PLEASE HELP- why have i no light on my magic eye

dlambirl · 26-06-2009 6:32pm #1

Hi everyone. Got a magic eye today and im just after trying to set it up. Our tv in the kitchen is with a magic eye as our sky box is in a central location along with our distribution box. Had sky installer with me during the week and he said all i would have to do is plug coaxial lead into link then tvlink into the tv. Ive done that but the red light on the link hasnt come on. In the sky set up menu it has RF CHANNEL 45 and RF OUTLET POWER SUPPLY- ON. what could be my problem? Very disappointed

byte · 26-06-2009 6:40pm

A likely scenario is the wall socket is isolated, meaning no power can pass through it.

Remove socket from the wall; if it has a (usually green) circuit board, then it's isolated. Replace with basic socket.

Otherwise there is a connection problem.

dlambirl · 26-06-2009 6:49pm

It must be isolated because when an installer was doing the one in the kitchen he had to take the cover off the socket.

byte · 26-06-2009 8:48pm

dlambirl wrote: »

It must be isolated because when an installer was doing the one in the kitchen he had to take the cover off the socket.

Ah right, seems the most likely cause so.

dlambirl · 29-06-2009 9:53am

got a socket face in atlantic homecare yesterday (not green inside so i assume not insulated) and wired it last night - still no power going to magic eye

fat-tony · 29-06-2009 11:01am

Are you sure the connection is from the RF2 outlet on the SKY box? The RF1 outlet does not carry the 9v necessary to power the "magic eye".
Alternatively, your distribution box is not passing the voltage to the eye. Does it work in other rooms?

dlambirl · 29-06-2009 12:12pm

yup - its from the RF2 outlet. There is another magic eye used in the kitchen so there must be power coming or it wouldnt work.

fat-tony · 29-06-2009 4:36pm

I'm sorry - your first post was a bit confusing. Can you confirm that you have two sockets - one in the kitchen (which is working), and one elsewhere (which is not working)?

If this is the case, then replace the working magic eye in the kitchen with the new one and verify that the new one is ok there. Then install the original magic eye in the new location. If it's not working there, then you have confirmed that there is a break in the continuity of the circuit between the socket and the distribution box. It could be that the new socket also has an isolating capacitor which is blocking the 9V DC from the SKY box. Check that there is a direct connection from the screw terminal on the socket (where you connect the centre core of the coax) to the centre part of the socket and that there is no small component (the capacitor) soldered between them.

Sam Radford · 29-06-2009 5:00pm

I'm totally confused but I can direct you to instructions here:
http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/split.htm

dlambirl · 30-06-2009 10:42am

Ok this is gonna be a long post as I want to explain everything.

Our Sky+ box is in the attic, along with our aerial and distributor box. Two cables come in from the dish and into the box, aerial also goes into the box and then a cable from the RF2 outlet goes to the distibutor box. The tv cables that go to the entire house then come from the distributor box to the wall sockets in each room.

Currently we have a magic eye in the kitchen which controls the sky+ box, we have sky channel tuned in on the tv in the bedroom but just cant control it so we wanted to put another magic eye in the bedroom so we could control the box from there. Thought it would be simple....

ok, so last night I took the wall socket off completely and wired a straight joiner on and hooked my eye on - no light.
Then i took the new magic eye up to the kitchen and there was no problem getting power.
Then i took the kitchen's magic eye down and no power then i changed the coax cables i was using to see if the fault was there - nope.

So it looks like there is something wrong with the actual cable coming from the distributor box to the wall socket - that the power isnt coming to the bedroom? How'd i fix this??

keithoh · 30-06-2009 11:35am

There are a couple of things you could try.

1. Try switching the outputs from the distributor box, so that the bedroom cable is plugged into the output that your kitchen cable was plugged into, and try the magic eye again. This would rule out any problem with your distribution box.

2. If the above doesn't work you may have a short on the cable which is preventing the dc current from powering the magic eye. Check your connections on the cable to the bedroom at both the distribution box and wall socket, or any other joins you may have on the cable. Make sure that none of the outer shield is touching the inner core, the smallest strand can cause a short.

dlambirl · 30-06-2009 1:13pm

Thanks will try that this evening..

St Senan · 30-06-2009 3:40pm

your Attic is not a good place to have your sky box. Picture quality would not be as good as connecting to tv with a scart cable.

fat-tony · 01-07-2009 12:29pm

dlambirl wrote: »

Thanks will try that this evening..

How'd it work out?

keithoh's analysis sounds right to me - short in the cable going to the bedroom, which you could prove by switching the connectors at the distribution box end. You could also verify the other outlets (if you have them). The problem is probably in the connector at the distribution box. Scaller is right in that you get a much inferior picture (and no stereo sound) if you are watching the output from the digibox on rf. But this may not be of any consequence to you if you are just watching on small tvs in the kitchen and bedroom. If you have a large flat-screen tv in the lounge/sittingroom, then you will surely want to have a SCART connection. There is also the issue of large temperature changes in the attic unless the roof itself is insulated.

dlambirl · 02-07-2009 1:22pm

scaller wrote: »

your Attic is not a good place to have your sky box. Picture quality would not be as good as connecting to tv with a scart cable.

I'm happy with the way its worked out. I'm happy with the sound and the picture.

fat-tony wrote: »

How'd it work out?

keithoh's analysis sounds right to me - short in the cable going to the bedroom, which you could prove by switching the connectors at the distribution box end. You could also verify the other outlets (if you have them). The problem is probably in the connector at the distribution box. Scaller is right in that you get a much inferior picture (and no stereo sound) if you are watching the output from the digibox on rf. But this may not be of any consequence to you if you are just watching on small tvs in the kitchen and bedroom. If you have a large flat-screen tv in the lounge/sittingroom, then you will surely want to have a SCART connection. There is also the issue of large temperature changes in the attic unless the roof itself is insulated.

fattony - didnt get trying it out yet, but i will try and get it out this evening. The other evening i reconnected the connection coming to the socket so maybe try the connection at the distributor box this time. in relation to the tvs the kitchen is a 37 inch lcd and the bedroom is a 21inch - again, i', happy with the picture and sound quality so wont be moving the box from the attic.
Also, our attic (well technically its in the eaves of a dormer, just off a bedroom - like a walk in wardrobe which is well insulated and ventilated) so there will be no probs

PLEASE HELP- why have i no light on my magic eye

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