SKY TV not working
 

Sort of computer-ish, so I thought I'd ask here. Apparently 'no satellite signal being received' according to the SKY box. It was working fine earlier today, now not…..I've switched it off for 5mins to reboot, I've checked all the cables are connected and healthy looking, I've checked the dish and the connector to the dish (up a ladder in the dark :uhoh:) and still the bu&&er won't work. Any ideas chaps ?


SHJ

Unplug the power cable for 30 secs?

Have you had high wind which could have moved the dish out of alignment? Or could it have been knocked for some reason?

You say you've checked all the cables, I'd suggest disconnecting at each end, scraping the connections clean, and reconnecting making sure it's all tight.

LNBs can fail, although it's rare, so your next step assuming you've done the foregoing, is a new LNB (they're not expensive).

Good luck.

Thanks for the replies, oh well there's nothing on TV anyway :hmm: It could well be the LNB, the signal was a tiny bit pixellated last night which I'd put down to the local atmosphere being thick with firework smoke, but all was ok and normal earlier today. It might well be the LNB, I'll have a look in daylight tomorrow. Goodnight!


SHJ

If you're going down that route, make it at least a couple of minutes.

Do you have a "friendly" neighbour with SKY - it's easy enough to pop round with your receiver and try it on a known, good signal. If this proves your box to be working, then you'll have to look more closely at your dish/LNB. Pay particular attention to any joints between brackets and hardware - new shiny metal can be a handy indication of movement. You may be able to sight along the LNB arm (from underneath) and pick some point in the distance, then do the same thing at your neighbours - this would show any substantial movement. The elevation is just as important - a spirit level with an adjustable "bubble" held against the dish face could be used to compare with another installation.

As for LNB's - yes they do fail, but not always completely. There are 4 states involved - high or low band, and vertical or horizontal polarity. Losing any one of these will only affect certain channels, and not usually in any particular order. Please note: Disconnect the receiver from the mains before fiddling with the co-ax connectors - shorting the output can damage it. For the same reason make absolutely sure that no stray strands of the braid are touching the inner conductor if you check the plugs. "F" connectors don't have a separate pin - the cable inner does this job, and if it either 1) isn't long enough to make contact inside the socket, or 2) gets bent back during insertion you won't get a signal. Unlikely with a previously working installation, but worth checking anyway.

Failing any of this, you'll have to get an installer to come round and check things for you.

I had a similar problem. It occurred mainly in heavy rain. I bought a SWR meter and used it to obtain a better signal by realigning the dish, which cured the problem.

Not sure how dirty LNBs get but possibibly cleaning it might help. At one stage mine was covered in bird s@@t. When there is an accumulation of snow in your dish a pole on a broom is quite handy.

The problem I have is my Sky+HD box is so slow after a reboot. It takes at least 5 mins to get going and the green light comes on. My disc is around 50% full at the best of times. Quite often it freezes up and is useless. I'm now on the point of seeing what's available on fleebay!

Sorry to say the bleedin' obvious but have you called SKY?:)

1. Why do you have to reboot? What goes wrong?
2. Ebay always has lots. Bought 2: 1 for self, 1 for daughter last year, both (although described as used) with plastics still on.
3. If you're thinking of replacing your box, you must be ready to lose the stuff which occupies the hard drive. Why not try that???

It doesn't sound as if calling Sky will help. If the problem is with the card or subscription you will get a clear message indicating this and telling you to contact Sky Customer Services.

Did you try the old hard-reset trick ? (Back-up button etc ....)

The Sky call centre in India is useless. After several conflicting calls they couldn't even sort out the Sky mini wifi via a USB. They said my Sky box was incompatible.

I've tried the back up system and updating software via the dish method but to no avail.

I think the only answer is to upgrade to a wifi enabled sky HD box and dump the old one. yes I'm aware I'll loose my favourites but a small price to pay.

Thanks to all concerned.

Update for my old SKY problem, new LNB fitted and……nada. Cable ok, dish ok, TV ok, so that just leaves the standard SKY box. Everything works with it as well, just no signal being received. Is it likely that some component in the box is broken ?



SHJ

Long shot, a real long shot, try changing the batteries in the remote.

Daz

Update - Bought a 3 month old Sky+HD Box for £40 off Gumtree last night. Everything works well. Sky mini wifi works well, now does the job it was supposed to. Old box raided for the hard drive and remaining bits now outside the house for the Eastern Europeans to take away - Job done!

Footnote - Sky want £199.00 for a new box. What a rip off!

Er... but for that you get their famed world-wide Tech Support.




Ah. I see...

More than likely dried out electrolytics in the PSU

In all the time I've had Sky in three different locations, I've never had a box fail completely other than as a result of a lightning strike which took out almost all our electronics. What does then to happen is that, like us, they slow down and take longer to boot up, change channels, and so on.

My Experience with Sky boxes has been good!
The problem with 'no signal', does that mean no program to watch ? Within the services via the box is to view signal strength and quality of one or both signal feeds. Poor signal strength is often cured by removing the arial plugs from the back of the box and checking/improving the attachment of plug to lead.My daughter had poor signal strength that was cured by cutting away the tree that had grown in front of the dish.How about buildings or new fences.
Once every couple of months I disconnect the box from its power supply for at least five minutes, then when I power it up leave it on its own for ten minutes while it reboots before trying anything.
New batteries in the remote every year.
390

Two points to note :

- There are multiple Sky STB models, Sky tend not to sell you the cheapest one
- There is nothing stopping you from sourcing a STB from an independent (which I would classify as a preferable route to Gumtree or eBay)

I had my fair share of problems with Sky recently, bought a new box from an independent for £100..... and it didn't cost me anything in the end because I got Sky to pay for it. :cool: