Anyone else in Spain....

bobpires2002

....having problems with Sky Digital over the last few days?

I've got skipping, signal interference and from time to time 'No satellite signal is being received' errors.

But when I do a signal test it looks more or less like it always does.

Is it just the heat affecting the signal (it's hotter than Kylie's arse here at the moment), or is there something more sinisiter going on - like narrowing of signal beams or some other stuff I don't understand?

cheers

Mike 1972

No idea but heres some wild guesses

Theory 1:
Possibly its something to do with the narrowing of the beam (although I understand that was done back in June)
Solution: Bigger dish

Theory 2:
Heat has warped a piece of metal somewhere in your dish or the mounting kit
Solution: Wait for it to cool a bit. If still a problem dish will need rebeaming/replacment

Theory 3:
Heat has damaged the LNB
Solution: replace

robert muldoon

Originally posted by bobpires2002
....having problems with Sky Digital over the last few days?

I've got skipping, signal interference and from time to time 'No satellite signal is being received' errors.

But when I do a signal test it looks more or less like it always does.

Is it just the heat affecting the signal (it's hotter than Kylie's arse here at the moment), or is there something more sinisiter going on - like narrowing of signal beams or some other stuff I don't understand?

cheers [/QUOTE

\if you are not out in the sticks, check with your neighbours and then with the local satellite guy and see if they are having a similar problem,because with the footprint gone so narrow down there,anything could be happening. I wont be down there till early sept,so I dont know whats happening. Also see whats happening to the ex pats over on 'Spy digital'

bobpires2002

I'm using the same dish I had when I was in Ireland, but have had no problems with it up to now. I suspect it's something to do with the heat - I'm by the sea so there's probably some kind of heat haze. At times the signal and picture is fine.

I think I'll probably need a bigger dish though.

Haven't been watching too much TV recently though - now that the football season's about to start, I need everything working perfectly

Cheers for the tips fellas.

SRB

Very possibly is the heat - the extreme temperatures may be outside its normal limits - had a similar experience during a freak heatwave a few years ago... heat can get focused just like the signals !

sayireland

Where are you that you are using the same dish as you had in Ireland??

If you are in the north you should be OK with a 1m dish.

I'm in Madrid working with a 1.35 and still have problems with RTE in the evening/night.

DMC

Bob, from recollection, is in Barcelona.

bobpires2002

You recall well

It's the same 65cm Sky oval perforated black dish I had in Ireland.

Up until the last couple of weeks we've had no problems. 1 or 2 channels like Eurosport News and a Disney or something like that were unreachable, but everything else perfect. Even the Irish channels.

Then over a period of two weeks the signal got progressively worse. Signal quality drops to 0 for a few moments, then back. In the mornings everything is perfect. Late at night it's perfect. It's from about 10am to 11pm that we have real problems.

We get 'No satellite signal is being received' or 'there is a technical fault with this channel' errors.

A scrambly picture if we can get one at all. Some channels are worse than others though. Sky One lasts longer than some of the others - Sky News too.

Then yesterday, everything was perfect. A steady, solid signal quality and strength. Good picture, no hassles.

Today, the same problem back again. I dunno.

Maybe a bigger dish might help, but why problems all of a sudden - and if there was a problem with the equipment, how come everything was perfect yesterday?

It's a bit of a pain because I really need to see Arsenal kick United's arse tomorrow

If I haven't alientated too many with that, any advice would be much appreciated.

sayireland

It's probably because the dish is too small and with the 65 you are on the edge. With my 1.35 some afternoons perfect picture on 2D channels, others no picture, others picture with lots of break-up. There is no pattern. Doesn't depend on the weather or the heat. Same story summer, autumn, winter etc. I know a 1.8 would solve my problem and I'm sure an 80 or 1m would do the job for you. Check out www.tecatel.com or www.diesl.com (this last crowd are based in Barca)

bobpires2002

Are you in Spain?

I take your point about the dish being too small, I just wonder how it became too small all of a sudden. It's been nigh on perfect for 2 years.

edit - After being crap all day, since around 10am here, the picture just came back on at midnight.

Turned on Sky News at 5 to 12 and it was scrambly and jumpy. Once it went beyond midnight, nearly all the channels are perfect.

Could it be the heatwave in the UK having an affect, coz it's always hot here?

sayireland

Yes as I said I'm in Madrid. Why has it changed overnight? As I said you are extremely lucky to be picking up the channels in Barca with such a small dish. For the sake of 40 brick it's worth doing an upgrade.

http://www.tecatel.com/productos/detalle.asp?cod=823&pos=16

Once the dish goes on the roof noone can touch you.

See Articulo 9 2(b)

http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1998-02-28/pdfs/A07071-07074.pdf