Humax box recordings

ripplyuk

@debitcardmayhem I don’t have a PC. Or a laptop. I don’t know what a dnla server is. Sorry I’m really not much use with technical stuff. 

@cx6 I’ve contacted a business that say they transfer video from all sorts of things but I think they normally work with old camcorder tapes etc, not this type of transfer. And if it has to be copied in real time, it’ll probably cost a fortune. I’m waiting to hear back from them. 

@GDB2222 A lot of these recordings are in HD and I’d prefer to keep them that way but I’d watch them in SD if there’s no other option. 

I thought this would be a common problem with easy solutions but clearly it’s complicated. What do other people do? I can’t understand why there isn’t loads of people with this same problem. I’m starting to think it was better years ago when everything was kept on DVD. This doesn’t feel like progress. There’s no point in having a box that records if I can’t keep the recordings. 

ripplyuk

Norman_Castle said:

ripplyuk said:

The box has started to be a bit unreliable. At times it fails to record for no apparent reason. Sometimes it wipes the recording schedule before the programs have even started. Also, occasionally I’ll turn the tv on and there’s no picture, just sound and a green screen. This happened with both my old and new TV’s so it’s the box that’s the problem, not the TV. It also shows channels as ‘scrambled’ when they should be working. Turning it on and off usually solves that. Ultimately since the hard drive is almost full, I’ll need a new box to keep recording stuff. 

From memory a poorly connected scart lead often resulted in a green screen, if you still connect via scart try checking the connections or substituting the lead. Use HDMI where available.

Failing to record can be due to the channel not sending the signal the programme is starting which is not the fault of the box. Other odd behaviour can be due to updates not being done.

It’s connected with HDMI. Over the years there has been a few times when it would fail to record but in the last few months it’s happening a lot more. That’s why I thought it must be the box. Do you know how to update it? I’ve never done that. I just assumed it happened automatically. 

debitcardmayhem

THere have been no updates issued since 2012 .

cx6

"I thought this would be a common problem with easy solutions but clearly it’s complicated."

The reason why it is complicated is that the recordings are copyright and although you are allowed to 'time-shift' eg record TV and watch it a week later, what you are NOT allowed to do is keep them in perpetuity.

That's why they don't make it easy.

If you want a legal copy of a program that you can keep 'for ever' then investigate if it is available on DVD (for SD) or Blu Ray (for HD) and buy it.

ripplyuk

@cx6 I see. I hadn’t thought about copyright. I’m not sure DVD’s/Blu Ray are a good idea though. They seem to be becoming obsolete. If I buy some of these on digital copies from Amazon Prime or similar, is that definitely permanent? Or will they also vanish at some point in the future? 

Not all these recordings are available to buy. Some have sentimental value eg: there’s a program that features a family member, so I’ll hopefully be able to get those transferred. 

googler

ripplyuk said: What do other people do? 

Exactly what I outlined to you above. 

I got an HDMI - SCART converter from Amazon, connected the HDMI Out from Sky box to the converter, then the output from that to the old Panasonic DVD/HDD machine. Played back the program in real time, recording it to the HDD. Stripped out adverts, top and tailed it with edit facilities on the machine, and burned to DVD.  It's in SD, but I never watch anything in HD anyways. 

The process of recording to HDD then burning to DVD was good enough for me right up until 2 or 3 years ago, when Sky first came into the house, so it's still good enough for me now.

GDB2222

The trouble with playing each programme back from the Humax box, then recording on another machine, is that it has to be done in real time. So, if there are say 300 hours of programmes, it will take 300 hours to do. And, that’s assuming nothing goes wrong. 

The OP will have to start each programme playing, although he doesn’t have to be there throughout the 300 hours.

Or, have I got that wrong?

googler

GDB2222 said:

The trouble with playing each programme back from the Humax box, then recording on another machine, is that it has to be done in real time. So, if there are say 300 hours of programmes, it will take 300 hours to do. And, that’s assuming nothing goes wrong. 

The OP will have to start each programme playing, although he doesn’t have to be there throughout the 300 hours.

Yes, yes, and yes. 

It while take a while, depending on how important each programme is to the OP, but it gets it done