Technomate TM-5402HD...not that great afterall?

[euro.sat]

After hearing good things about the TM-5402, I found a second hand one on eBay fairly cheap, so decided to buy one. However, after playing with it a bit this afternoon - I'm pretty disappointed with the tuner. Some stuff that I could previoulsy get with the Skybox F3 (which is possibly even a cheap and nasty clone), I no longer seem to be able to get with the TM (or the channels break up a bit at least)

I've noticed this particularily on weak signals (eg the 4W channels) and feeds at 7E/10E. One minute the signal will be pretty high (for example, something like 68% on a feed), then it'll totally drop out, and the box displays (No or bad signal), the 'moving dish' message pops up again (not sure why), then it pops back to full strength again. Quite frustrating. On the previous box, the channel would normally stay on, but glitch of freeze a little if there were signal issues. Am I doing something wrong?

It also seems to move the dish slighly strangely too. When moving satellite, the dish moves a fraction, pauses, then moves on to where it's meant to be. Possibly a power/signal to the motor issue?

 

[skomedal]

TM-5402,

Model number might help

TM-5402, MK1 not shown on facia ( best for fringe reception ) MK 2 and MK3 marked on box facia, load of cr@p for fringe reception.

Regards

 

[timo_w2s]

Also some LNBs might be putting out too much signal, especially on short cable runs. I've found using a variable attenuator inline with the LNB has helped with DrHD receivers (which have similar hardware) so you can fine tune the best signal level, especially signals at the top end of the band.

 

[Costactc]

I've had no such issues with my M3.

 

[TJExcalibur]

I've had no such issues with my M3.

Mine is fine, about the same as my Dr HD D15.

 

[Pipedream]

After hearing good things about the TM-5402, I found a second hand one on eBay fairly cheap, so decided to buy one. However, after playing with it a bit this afternoon - I'm pretty disappointed with the tuner. Some stuff that I could previoulsy get with the Skybox F3 (which is possibly even a cheap and nasty clone), I no longer seem to be able to get with the TM (or the channels break up a bit at least)

I've noticed this particularily on weak signals (eg the 4W channels) and feeds at 7E/10E. One minute the signal will be pretty high (for example, something like 68% on a feed), then it'll totally drop out, and the box displays (No or bad signal), the 'moving dish' message pops up again (not sure why), then it pops back to full strength again. Quite frustrating. On the previous box, the channel would normally stay on, but glitch of freeze a little if there were signal issues. Am I doing something wrong?

It also seems to move the dish slighly strangely too. When moving satellite, the dish moves a fraction, pauses, then moves on to where it's meant to be. Possibly a power/signal to the motor issue?

Which version is it Mk1 Mk2 or Mk3? Which patch are you running? The latest for the Mk3 is 138

 

[william-1]

No problems here with my M3 excellent for weak signals over 750 tv from 7 to 8 west Nilesat / Eutelsat with 100cm Gibby
4 west is ok here in the east of England with the same set up but the West Coast of England a 120cm to 150cm is required.

 

[gibertini]

Mine is fine, about the same as my Dr HD D15.

thats because there 95% identical and are made in the same factory... 3rd party support is better for the M3 though

 

[william-1]

As mentioned in post #6 what version of TM5402HD do you have ?
TM5402HD
TM5402HD M2
TM5402HD M3

 

[Trust]

I am not amused about the fact that you can't choose diseqc 1.2 for some and usals for the rest of the satellites , its all 1.2 or all Usals . (TM5402 HD M3 s/w 1.33 )

 

[Analoguesat]

SCPC performance is terrible if several frequencies are very close together on the M3. It just tells you that you already have that frequency.

 

[Captain Jack]

I am not amused about the fact that you can't choose diseqc 1.2 for some and usals for the rest of the satellites , its all 1.2 or all Usals . (TM5402 HD M3 s/w 1.33 )

This was a huge issue for me. You can get around this by modifying the channel list on your PC and uploading it to receiver.

 

[euro.sat]

Thanks for all of the responses, guys. Sorry, I was working last night - so couldn't reply straight away.

I think it's the MK1? Here's the orginal eBay listing, complete with photos...
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Technomate-TM-5402HD-CI-Super-HD-Satellite-Receiver-Boxed-/201441524277

Maybe I was being a little bit harsh on it. I was having another mess around with it last night at 4W, and it possibly performed as good as, if not better than the Skybox on the Ukrainian music channels. With a little tweaking of my USALS to 2.3W, OTV was just touching 57% quality, and M1/M2 at 53%. Bizarrely, though - to get the best possible signal on the MBC transponder at 26E, I had to change my USALS to 2.7W to peak at 74% (it just touches 71% at 2.3W for the best signal at 4W). Although, that's possibly more of an issue with my motor/alignment, rather than the box?

I'm still confused about the 'moving dish' message when it loses a signal. I've not been outside to check, but does it actually try to move the dish again to improve the signal? If so, I'm not a fan of that. I'd imagine it would add stress to the motor by moving a tiny bit, or knock everything else out of alignment. Hopefully it's just a message, and it's not actually sending another signal to the motor. Can anyone confirm/deny?

I must say, I do absolutely love the multi channel recording on the same TP! Very clever and handy! It worked great on M1 and M2 last night!

It also seems a lot easier to edit and update channels and TP's via the Clarke Tech Editor too. I like that you don't have to rename the file extention, risking the chance of sending the receiver to an early grave! The 10,000 channel capacity is great too. I'm now able to store radio channels again, without filling everything up!

Has anyone had any issues with the blindscan 'range selection'? It mostly worked fine for me, but then I had an issue of it ignoring my frequency start and end, and scanned the whole band. Strange. It was most likely just me doing soemthing silly!

 

[william-1]

Quote:
Has anyone had any issues with the blindscan 'range selection'? It mostly worked fine for me, but then I had an issue of it ignoring my frequency start and end, and scanned the whole band. Strange. It was most likely just me doing soemthing silly!

Never have had that issue with the TM5402HD M1 & M2
The only Blind Scan issue is the 45,000 symbol rate that the receiver assigns to a low symbol rate this was raised by me several years ago but the Korean Engineers did not know how to fix it so it is still an issue.
The M3 does not have this problem it has another problem where it will add several hundred non existent transponders due to the Network Scan always on even if you switch it off again I raised this with TM but they are in denial that the problem exists or rather they do not know how to fix it or cannot be bothered to spend any time & money on these receivers,

Apart from that they are good receivers,
I must admit that I prefer the TM5502HD & the TM6902HD as the software is much better & does not give rise to the errors on the TM5400 series is stuck with.

 

[A nonymous]

Anybody got a guide on updating the firmware on these boxes ;)

Been a while since i played with anything closed source not running Enigma

 

[william-1]

This guide may help you.
Covers the basics for TM5402HD,TM6900HD,TM5502HD + all variants.

 

[A nonymous]

Cheers Bud. just got to get one now.

 

[parkiepie420]

hi euro.sat ive tested the tm5402 mk1 and mk3 and the mk3 with the latest firmware for me the tm5402 m3 beats the mk1 !!
ive received channels that the mk1 doesn't see at all that I can receive on the m3 !!!

ive tested a lot of receivers and at the minute the tm5402 m3 is the most sensitive tuner ive tested !!

hope this helps

 

[A nonymous]

Managed to get one off ebay for £41. I think its the M1 or possibly the M2. May not be any good for the PV stuff, but i can use it in my sons room if not. Either way i'm still looking forward to it.

 

[moonbase]

Managed to get one off ebay for £41. I think its the M1 or possibly the M2. May not be any good for the PV stuff, but i can use it in my sons room if not. Either way i'm still looking forward to it.

M1 is OK for PVu with the correct patch