for advice. If enough people do this then they are pretty likely to take action
August 31st, 2008 at 5:22 am
Just as predicted they are blaming the Manufacturer and passing the buck to them.
Copy reply from Freeview
Thank you for contacting Freeview.
I am very sorry to hear that your mother has been adversely affected by the transmitter changes.
As you may already have seen from our website, the transmitter changes made by Digital Multiplex Operators Ltd (DMOL) were necessary to support the ongoing expansion of the digital terrestrial television platform and the Freeview service. These changes were entirely in accordance with the DVB-T standard for digital broadcasting. This standard has been in place
for many years and the vast majority of Freeview receivers and indeed Ondigital receivers, which predate Freeview, were designed and engineered to handle all aspects of the DVB standard. Unfortunately the software/firmware in some boxes, including your own, does not comply fully with the DVB standard and cannot handle the changed signal.
Freeview do not manufacture or sell digital boxes and our customers’ only recourse to compensation would be from the manufacturer or retailer of the obsolete equipment.
If you ensure that any replacement equipment you purchase carries the ‘digital tick’ logo, this is your guarantee that the equipment is fully compliant with the DVB standard and will work both now and during/after switchover.
Sorry once again that you have encountered this problem.
If we can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to
contact us by either calling us directly on 08708 809 980 seven days a week from 8.00am to 10.00pm, or again by email through
http://www.freeview.co.uk
Frank Burns
Team Manager
Freeview Customer Services
August 31st, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I have two Panasonic boxes rendered useless by this recent upgrade, some channels missing and others jumbled, e.g., Radio World Service on Channel 5 etc., etc., I know prices have come down but the Panasonics were expensive at the time in the region of £100. I’m just annoyed that we are expected to go out and buy another box !
September 1st, 2008 at 12:32 pm
You can add Segam to the list of BRICKS. Speaking to the technical support, they will take you through the process, but they know the box is a BRICk as soon as you mentoin the problem. Segam as always doesn’t give a stuff about it.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I heard from Panasonic today who said to restore to the factory settings and rescan which I had already done, but I still get the jumbled and missing channels.
September 1st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I should have added that we were completely unaware of all of these upgrades until the box was rescanned two weeks ago but the message was appearing about new channels a week or so before. If I had known I wouldn’t have rescanned the box. The signal is picked up from the Mendip transmitter.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:38 am
we have been having abit of problem for few months with our “digilogic dstb1000 (Bought in tescos few year ago!!)which might be labgear in diguise?,anyway kept asking me to update e.p.g all the time, then last week it just did not come on completely dead tried fuses etc ,but nothing at all ,wish someone had warned us about downloads,i could have stopped them and maybe box might not be going to landfill!!
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:29 am
This is a Right mess and its a shame that No one wants to admit its their fault.
One thing is certain - its not the Consumers fault.
Anyone who checks out the main Messages boards will see that right across the UK this is a major problem and not the 1 % they Claim .
How many people have been affected I have to admit ‘ I don’t Know ‘ - at least I have the balls to admit that but Freeview don’t have a clue either.
This has damaged Confidence in the freeview system and its all a matter of luck if you are affected or not.
One has to wonder what other so called improvments is in the pipe line.
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:04 am
My BT iplayer and others on Tacolneston transmitter. lost BBC1 yesterday. Coud be that iPlayers are also on the brick list. Very sad as there’s no prospect of a firmware update and there is nothing on the market that will do DTV and web access.
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 am
if you have a machine that is affected by the NIT Split once it has been updated - that’s it - You don’t have any Channels at all.
Seeing freeview only claim a very limited number of units are affected its difficult to know what units have been ‘ partly ‘ affected and what effect this has been having.
Clearly if your machine was working normally and on the day of their so called enhancements it starts acting funny then something is wrong.
If you have a box that is switched to ‘ update manually ‘ then you would be wise not to take the risk.
Most people who were caught out did not have the option to switch off automatic updates .
As I wrote before its far better having 99.9 % of Something than 100 % of NOTHING
September 4th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I own two Daewoo DS609P receivers. Both of these have stopped receiving DVB-T Freeview TV. Having contacted Freeview, Daewoo, DMOL, and Digital UK, all parties apologise for the inconvience, but are not willing to offer any form of compensation. Daewoo correctly state that the units were supplied at a time when the original system operated as specified. However, now that the transmission system has been ‘upgraded’ to accommodate more channels and interactive TV, these models no longer operate. Really well advertised!
This leaves me with the no choice but to ditch the units to the landfill! The equipment cost about £150 for the two at the time. Looks like I’ve been well and truly had over.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Can anyone tell me if the two Panasonic TU-CT20 boxes I own should have coped with these upgrades please ? They were purchased in 2003 and are marked DVB-T. I’ve tried clearing all the channels again today and rescanning but to no avail. In my case the channels are scrambled and some are missing.
One of the boxes was £100 and the other was £50 when purchased with a Panasonic TV.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Re ‘ Ian’s ‘ message - if you check my post above ‘BRIAN CARSON : July 31st, 2008 at 2:01 pm ‘
You will see that if you complain ‘ louder ‘ to Daewoo they will offer a discount but seeing there is no guarantee that their current units will not go the same way as their older units ‘ Once bitten twice shy ‘
One second they say the box was DVB Compliant and then they say it was DVB-T Compliant so really they are as Confused as Customers .
It was just the luck of the draw - Units I bought ‘ two years ‘ before the Daewoo are still working so really it was just pure ‘ penny pinching ‘ and they are not admitting they are at fault -
My Daewoo SV900 cost me £ 130 so it was not a cheap unit so if they can wash their hands over that { and other units built by Daewoo } then they can wash their hands over units bought today so really I will not being buying Daewoo again.
Offering a £ 10 discount is just a insult.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Brian I think you might find this particular thread of interest to you …
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1101561
September 5th, 2008 at 11:43 am
For those with boxes that have stopped working but have sufficient memory to handle split nit there a bunch of OTA updates coming up so check the list before ditching the box
http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/download_schedule.pl
September 6th, 2008 at 12:10 am
To ‘ Graham Thompson ‘ - I am afraid you don’t appreciate that all affected units claim there is no Channels so therefor it does not matter how many OTA updates that becomes available it will be impossible to update any locked unit.
Its like shutting the stable door after the Horse has bolted.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:44 am
With regards ‘Anne’s ‘ message.
Now I have encountered this problem before where someone claims to have a full refund but when you contact the Company they hide behind the DPA { Data Protection act }
Amazon were using the DPA years ago when a Box set was incorrectly priced so some Customers were sold the box set at the cheaper price but other Customers had their orders cancelled when they worked out how much they would be losing.
After a few weeks some people were refunded the difference but other Customers were told they could not get a refund.
This went on for Months and unless a person was willing to take them to court they can do what they want.
‘ CitySlicker ‘ had one thing going for him - he had a Journalist who had already contacted Daewoo on his behalf.
Although The Mail picked up on the story and they quoted some of my words at
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1044291/Up-250-000-TV-screens-blank-upgrade-leaves-Freeview-boxes-obsolete.html
its now a dead story so I don’t think it will be all that easy.
Anyway Anne thanks for your concern its just a pity that Commercial Companies don’t have the Customers welfare in their mind.
September 6th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Well I have taken advise from “CitySlicker” - he got a free replacement from Daewoo–and have sent proof to them that I own a now useless DS608P.
For them to issue a free replacement is an acceptance of liability.
I urge all people with now useless equipement to approach the manufactures and demand replacements .
It isn’t the money - the boxes are cheap enough - it’s the principle.
Regards
September 6th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
“it’s the principle” - I thoroughly agree with you Kev.
September 6th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
its one thing to ask for a free replacement its another to receive one.
Daewoo now claim at
http://www.bignewsday.com/story.asp?code=DY1352600U&news=more_than_200000_tvs_scuppered_by_upgrade
“Judging by the number of calls we have received, we think tens of thousands of our customers are affected and we are trying to help them.”
Sadly my unit cost £ 130 and they don’t make a equivalent model and i reckon they are not going to make free replacements without a big fight.
Who on this board has ‘ received ‘ a free replacement ?
September 7th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Maybe not here but track down “City Slicker” elsewhere.
You mentioned his name in a previous post.
Regards
September 7th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
There are two problems with a split nit. Some boxes will continue to work but are missing channels. These usually have sufficient internal memory to accomodate split nit but need updated firmwares. The other boxes do not have enough memory so will never handle the epg. If you have a dead box you can try a factory reset and a manual tune to receive a limited number of channels
September 7th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Factory reset does not work.
Even though there is a part of the menu that gives a signal strength and quality another part of the menu says no signal being received and to “check the aerial”.
It scans and pauses just like it used to do when finding something but never shows any channels.
If the aerial is disconnected then it does not pause when scanning - obviously !
There is no manual tune on the DS608P.
It clearly states on the last page of the manual “FULLY DVB COMPLIANT”
Regards
September 7th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
The ‘ estimate ‘ they use is around 230,000 boxes but that is a load of Rubbish.
Lets face it ‘ they don’t know how many are affected and THEY DON’T CARE ‘
By the way if their claim that only 1 % have been affected then it would not break their Bank Account by replacing all the units for free but I suspect they know that a lot more are affected so therefor unwilling to make that offer.
If Companies had made it clear to CUSTOMERS before they bought whatever that the units they were selling were not a 100 % Compatible then at least we would know.
I own units far older than the two units affected and they have not been affected so clearly someone is rewriting History.
One second they claim units had to be 100 % compatible with the DVB standard and now they are claiming it had to be 100 % compatible with the DVB T Standard.
Now they are hiding behind the ‘ digital tick ‘ standard as they know fine well that only came out a few years ago.
They are moving the Goalposts to suit themselves.
When will Freeview give out a full list of all affected units ?
Once your box has given up the Ghost you can do a factory reset until your Blue in the face it will not solve the problem.
September 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I’ll keep everyone informed of any Daewoo progress, or not, as the case may be.
Brian Carson - what did Daewoo say to you?
If it was a guy called Adam Mugford then get in touch with a different one — colin.millard@desuk.co.uk — he’s the guy who arranged for City Slicker’s free replacement.
Regards
September 7th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
To Kev - your right my first few contacts was with adam.mugford@desuk.co.uk
and at first he was blaming me for buying the unit. { as I should have had a crystal ball to know when the standards were changing }
I really went to town on him as clearly something has gone wrong - after a few e-mails he offered a £ 10 discount but now I have a new contact person I can jump all over him -
I now can go to town on colin.millard@desuk.co.uk
Thanks for the e-mail address - I will keep you posted as to what they offer.
September 7th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Brian Carson.
If you have not done so already look for the posts by City Slicker on the digitalspy terrestrial forum.
It will be intresting to see what Mr Colin M has to say.!
Regards
September 7th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
sorry to hog the board but while looking for the serial number I discovered the Daewoo VCR/Digital Receiver SV900 claims to be DVB-T Compliant.{ as does a sticker on the unit }
Now seeing Daewoo was offering a discount on some units that were also DVB-T Compliant they do appear to have got a bit teletubby confused.
Now we have a person colin.millard@desuk.co.uk who may be able to replace daewoo units for free it make sense to make his day and get in touch with him.
Clearly point out its a DVB-T Compliant unit so should not have been affected by the recent changes.
Good luck
September 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Pity that the http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/freeviewlandfill.html
page does NOT mention BBC/ITV FeeSat as an option for those having to buy new hardware anyway!
Why only line the pockets of Murdoch or Branson!
September 10th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Further to my purchase of the Humax F2FOX-T, I’ve had this box for 3 weeks now and apart from being a bit more sensitive I don’t think it’s a patch on my old Grundig GTD1000 with the v5.3 firmware that is still working fine. The Grundig will keep the present program on while I can scan through the 7 day prog guide with extended info,and had Teletext Extra. The Humax box just shows the guide in silence with now and next extended info. I can only hope I can find a repeat of the update to make the other 3 Grundig units usable without having to keep a list of channel numbers by the remote.Regarding Brian Carsons suggestion on the Sagem boxes I think my 2 are a bit to old,I looked on Sagems site and they suggest the same remedy but again it seems to be aimed at an later firmware version.
This whole episode is turning into a right mess ! and just as the powers that be are trying to get the public convinced about digital T.V.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
P.S The Grundig GDT1000 (got it right this time) is marked DVB but also has in the other corner of the front panel FTV (FREE TO VIEW) with the V as a digital tick !!!
September 10th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse I found this gem on HTTP://www.dvb.org/
DVB Steering Board ratifies DVB-T2 specification for second generation DTT Transmission (June 30th)
A DVB press release issued today confirms the approval last week of the new DVB-T2 specification. The specification, which will now be sent to ETSI for publication as a formal standard, promises 30% to 50% increase in capacity over DVB-T in equivalent reception conditions. It is available for download as a DVB BlueBook.
September 11th, 2008 at 10:32 am
As I mentioned on ‘ September 6th, 2008 at 10:27 pm ‘
‘ its one thing to ask for a free replacement its another to receive one. ‘
I did send a e-mail to colin.millard@desuk.co.uk but so far he has not bothered replying.
At least adam.mugford@desuk.co.uk had the decency to reply although it was more a standard reply.
Currently I am being treated for Prostrate Cancer and the treatment is not due to end until May 2009 so I really don’t have time flogging a Dead Horse.
I reckon why they did give a free replacement to the guy called ‘City Slicker’ was because he had a Newspaper Reporter who picked up on his case but I reckon they will ignore any other claims for free units - they know fine well that Customers don’t have the money for a expensive Court case so they can bury their heads in the sand and hope we will all go away - well they are right there because I will not be buying from Daewoo again.
September 11th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Brian Carson.
Quote:”but I reckon they will ignore any other claims for free units”
I have had a positive responce from Adam Mugford.
Watch this space next week.
Regards
September 12th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I have had a response from Freeview to my letter have had the offer of a telephone discussion with the Director a week on Tuesday which I have accepted. I will let people know the outcome. (My letter is too long to post here).
September 12th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I set up a google alert for freeview and just received this link …
http://www.techradar.com/news/television/digital-signal-upgrade-sparks-more-controversy-464227
September 13th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Well spotted Anne - here is the hit list ‘ that will soon soon stop working { uness you buy a freeview unit }
if your TV is listed you should contact your Company ‘ now ‘ as there ‘ may ‘ be a possible solution.
By good fortune I am not affected this time.
Hitachi
28WDDODTN 28″ IDTV
32WD40DTN 32″ IDTV
D36W840DTN 36″ IDTV
Panasonic
TX-28DT2 28″ IDTV
TX-32DT2 32″ IDTV
Philips
28DW6734 28″ IDTV
32DW6834 32″ IDTV
32DW9625 32″ IDTV
28DW6557 28″ IDTV
32DW6557 32″ IDTV
Sony
28DS60 28″ IDTV
32DS60 32″ IDTV
28DS65 28″ IDTV
32DS65 32″ IDTV
28DX20 28″ IDTV
32DX20 32″ IDTV
28DX30 28″ IDTV
32DX30 32″ IDTV
28DS20 28″ IDTV
32DS20 32″ IDTV
KP 41DS1 41″ IDTV
KP 51DS1 51″ IDTV
KP 51DS2 51″ IDTV
Toshiba
28WT98B 28″ IDTV
32WT98B 32″ IDTV
28ZT29B 28″ IDTV
32ZT29B 32″ IDTV
36ZT29B 36″ IDTV
42WT29B 42″ IDTV
50WT29B 50″ IDTV
57WT29B 57″ IDTV
September 15th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I have just posted this on Digital spy but thought some people might like to see it here.
The 01788 number is an old Grundig help line (I think it may have come up on screen after an OAD if you needed help) but is now set to reject incoming calls.
The manual for the GDT1000 has a similar number 01788 570088. This is answered by somebody who tries to be helpful but cannot actually do anything. He confirmed that an OAD to version 5.3, which was originally designed for Teletext Extra, also fixes the NIT problem of channel numbering for the GDT1000. However, he did not know where the firmware was, or who would pay for the download, but gave me a Thomson number (01443 220220). This is solely an answering machine that directs you to the Thomson number given above for Thomson products (which I did not call), and another number for Grundig products (0871 2301777).
That in its turn invites you to press 4 for technical support, which then went to India, and the lady told me that I had to ring 0870 9090444 for Grundig products older than 2 years. The last number resulted in the answer that I should go back to Curry’s or Dixons for help with an old Grundig Freeview receiver.
It seems possible that version 5.3 exists somewhere, and if given an OAD would fix the thousands of 1000 and 1500 boxes in use. I wondered if there was any point in pursuing Ofcom or my MP on the grounds that if Freeview were to accept a limited responsibility for disabling these boxes they might offer a goodwill gesture by downloading 5.3 for nothing (assuming they could find it somewhere).
Any comments?
September 16th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
anyone who has Channels shunted to 800’s should read
http://www.freeview.co.uk/help/faq/id105131
September 17th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Hello all.
Having pushed Daewoo regarding my DS608P A FREE exchange unit (DSD-800M)was delivered to me today.
Out of interest there is nowhere on the packaging or receiver displaying a “Digital Tick” or saying “Fully DVB Compliant”
In the receiver menu under “tools” and “receiver information” it does show “DVB-T M3101″
A result and it’s also my birthday !!
Regards
September 19th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Well, I’ll add my name to the list of people who had TWO Daewoo DS608P boxes that died last weekend after a routine channel scan.
I then read CitySlickers info on Digital Spy - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=844007&page=4 (Post 77) and sent email to Daewoo’s customer service.
I had a reply from Mr Mugford with a requst for more information. I sent him photographs of the underside of them, with the serial numbers, as well as a nice arty shot of the two togeher, so he could see I wasn’t just photoshopping them.
After a couple of days of emails going back and forth they agreed to swap them for the DSD800M boxes, which arrived on Friday 19th September. The old boxes were packaged up and sent back by the same courier at Daewoo’s request (and the paperwork attached suggests I was not the only one, copy faxes served as despatch note and mine were part of a batch of 20 that day!).
OK, so the original boxes cost me £59 each a few years back and the new ones are available to buy under £20, but at least they’ve done something and saved me having to fork out again, and don’t have book-ends of landfill fodder kicking about now.
Kev (last post) is right, there’s no ‘digital tick’ complience mark, but the box does show the DVB-T software in place.
There are some nice features on the new box too - it has some games (wife loves Tetris, I’ll have to stock up on batteries for the remote!) as well as being able to pause live TV - though there’s little mention of this in the manual!
I am sending Mr Mugford at Daewoo a thank you as he was quite helpful - no doubt after getting an ear-bashing from so many others before me…
It’s worth getting in touch with the manufacturer - let them know you’ve read the stories, and send them the link so they can read for themselves. I was quite prepared to argue through legal procedure that the box was not fit for purpose, despite being a few years old, as it was sold as a ‘Freeview’ box - meaning it should still be working when the analogue signal is turned off in 2012!
Daewoo are at http://www.daewooelectronics.co.uk/ and there have been email addresses quoted elsewhere.
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:09 pm
we are on the waltham transmitter and we have lost most of our original channels on our Aldi tevion we do tough have access to the 800 series of progs so all is not lost YET
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Sale of goods act might help as they are “not fit for purpose” may be worth hounding the local trading standards people.
However what I have yet to see is a campaign to stop the change over we are in a fringe area and although the reception is occasionally OK on asking we have been told that the reception will be no better after changeover but more channels. I would be happy with the original ones if they work. Also I would like to keep the existing teletext as the digital text although pretty is slow and useless.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I have to be fair and say that Daewoo are not the quickest at responding to e-mails but they are doing their best to replace ‘ genuine units ‘
I wonder if all the other Manufactures are doing as well. ?
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I had a meeting by telephone today with Mr Rob Farmer the Director of Marketing and Communications of Freeview. This was in response to my letter of complaint about the recent transmission changes. Unfortunately Mr Farmer was not in a position to answer any technical questions but has undertaken to provide me with a detailed explanation of the changes that were made and why they were thought necessary. The explanation he provided me with today was that DMOL had advised these changes were needed and DMOL only provided Freeview with very short notice of the dates of when the engineering work was to take place. However he also said that a test had been undertaken by DTG and it was known that the change would result in boxes becoming obsolete and this was approved by Ofcom. He said that time was allowed for other manufacturers to provide OAD’s prior to the change. He also said that the problem with the re-ordering of channels was an unforeseen consequence of the change. If the test by DTG is the one I am aware of then it took place in the latter part of 2006 which, to my mind, gave ample time for all concerned to alert the public. At the time it was not considered acceptable and the NIT was returned to it’s previous state. The report goes on to say the “multiplex operators are confident that the NIT can be kept within 1 section over the long term”.
Mr Farmer has agreed to provide me with the information that shows when Freeview were first aware of the problem, when they were notified of the dates and what information they provided and when to local media, installers and retailers.
Mr Farmer did not accept that their information strategy had been at fault and stated that while he understood our frustration Freeview at all times had been helpful and transparent. I pointed out that originally the information had been tucked away on their FAQ page which was anything but. He did tell me however it was not technically possible to broadcast the information to specific types of receiver and that this had been explored as a possible means of communication before the change.
Mr Farmer to be fair was trying his best to be helpful but I don’t really think he understands the impact this change has had on people. He has received 2000 complaints which he does not feel indicates very many people have been affected. I still think that there are many people who just thought their receiver was broken and dealt with it on that basis. ( Anyone out there a whiz with statistics/ customer relations and able to extrapolate what 2000 actual complaints probably represents in terms of people who are affected but haven’t actually complained?)
I raised a number of other points in my letter which were addressed to the industry as a whole not just about the way Freeview handled this situation and Mr Farmer has kindly undertaken to distribute my letter to all appropriate industry bodies. I also put the suggestion made by one contributor for a text based information channel and he has agreed to add that to the discussion.
I await the various responses and will keep you all informed.
Best wishes
Janet
September 24th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I owned a Daewoo VCR/Digital Receiver SV900 which was wiped out by the last change.
I started complaining to Daewoo who at first were not keen to get involved - I kept on at them and I negotiated with Daewoo for a replacement - I ended up with a DSD9503TFB which is a twin Freeview tuner with PIP and a 160 GB Hard disk - I paid a cash balance of £ 15 as at first they wanted to give me a cheaper unit.
So it shows that if you complain loud enough ‘you do get results’
The DSD9503TFB arrived today and they picked up the SV900.
The picture quality is more Colourful than my other units so I had to tone it down a bit. { I can view seven other Freeview unit so its easy to do a comparison }
So far the Hard disk is silent and the Recording quality is excellent.
All in all a ‘ Good result ‘
September 24th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Glad it worked out for you Brian.
Regards
September 24th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
I’m waiting to hear from Panasonic as I’ve proved that the upgrades have affected the box. I connected another box (Wharfedale) and apart from channel 5 I had all available channels back and in the correct order, improved picture quality as well.
Pleased to hear your news Brian.
Thanks for posting your information Janet.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Thanks Kev - I am actually very impressed with the DSD9503TFB as its much more quite { and cooler } than I was expecting - I was worried that it would not fit my system but with it being far thinner than I was expecting I was able to give it enough headroom .
The recorded picture quality is Outstanding - you could never tell it was a Recording - I may in fact buy a few more.
I did see it on sale at £ 80 from Hughes Electrical Direct but they are not listed anymore - Amazon have it at £ 115 which is still not a bad price although being Scottish I will hang on until I get it at £ 80 - at that price it is a very good bargain.
It does have a few minor quirks but I doubt any PVR would ever be 100 % perfect.
The first thing I did today was contact Daewoo to Thank them.
I have to hold my Hat up to them as at least they accepted responsibility although there will be loads of people who never realised the problem was not at their end.
Daewoo could have sat on their hands but they quickly changed their Policy - I am certain they were as surprised as we were when Daewoo units started self destruction - I am sure that someone in the costing department thought it was a great idea to fit a non standard buffer to save a few pence - I wonder if they are still in their job this week.
of course without the Internet Consumers would have never realised there was a major problem and though boards like this we were able to pass on our progress - my replacement took longer than normal because I was handing back a video/Freeview unit hence there was a lot of horse trading.
I am well pleased as the DSD9503TFB is ten times better than what it replaced hence why I will buy more when the price is right.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Hi I live in Dundee have Alba STB8 set top box, within last month and a half I have lost E4,Channel 4,ITV2 and some more channels it seems to be anything to do with Channel 4 & ITV. Has anyone else had these problems.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Good news for all Grundig GTD1000’s Ive just had an OAD on 4th Oct to one of my boxes (on a narrowboat in shropshire)to version 5.5 it was on Channel 5 of all places and transmitted via the Wrekin.
When I got home (Merseyside) Winter hill has no download available.So I still have 3 that don’t work properly but I suppose there’s still some hope!.The download said it was to fix bugs and improve stability.
October 7th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Check this out every now and then.
http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/download_schedule.pl
Regards
October 8th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Just got the other 3no Grundig GDT1000s updated to v5.53 tonight on Channel 5 from Winter Hill (08/10/08)
Happy Days !!
October 11th, 2008 at 9:51 am
My TV set is a Philips 32DW6557 which is supposed to be affected. Where does the information come from that Brian and Anne previously mentioned as I have been on the digitalUK site and the TV is not mentioned?
October 12th, 2008 at 11:24 am
its all explained at
http://www.techradar.com/news/television/digital-signal-upgrade-sparks-more-controversy-464227
and Issue 339 of What Video & Hi-Def TV, which went on sale 2 October { and is still on sale in newsagents this week } has the full list and your TV is on the list so it will not be able to receive Freeview after they make the transmission mode change from 2k to 8k .
For some unknown reason the original PDF link which was on digitalUK site has been removed or hidden as I cant find it either { so much for them being helpful }
here is a full list with regards Philips
28DW6734 28″ IDTV
32DW6834 32″ IDTV
32DW9625 32″ IDTV
28DW6557 28″ IDTV
32DW6557 32″ IDTV
the posting I made on 13th September 2008 was a text copy of the original PDF document so it does look as if you will be affected but at least if Philips is not able to sort the problem out via a OAD than at least you can still keep running by buying a Freeview unit or even better a cheap PVR.
go for the Daewoo DSD9503T currently on sale at
http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk/ for £ 80. { search for Daewoo }
Not a bad buy for £ 79.99 - Twin Digital Tuner amd PIP. { 160 GB Drive }
I appreciate that IDTV should be ‘ future proof ‘ but some manufactures don’t think of that when they build them.
I personally will not buy a High-definition television until the service is available.
October 12th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
We have a DAEWOO SV-900 Freeview VCR which stopped working in August. Eventually we realised that the Freeview upgrade had effectively killed it, and it is being used at present as just a video player. I have complained to Freeview ( no reply to my letter sent over a month ago)and I am now going to go back to DAEWOO for compensation ( having read earlier messages here).But ….in the SV900 User Manual it says ” Installation in distribution systems. Professional installers may wish to specifically configure or disable some of the automatic features to allow the receiver to be used in non-interactive headend systems. SetPal has a number of features that may be configured for such an installation. Please contact the product manufacturer for details of how to do this.” It seems possible that this might open up a way to get the unit working again - perhaps with reduced functionality. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY 2003/4 INFORMATION (EG TECHNICAL MANUAL OR SPECIALIST INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FROM DAEWOO OR SETPAL) ABOUT THIS ? IT WOULD SURPRISE ME IF THERE IS NOT SOMEONE OUT THERE WITH TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE DAEWOO INNARDS OR THE SETPAL SOFTWARE. Heres hoping !
October 12th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Its your lucky day - forget about messing about with the secret settings -the only useful feature was to stop it downloading adverts { which it would do every week even although it would download the same advets time and time again }
I know how to do it but there was no way to stop the original split NIT nor reset it once its dead.
The reason why it could not cope was down to the size of the hardware buffer and there is nothing you can do apart from Jumping on Daewoo - its pointless going back to the retailer or contacting Freeview as you will end up with nothing.
In your e-mail { call it Split NIT has disabled my Daewoo VCR/Digital Receiver SV900 } make sure you list the full serial number - its like
14101 00320 DI-T7S21P AAA
and your full name and address + a contact number
to
Colin millard colin.millard@desuk.co.uk { far better than the guy below }
or
Alan Mugford alan.mugford@desuk.co.uk
they will ask you
DATE OF PURCH