Signal Loss

Groucho2000

Hi. Has anyone had any problems with SKY signal in the last few days? I keep getting a broken picture and no signal being received on certain channels e.g. Sky1, Sky2 but half the channels are fine. If they were all having trouble I would think fine its my box/dish etc. I checked the signal strength and its as normal on the two inputs of the HD box. Any ideas? Thanks.

The Cush

Not sure where you live but if you are around the South West of the country it's been quiet windy for the last few days. If you live in the area your dish may be moving slightly in the windy conditions and mometarily losing the signal from the satellite.

The dish may need realignment or at least check the dish mounting bolts.

Sgt Pepper 64

Groucho2000 wrote: »

Hi. Has anyone had any problems with SKY signal in the last few days? I keep getting a broken picture and no signal being received on certain channels e.g. Sky1, Sky2 but half the channels are fine. If they were all having trouble I would think fine its my box/dish etc. I checked the signal strength and its as normal on the two inputs of the HD box. Any ideas? Thanks.

Yep, had that problem for a while now, part of the reason I'm getting a new box. Its funny how all the FTA channels are always alright.
I'm going to mention to the sky engineers when they come out and ask them to check the dish.

IrishHomer

Mine have been slightly glitchy occasionally past few days was worrying my conifer trees arfe growing too tall

Groucho2000

Thanks. Checked dish seems fine. Noticed when I loose a channel and go into check the signal in setup that input 1 was lost. So it is flicking in and out. Figure it might be a break in the line or a problem with the LNB. I swapped the coaxal from line 1 and line 2 at the back of the box and input 1 still has a problem. At this stage I think the box itself is playing up, specifically input 1. Can't figure out why some channels are perfect RTE1 etc. but others SKY1 go completely. Its like they are somehow linked to the different inputs!

ixtlan

Groucho2000 wrote: »

At this stage I think the box itself is playing up, specifically input 1. Can't figure out why some channels are perfect RTE1 etc. but others SKY1 go completely. Its like they are somehow linked to the different inputs!

I think you may be the same position as me.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056056127

I think the reason why some have gone, is that some are vertically polarised and some are horizontal... Other can explain that better than me.

In any case, I'm still pondering my options. I hate giving ultimatums, but there's no way I'm paying for a repair with what I pay Sky already.

Ix.

Groucho2000

Thanks for that. Did a bit more investigating by swapping in an old digibox and found that I could watch all the channels no problem on both inputs. It's the HD box so.

beer enigma

I'd say the same problem as I had - the power supply on the HD boxes seems to be a bit flaky & you end up losing signal/channels

There are a few threads on exactly the same problem if you search around - including mine. Sky replaced my box free of charge even though it was well out of warranty.........

RKQ

Every morening at 10:28am my Sky+ box loose' signal. I then have to unplug it at the mains & wait 1 minute before turning it on.
Why does it go at 10:28 everyday? - wind or rain does disrupt signal but it calm & sunny now and it just happened?

The Cush

RKQ wrote: »

Every morening at 10:28am my Sky+ box loose' signal. I then have to unplug it at the mains & wait 1 minute before turning it on.
Why does it go at 10:28 everyday? - wind or rain does disrupt signal but it calm & sunny now and it just happened?

Solar outage probably - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_outage

Sun Outage Calculator - http://www.satellite-calculations.com/SUNcalc/SUNcalc.htm

Solar Outages

What are they ?

In March / April and September / October day and night are about the same length. At these times of year the sun crosses the equator and it traces an arc that places it directly behind the broadcast geostationary satellites.

This can cause a strange phenomenon known as a solar (or sun) outage. This is a disruption to satellite reception for a few minutes each day for a few days. The exact date, time and duration of such events depends on the receive site location, the satellite in question, the size of the dish on your house, the station keeping accuracy of the satellite and how accurate your dish points at the satellites.

As these events can be accurately predicted for each satellite, the events are announced well in advance. In recent years, I have seen the BBC Weather service advising viewers that an outage is likely. An outage only ever last for a few minutes, since the Sun continually tracks round its orbit. After a few minutes, the Sun moves on past the satellite, and your pictures re-appear.

What causes it ?

Solar Outage results because the sun is a powerful broadband microwave source and has a noise temperature well in excess of 25,000 degrees Celcius. As the sun passes directly behind the satellite (when viewed from earth), reception of the relatively weak satellite signals is affected. The degree of interference varies from slight signal degradation to complete loss of signal as the downlink is swamped by the noise from the sun.

An outage may last several minutes each day during the interference season and will last longer the smaller the antenna involved. A 40cm dish will have a longer period of interference than a 120cm dish. This is because a small dish has a greater signal acceptance angle than a big dish.

An outage event can occur for several days both before and after the peak day. Outages will occur at roughly the same time each day and may repeat on a daily basis for a week or more.

http://www.selkirkshire.demon.co.uk/analoguesat/outages.html

RKQ

Thanks The Cush, thats a really interesting post and it could be the cause of the problem. I hadn't heard of Solar Outrage before.

Randyleprechaun

The Cush wrote: »

Solar outage probably - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_outage

Sun Outage Calculator - http://www.satellite-calculations.com/SUNcalc/SUNcalc.htm

Very interesting!!!!!

Thanks