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KDBCOM – 27 minutes ago »
Thanks Graham
How has Barry powered his USB drives, using 1 or 2 USB outlets ???
Only the one for HDD the other is used for powering network adaptor
Thanks Barry.
It is a pity that Humax have only allocated just 1 measly page regarding recording. Nothing about types of drives or how many can be connected or how they can be used. Nothing about USB in their specsheet either Even the HTML info link they quote does not work.
Nice piece of hardware marred by poor usage instructions. Luckily this forum is here, though I bet the average 50- 70 year old would not be aware of the use of forums. I’m in that age range but have come from a computer background so I know of the usefulness of them.
I rather think that the manual is mostly freesat’s work rather than Humax’s.
I think that Humax customer support gave you advice for the Foxsat rather than the 1000S units. Some users have experienced problems with unpowered drives on the Foxsat.
Hard drives can vary a great deal in their power consumption. AV drives, which are intended for continuous recording , tend to be very low power.
Thanks for that info.
My query to Humax was headed HB-1000s but customer support probably did not read the heading.
Am using a WD 320 Gig 3.5″ externally powered drive at the moment but I am probably going to replace that with a spare Seagate Replica (formatted as a standard ext drive) 2.5″ 500 gig unit, may use a combination of them both.
Think the Seagate may be a bit hefty in the power requirement side so I may externally power that using the “red wire snip” modification to the USB cable power +ve lead that I have read about. This will give power to the drive but not supply it to the Humax socket. I have spare 5V PSUs about.
I am using one of these with my HB-1000S. http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-800020.pdf
Note how low the power requirements are.
Yes nice spec & a good range of sizes.
I am using existing drives as I have a few lying about & the Humax is not on my main TV. For that I am using Virgin cable with the Tivo box. Though this Humax gives me almost all the channels I watch. Am intending capturing & storing things like older films on the Humax drive.
Hi I have recently bought the humax to watch tv in france. As I have restricted catch up and no access to iplayer I would like to record. I’m a bit stumped by the HDD options. I looked up the WD model proposed by one member which will cost at least 75 euros. Can anyone recommend a cheaper option? Thanks in advance
I would do a google search for a “powered external hard drive”
Some members seem to have got away with using an an unpowered 2.5″ external drive but an unpowered drive normally uses very near the limit of current available on USB (usually recommended limit 500Ma) Humax did not recommend using unpowered drives when I contacted them.
There will be a multitude of powered drives available. Or you could buy a cheap PC 3.5″ internal drive & get a powered 3.5″ external caddy for it.
There are plenty of 3.5″ drives available cheaply on UK sites & a powered 3.5″ caddy will cost from about £10 on amazon or Ebay. Fitting it in is easy
Virtually all new HDDs these days are SATA so ensure that you get a SATA Caddy for it.
Most 2.5″ external drive’s are unpowered so beware with these as you may invalidate your warranty if the drive draws too much current.
I am using a (formatted) Seagate Replica 500 gig drive with a PSU (using a cable modification to stop feeding the 5 volts back into the Humax box) which seems to work well.
I would differ in advice – go for a unpowered 2.5 WD AV drive and get a caddy.
These power down when the PVR is in standby whereas the powered need to be unplugged/turned off. Barry has also tested some.
Whatever you get it should be an AV drive (designed for continuous use without error checking, all low power).
I successfully used a PC power saving strip and a usb hub to control the power of the 1TB usb connected drive (switches off connected kit when the usb on the HD FOX powered down) I used for recording using a HD FOX.
Ok, thanks for the responses. Am struggling a bit with the technicalities! What about this?
Or this?
Unfortunately REPASSAC’s 2.5″ drive alone (of a decent size of 1TB) would bust the questioners budget. These seem to be about £58 or 86 Euro plus the cost of a caddy.
The 1tb WD AV 3.5″ version is cheaper at about £47 or 66 euro + about £10 or 16 euro for a powered caddy which will not invalidate the Humax warranty.
I personally have had no problems using non AV drives which generally appear to cost less.
Depends how close rmartin1 wants to keep to his budget
KDBCOM – 7 hours ago »
Unfortunately REPASSAC’s 2.5″ drive alone (of a decent size of 1TB) would bust the questioners budget. These seem to be about £58 or 86 Euro plus the cost of a caddy.
The 1tb WD AV 3.5″ version is cheaper at about £47 or 66 euro + about £10 or 16 euro for a powered caddy which will not invalidate the Humax warranty.
I personally have had no problems using non AV drives which generally appear to cost less.
Depends how close rmartin1 wants to keep to his budget
New non AV drives will work correctly until they age when error checking begins to fail which is why AV drives don’t worry about a minor glitch.
Using an unpowered drives will not invalidate any warranty, the Humax power supply can deliver exactly what it is designed for and no more. If you fit a drive requiring more, the unit just will not work. The cost of extra electricity will mount up over the life of a powered unit, especially as it remains powered when the PVR is off.
Humax support frequently mix up models, the advice of using a powered drives was for the Foxsat which had a built in power supply. As Barry said he has tested a number of drives powed and not. https://myhumax.org/forum/topic/hb-1000s-is-this-unit-pvr-ready
I beg to differ
Yes if you’re lucky your device “just will not work” but as an ex pc engineer I have encountered several USB ports ruined due to overloading & in this case the manufacturer has every right to invalidate the warranty.
Using a powered drive will avoid this possible problem & this is probably the reason Humax Tech Support advised me in January not to use an unpowered drive.
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