Problem with Pace Sky Box, help appreciated...

The Ritz

Hi,

Just had a fun time (as did my mate......:o ) today putting up a dish and trying to get FTA up and running.

When we tried to tune in the dish (pointing it in the same general direction as neighbouring dishes, as far as we could tell) using the services menu on the Sky box, we got no signal, not even "signal strength", zilch. A couple of hours spent pointing the dish in every direction yielded the same result. Eventually we brought the box to my mate's house (his dish and box are up and running) and the box responded the same way - nothing.

The box is a Pace 2500s3, with a FTA card, bought from Boards a little while back.

I'd appreciate any diagnosis - is there a "reset" routine for the box or does it sound as though it's fubared?

Would also very much appreciate hearing from anyone on the Northside (Raheny area) with experience of aligning dishes......:) in the event that the box can be made to work........


Thanks in advance,


Sean.

watty

The tuner dies on those. I had two recently that was the fault. About £19 + p&p from Kesh Electronics but only for experienced de-solderer as there are a LOT of pins.

A SW re-initialisation ONLY works if you get a signal...

Expect to pay more than the box is worth to get it repaired professionally if the guy isn't doing you a favour.

The Ritz

Watty,

Thanks............

Anyone out there with a spare digibox ??


Sean.

byte

Check out the local classifieds paper, or maybe the For Sale section on Boards.

Or place a request on the Wanted section of FS.

The Ritz

Byte,

Thanks for the advice - my post was intended in a lighter note, given that the box I got from someone here on Boards turned out to be borked.....

I think I've one on the way from eBay now.... with fingers crossed for a better outcome.

Sean.

byte

Ah, I see

What make/model did ya order from eBay? I've always found the Panasonics quite good.

Skyuser

I thought using the signal meter on the digiboxes was a crap way of alligning the dish? Ain't there a slow reaction to what comes up on your tv?

watty

Yes, the quality meter is slow as it is measuring the errors in the signal over a period of time.
But once you have a signal only a meter costing 1000s is better than the Quality bar.

It is the only method of fine tuning alignment if you only have a cheap (< 300 Euro) signal meter / beeper

The Ritz

What make/model did ya order from eBay? I've always found the Panasonics quite good.

A Panasonic TU-DSB 30, from what I've read they're quite good but I understand that some of them can operate a bit hot leading to lock-ups - but if it comes to that cooling it with fan (or a heatsink) isn't beyond me......



Sean.

byte

Wise purchase. You shouldnt' be disappointed. Yes, they had a reputation for heating up, and I think Satcure.co.uk had offered cooling fans to fit in the expansion bay. Dunno if he still sells them, but shouldn't be difficult to get a similar fan.

Otherwise, keep it in a well ventilated area, not coverd with magazines, DVD's or VHS tapes etc, that some people seem to do!

The Ritz

Byte,

If it works ok I'll be treating it well............... if it doesn't it'll still be kept in a well ventilated place - nailed to the wall of my garden shed........

I'm dipping my toes into satellite in order to get geared up for BBC HD - waiting for a DVB-S2 card to become available.

HD on a 7' wide screen = yum.........:D


Sean.

byte

Heh, when I first looked, I thought you said 7" Had to look twice, notice you mean 7 feet!

Nice!

The Ritz

Byte,

Nice isn't the half of it....:D I've been running a projector in a dedicated room for the last four years or so and it's deadly ! HD on a really big screen is super and recent material I've obtained using the H264 codec is very impressive - a full HD movie is usually 8 - 10Gb, using H264 HD movie is about 4Gb. Given the level of compression it's really quite surprisingly good.

Getting into satellite to get in line for BBC HD - expect Technotrend's DVB S2 card to become available around the end of the month, getting the digibox for FTA for regular TV.

A bit off-topic, but what the heck....................


Sean.

Sparky

Ive had a panny box for the last 4 years, a wise purchase, plus I think its a really fast box.

The Ritz

I prolly won't have it until sometime next week..... irrational impatience.... expect that once you buy someting online it should appear magically in the letter box shortly thereafter.......:o


Sean.