Initializing New Sky Card Message Last Night?

eddiem74

Last night while watching tv on my SkyHD box, around 9PM the channel we were watching started to freeze, you could still hear sound, but the picture froze. If I switched channel or went into the guide, and back it worked again, but only for another few minutes, then a repeat occurred.

While I was out of the room thinking everything was okay, my wife came out and said a message came up saying "initializing new sky card" or something to that affect, and when it went she was left with a blue screen with sound. If we changed channel we had picture but no sound, and if we went back to the channel, it was still a blue screen with sound?

In the end, I had to power down, even after trying the Housekeeping option, as that just hung.

Just a weird once-off, or a sign of problems to come ?

byte

Could've been just a once off, with software going haywire.

crosstownk

eddiem74 wrote: »

my wife.........picture but no sound,

This isn't heplful but I couldn't resist

zagmund

Our Sky+ box started doing the freeze thing last Monday. It's really annoying. Changing channel and then changing it back again seems to get you another 20s or so before it goes again. I didn't notice it so much in the days following Monday, but it started again last night.

I know that picking up signals from a tiny satellite a couple of hundred KM up in the sky with a tiny dish stuck to the side of my house is a marvel of modern technology and all, but it would be great if they could get the receiver to work properly.

z

eddiem74

I had a freeze again last night, but did not need to do a reset, but one thing I noticed was anytime this has happened over the last few days, I seem to be watching Channel 4, E4, or More4 ?

patrick whitty

i saw on another forum that sky were replacing sky plus receivers as they were faulty
patrick

crosstownk

patrick whitty wrote: »

i saw on another forum that sky were replacing sky plus receivers as they were faulty
patrick

True. They are due to replace my Sky HD box soon. Any recorded programme does not record/playback properly - the picture stalls every 20 seconds or so.

I posted on this a week or so ago > http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055522918

byte

eddiem74 wrote: »

I had a freeze again last night, but did not need to do a reset, but one thing I noticed was anytime this has happened over the last few days, I seem to be watching Channel 4, E4, or More4 ?

Have you got a DECT cordless phone plugged in near the receiver? Or other wireless device?

eddiem74

Nothing has changed set-up wise in the room.

There is a Amp, HTPC, and DECT phone in the room, no modem/router/phone base station though.

fat-tony

zagmund wrote: »

I know that picking up signals from a tiny satellite a couple of hundred KM up in the sky with a tiny dish stuck to the side of my house is a marvel of modern technology and all, but it would be great if they could get the receiver to work properly.

z

It's further than that! Try 42,000 KM away:eek:

zagmund

Yeah, I was thinking as I wrote it that a few hundred KMs might be short of the mark a bit. I guess it was a lot short of the mark.

z

crosstownk

Maybe I'm expecting too much but.....If the signal makes it 42,000km to the satellite and then 42,000km back too my little dish bearing in mind all the electromagnetic interference it meets on the way, why is it that a lowly DECT or wireless signal makes a balls of the whole thing as the signal travels the few metres to my receiver?

fat-tony

Cos there's no twonk with a cordless 'phone let anywhere near the satellite:D

byte

Because when the microwave satellite signals hit the dish, and LNBF, the LNBF has the job of converting the very high microwave frequencies to lower frequencies that coaxial cable can tolerate.

DECT phones operate on a freqency range that can interfere with certain satellite frequences (those converted by the LNBF). Generally, it's not too much a problem unless the the DECT base is right beside the receiver. Poor screening can be to blame.

fat-tony

byte may have the more technically correct explanation;) - though I have moments of lucidity - see my brilliant exposé of a DECT/router problem on Tiny Pop!
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=59532372&postcount=12

byte

Actually, here's a more technical explanation about how LNBF's work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-noise_block_converter

fat-tony

Also, you've got to remember that the signal from the satellite (even after amplification by the LNB) is lower in signal strength than that of a local DECT handset, base-station or wireless router:)

Onikage

byte wrote: »

Actually, here's a more technical explanation about how LNBF's work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-noise_block_converter

Don't you feel dirty quoting wikipedia, whatever happened to giving a link to some satellite nerds hobby site

byte

Onikage wrote: »

Don't you feel dirty quoting wikipedia, whatever happened to giving a link to some satellite nerds hobby site

http://www.satsig.net/lnb/explanation-description-lnb.htm

crosstownk

byte wrote: »

Poor screening can be to blame.

Interesting that you should say that. I had a problem a few months back where input 2 had no signal. So the tech Sky tech called and found that the input two cable had been pierced by a carpet gripper. So he lifted the wire up, taped it up and relocated it and all was well for about 4 weeks. Is it possible that this is now a poor screen for the input 2 cable?