Sudden Sky reception problem... only certain channels
Discussion
Chaps, I request the knowledge of the forum.
I have Sky HD and have done for a couple of years now. In the last few days I have effectively lost reception (very badly pixellated, jumping picture, disjointed etc) on BBC1, 2, ITV, C5... but Sky 1, Sports, HD channels, Watch, Dave etc are all fine. I haven't changed any connections and the signal strength is about half as it always has been.
I'm stumped - any thoughts?
I have Sky HD and have done for a couple of years now. In the last few days I have effectively lost reception (very badly pixellated, jumping picture, disjointed etc) on BBC1, 2, ITV, C5... but Sky 1, Sports, HD channels, Watch, Dave etc are all fine. I haven't changed any connections and the signal strength is about half as it always has been.
I'm stumped - any thoughts?
Is it raining a lot at the moment?
Is there snow on the dish? Was snow on the dish and has now come off?
Have you tried a hard reboot? (Turn it off at the plug and leave it for 30 seconds before rebooting)
Is there a tree in the way which has been altered in some way recently? This is normally an issue in the spring when the leaves come back on.
It's not unusual for some channels to be ok and others fine.
Is there snow on the dish? Was snow on the dish and has now come off?
Have you tried a hard reboot? (Turn it off at the plug and leave it for 30 seconds before rebooting)
Is there a tree in the way which has been altered in some way recently? This is normally an issue in the spring when the leaves come back on.
It's not unusual for some channels to be ok and others fine.
theboyfold said:
Is it raining a lot at the moment? - Nope
Is there snow on the dish? Was snow on the dish and has now come off? - Er, possibly, dunno. Was working fine in the snow, it started at the weekend.
Have you tried a hard reboot? (Turn it off at the plug and leave it for 30 seconds before rebooting) - Yep to no avail
Is there a tree in the way which has been altered in some way recently? This is normally an issue in the spring when the leaves come back on. - No I chopped down all the trees last summer as that was a problem back then.
It's not unusual for some channels to be ok and others fine. - Maybe I just find it unusual its all the BBC/ITV ones that's all.
See above. I should add I have multiroom (non-HD) and that is the same.Is there snow on the dish? Was snow on the dish and has now come off? - Er, possibly, dunno. Was working fine in the snow, it started at the weekend.
Have you tried a hard reboot? (Turn it off at the plug and leave it for 30 seconds before rebooting) - Yep to no avail
Is there a tree in the way which has been altered in some way recently? This is normally an issue in the spring when the leaves come back on. - No I chopped down all the trees last summer as that was a problem back then.
It's not unusual for some channels to be ok and others fine. - Maybe I just find it unusual its all the BBC/ITV ones that's all.
headcase said:
If you have 2 seperate boxes running from the same dish with the same fault then it points to a lnb/dish alignment problem, basically a poor signal being recieved by both boxes.
this is a good idea. Also if you have 2 feeds going to one box, check the signal strength and then swap the cables over and repeat the signal test This could help to further isolate a fault.
We had exactly this problem - dish was out of alignment. No idea how or why it had dropped, but a quick shimmy up a borrowed roof ladder and a mobile phone in pocket with earpiece listening to Mrs L watching the services screen whilst I juggled spanners fixed the problem. Two years of wondering what was wrong with the bloody thing fixed in ten minutes.....
Leithen said:
We had exactly this problem - dish was out of alignment...
Indeed, I had this and Sky replaced the box, twice, didn't solve it and the next engineer, an independent, said rubbish and spent a longer time tuning and aligning the dish and solved all the problems. I kept his card!From another experienced point of view Sky HD boxes are a crock of s
t.
The Power Supply Unit (PSU) fails in them all the time.
Lots of threads about this on the Internet, and yes, strangely beyond my comprehension, it means that some channels work and some don't.
Before you go hoofing up onto the roof, check the signal strength received at the Sky box, you can see it on the telly via pressing some buttons on the remote.
My bet is a faulty PSU, especially if it was working properly at an earlier date.
If your box is out of warranty then you can buy a new/repplcaement PSU board for little money.
t.The Power Supply Unit (PSU) fails in them all the time.
Lots of threads about this on the Internet, and yes, strangely beyond my comprehension, it means that some channels work and some don't.
Before you go hoofing up onto the roof, check the signal strength received at the Sky box, you can see it on the telly via pressing some buttons on the remote.
My bet is a faulty PSU, especially if it was working properly at an earlier date.
If your box is out of warranty then you can buy a new/repplcaement PSU board for little money.
Plotloss said:
Ahh yes, didn't see the addendum.
As you were.
As you were.
headcase said:
How does a faulty psu in the HD box account for the exact same fault on other multiroom box? More than likely alignment issue for this particular one.
Indeed, though to a TV Satellite engineer 'dish alignment' is a euphemism for getting the ladders out and charging more money.Most of the ones I've been to regarding Sky HD are down to the box. For those that involve multiroom etc then it is often a case of poor cable termination, routing or as you said dish out of alignment.
Went to one last month where the cable hadn't be clipped to the wall properly and their dog had chewed it.
Edit because 'dog dad' should've said 'dog had'
Edited by The Excession on Wednesday 20th January 23:12
Oooh, long thread now, cheers for the input peeps.
The signal strength is about half way for both inputs but signal quality looks to be about 15% or so for both. I've re-aligned the dish before in the summer when I was chopping trees down, I'll have another fiddle with the dish on the weekend and report back.
The signal strength is about half way for both inputs but signal quality looks to be about 15% or so for both. I've re-aligned the dish before in the summer when I was chopping trees down, I'll have another fiddle with the dish on the weekend and report back.
The Excession said:
...to a TV Satellite engineer 'dish alignment' is a euphemism for getting the ladders out and charging more money.
Indeed that sounds exactly like the approach taken by the previous 'Sky" subcontractors but this one chap really took time and care and made an amazing difference. The Excession said:
Plotloss said:
Ahh yes, didn't see the addendum.
As you were.
As you were.
headcase said:
How does a faulty psu in the HD box account for the exact same fault on other multiroom box? More than likely alignment issue for this particular one.
Indeed, though to a TV Satellite engineer 'dish alignment' is a euphemism for getting the ladders out and charging more money.Most of the ones I've been to regarding Sky HD are down to the box. For those that involve multiroom etc then it is often a case of poor cable termination, routing or as you said dish out of alignment.
Went to one last month where the cable hadn't be clipped to the wall properly and their dog had chewed it.
Edit because 'dog dad' should've said 'dog had'
Edited by The Excession on Wednesday 20th January 23:12
)As for the poor cable clipping... i went out to a job the other week - 25meters of external cable - 6 Cable clips. Ludicrous. All running horizontaly too.
The Excession said:
Plotloss said:
First symptoms of a faulty PSU would be my first thought.
As I've attended 4 jobs in the last two months with this very fault.
As I've attended 4 jobs in the last two months with this very fault.
Just look for those bulging capacitors.
Only 4? Every fault I'm hearing/attending to with Sky HD boxes is always a PSU issue
To start with a couple of channels didn't work. Over the next couple of weeks it was more and more. Either digital pixellation or nowt at all.
When I rang Sky they got me to do a system reset on the box, which killed another 50% of the channels.
They then told me that I would need to pay £70 for an engineer and a replacement for my 13 months old box.
I reminded them of the Sale of Goods Act, and reminded them I had been a good customer for 7 years. She told me that they 'do not have to conform to the Sale of Goods Act'. I asked her to hold on for a second so I could write that down...
She put the phone down.
I called to complain and they seemed to know all about the problem and there was a new box installed for free 72 hours later.
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