VAST UEC Faults

[Panwest]

Have now had 2 new UEC boxes where remote control does not work. Had to repair myself to avoid return freight and 3 week wait for replacement box to be turned on.

First was an IR sensor dry joint on the display board. Second was dry joint on SMD component for IR sensor, again on the display board.

I would not recommend these boxes for travelers as they are likely to pull up with half the components in the bottom of the box.

I have had a few Dead On Arrival. Always a problem to return.

Biggest problem is having to wait 3 weeks for commercial channels to be switched on. Anyone outside of the South West of WA being screwed around in this way?

[Rodnic]

I have had a 4121 in my caravan for about 3 years and apart from trouble with the dish input connector (maybe my fault) it has worked very well.
I don't know what your problem is with the commercial channels being switched on, here in Qld again I have had no problems. I had to do a rehit the other day and it was instantaneous. When traveling, changing locations has been fast too.

[Softek2]

Hi All,

I have several UEC's out in the field, apart from power supply issues (flimsy & over stressed) and IR receiver problems they seem to perform reasonable for the price. I may be just unlucky but I've had 5 with poor IR function which requires the remote to be within 6" of the receiver. 3 with no remote access. 5 where power supply modules have failed for no apparent reason. 7 units damaged by storm or mains fluctuation or unstable mains input. 4 DOA. 1 (4221RV) rebooting constantly. 3 old series with the same fault (intermittent). 2 damaged in transit bent on the corners, broken front facia (the carton and box were undamaged).
All these were from a total of 566 boxes. I'll leave the number crunching to readers here.
I have found faulty decoders are only half the problem though, many clients are in remote areas which require a service call or at best 20 minutes on the phone marking leads etc and removing the decoder for return post. Most of these clients have no TV for weeks at a time while exchange equipment is considered then we need to deal with VAST registration again prior to return of the decoder to the client.
A few points to remember here. These decoders are for "remote clients" and with that in mind I believe better design rules should have been applied to the power supply as these clients are mostly at the end of a power line or rely on generator / solar for their energy.
Most important is to consider the ladies at the registration desk for VAST, they have to put up with people like me all day, they have a job to do and (stupid Government) rules to adhere to. They should be commended for their pleasantness and attitude.
That's my slant on UEC & VAST and is my personal opinion only.
Regards,

[Thala Dan]

Rodnic,

Interesting, your comments about a rehit.
Had a call from a non-technical mate of mine last Saturday – he was just west of Fitzroy Crossing on the final leg of a trip from Gippsland to Broome. His 4121 had been working fine up until this point, but when switched on this time came up with “Error 30-4 – currently unable to view this channel” on all channels.
I had him check all the usual suspects, nothing worked.
Interesting thing was he was getting a perfect picture on his WS6906 finder.
After scrambling around on the ‘net (in vain) for some indication of what Error 30-4 meant on a 4121 (does anyone know whether a list of UEC error codes exists?), I finally rang him back and told him to do a rehit.
Bingo! Instant picture.
Sounds like this might have been around the same time you had to do the rehit as well – wonder if something happened in the system at that time?
I don’t have VAST myself, but I have been wet-nursing this mate of mine since I installed his system in his van in Perth about 10 months ago.
Since then he has had no problems with traveller registration, changing States, and (touch wood) operation of the equipment.

[Softek2]

I also had this situation with 3 clients (last Friday afternoon). First customer called with E30-4 and I was easily able to sort out the problem with a rehit from here. Both the others called around the same time but after I had left the computer so I was unable to help until yesterday morning. When I rang about 10am both decoders had recovered and working fine. I think there is a difference E30-4 seems to be a session key and updated within 24 hours where as an E19-4 (session expired) will not recover unless rehit. All these customers are on solar and thus shut decoders off completely when not being used.

Regards,

[OSIRUS]

Yes if I have the Vast UEC DSD 4121 STB turned off for a while sometimes months (as a traveler would)

I sometimes get the error E30-4 Currently unable to view this channel



& I have also got the error E19-4 The Subscription to this channel has expired



& after giving the card a hit, it sometimes gets pics straight away, or can sometimes take up to 10 to 15 min or longer to get pics back

[OSIRUS]

I contacted UEC about this:

& he said that when the box is turned off there are not enough current necessary keys on the card when it is turned back on,

the keys cycle in the stream (for security reasons) & when the STB is turned on it should get pics within a few minutes by itself

(but, it is usually quicker to give the card a hit from the website)

E30-4 & E19-4 messages are normal at these times, & not a STB problem rather the Irdeto Encryption

& all Vast STB's would be expected to behave this way after being turned off for a time.


He also said there was an E30 problem on the weekend that needed fixing at the "Headend" by Vast

[Smacca]

For the record, the E30-4 message used to read "Scrambled service" on the original 4121's, but they changed the wording in the PVR release. Interesting, because the term 'scrambled' is common and would indicate what the issue is a lot faster than the PR dribble they replaced it with.

[toyboy11]

I've also had the E30-4 after the box does a re boot and I've found the easyist way out of that is to simply change to another channel

[Rodnic]

I've also had the E30-4 after the box does a re boot and I've found the easyist way out of that is to simply change to another channel

If it does not rectify in a few minutes, I do that but the latest episode lasted for a few hours, hence the rehit. While at Bourke a fellow traveler was panicking, (he was going to reregister) but it came good after I told him to leave it for awhile. There is no info given to users on what to do in these circumstances.

[gordon_s1942]

I would have thought if you can see channel 800 that would prove you have a reception at least, but then you have to work out why the other messages have appeared.
Like all Satellite services, if the STB isnt turned on all the time it can miss those updates and you either go for a hit or just wait and see.
I have found sometimes that if its left on a channel for lengthy period it can 'freeze up' and may even need a reset occasionally.

[OSIRUS]

If it does not rectify in a few minutes, I do that but the latest episode lasted for a few hours, hence the rehit. While at Bourke a fellow traveler was panicking, (he was going to reregister) but it came good after I told him to leave it for awhile. There is no info given to users on what to do in these circumstances.

I had one STB took more or less two hours to get Pics ..... (without giving it a hit) .... just left the STB turned on, on a channel,

( I guess the longer it is turned off, the more keys may need updating ...... also would depend where the Updating cycle is at too)

meanwhile the average customer would be getting very upset ....... why it's not working ?


Edit: there is some very general information about error messages, & what may cause them, etc .....in the Help section of the decoder (press the help button on the remote & scroll to the error messages info)

[oldace]

I have got a UEC DSR 4639 for our caravan and will be setting off soon for about 3 months. I have been trying out everything I can think of and it has been performing very well.

I have been totally disconnecting it overnight to replicate the 8 - 12 hours that it will spend in it's box during the day when travelling.

When it is set up again and goes through the boot and scan process it usually shows the E30-4 message for a few second before coming good.

So far no problems, but if I get problems on the road, I would like to know what the “Rehit” process that has been mentioned here is all about and how to do it.

Is it a reset or something else??

Cheers,

Oldace.

[Rodnic]

G'day Oldlace. For a 'rehit', go to this site, enter your smartcard number and Bob's your uncle. Almost instantaneous.

[transit]

G'day Oldlace. For a 'rehit', go to this site, enter your smartcard number and Bob's your uncle. Almost instantaneous.

Here's another link that [I think] does the same thing. Why 2?? What's the difference between a reactivation and a rehit?

[OSIRUS]

You need your Smartcard Number ....... write it down somewhere

The Smartcard needs to be in the STB, & you need to be getting pics on channel 800 (to make sure your satellite dish etc is properly aligned)

The STB needs to be switched on, on a channel, when it is given an "update hit"

Go to this website:



Enter your Smartcard Number (or copy & paste it) & click on the Button "REACTIVATE NOW"

If you do not have your computer with you maybe you could "Tee up" a friend" to go to the website & enter your Smartcard Number & click on the reactivate button for you ....?

or I think you could ring Vast on their Telephone Number (try 1300 993 376, then press option 2) & get them to Send an Update to reactivate your service for you ......

[oldace]

Thanks Chaps, Looks simple, hopefully I won't need it.

Cheers,

Oldace.

[QComms]

Hi Oldace & any one else who has had experience with the UEC DSR4639, have you had any problems with the PVR functions of the unit as I am testing one for a customer of mine and it seems to be buggy as all hell ?

[QComms]

Bugga too slow

[oldace]

Hi Oldace & any one else who has had experience with the UEC DSR4639, have you had any problems with the PVR functions of the unit as I am testing one for a customer of mine and it seems to be buggy as all hell ?

I have been giving it a bit of a hammering to get to know it before going away.

I have tried all the PVR functions and it all seems to work as expected. I have set timers via the Chain Recording yellow button and Time Based Recording. Both have worked faultlessly.

At this stage I am very happy with this choice.

Cheers,

Oldace