basic satellite troubleshooting

gkp1

Hi All. I just moved into a house where there is an 80 cm dish mounted, looks like it is pointed in the same direction as sky dishes around the neighbourhood. I plugged the lead from it directly into my Ferguson Ariva 120 but get no signal on the sat channels. I know the previous residents wanted French TV, is it possible that the dish is pointed at the wrong satellite? Also the LNB looks old and dirty and the cable was not sealed around the f-connector so the problem could possibly lie there. Just wondering where to start troubleshooting this? Thanks.

tmcw

When you connected up your receiver, did you try a scan, or just try the channels you already had stored from a previous installation?

gkp1

tmcw wrote: »

When you connected up your receiver, did you try a scan, or just try the channels you already had stored from a previous installation?

Tried a scan on several satellites which took quite a while but no channels found.

gkp1

still trying to progress this......ran a cable directly from the dish to box to eliminate any issues but still no channels found on a blind scan of Astra etc.
May look at replacing the LNB next......I presume this would be a non-Sky dish LNB? Is it a universal LNB that I need, also any brackets etc? picture attached, thanks.

friday02

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone could advise me on this please. I have no signal with Sky. Rang them to check it out but they couldn't find the fault. Just discovered that there appears to be a problem with the dish outside. Excuse my description now, I'm not very good at this ha ha !! But the long antennae type thing is facing downwards (to the ground) as opposed to facing directly opposite the dish. I was making the comparison with the other satellite dishes positioned on other houses in the estate! I went to have a closer look and I see that the whole long antennae type thing is actually broken away from the dish and is just being held up by the wire cables.
I have been with Sky over a year now. I know I'm out of warranty as they advised me the other day when I rang to investigate the problem. At that point I didn't know that the problem could be with the dish.
Do I cancel my account now with Sky? Consider setting up a new one? Or possibly changing service provider? Can I get this antennae type thing repaired or do I need to get a whole new dish? Also I imagine this could be quite expensive!
No entertainment for nearly 5 days now.....aagghh!!!! So any help gratefully appreciated. Thanks everyone :-)

polyfusion

gkp1 wrote: »

still trying to progress this......ran a cable directly from the dish to box to eliminate any issues but still no channels found on a blind scan of Astra etc.
May look at replacing the LNB next......I presume this would be a non-Sky dish LNB? Is it a universal LNB that I need, also any brackets etc? picture attached, thanks.

LNB might be broken or not compatible with newer receivers. Post ALL the details on the LNB label, and someone might be able to advise further (or post a good picture).

LNB arm looks bent too, if that's not how it supposed to be, it could mean the LNB is completely off the prime focus of the dish, and if it's off by a lot, you likely won't get any signal, even if you tilt the dish forward (I think) to compensate.

polyfusion

friday02 wrote: »

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone could advise me on this please. I have no signal with Sky. Rang them to check it out but they couldn't find the fault. Just discovered that there appears to be a problem with the dish outside. Excuse my description now, I'm not very good at this ha ha !! But the long antennae type thing is facing downwards (to the ground) as opposed to facing directly opposite the dish. I was making the comparison with the other satellite dishes positioned on other houses in the estate! I went to have a closer look and I see that the whole long antennae type thing is actually broken away from the dish and is just being held up by the wire cables.
I have been with Sky over a year now. I know I'm out of warranty as they advised me the other day when I rang to investigate the problem. At that point I didn't know that the problem could be with the dish.
Do I cancel my account now with Sky? Consider setting up a new one? Or possibly changing service provider? Can I get this antennae type thing repaired or do I need to get a whole new dish? Also I imagine this could be quite expensive!
No entertainment for nearly 5 days now.....aagghh!!!! So any help gratefully appreciated. Thanks everyone :-)

Sounds like the LNB has come off the end of the LNB arm. Some good pictures would confirm if this is the case, and may give an idea as to why this happened, and what needs to be done to rectify. Otherwise, google for pictures to make comparisons with your own.

darth_maul

Sounds more like the LNB arm itself is broken (are you in a coastal area), if so a new dish would be needed, tell us you location and we could advise on an independent installer that can help more economically than sky would

MrFrisp

friday02 wrote: »

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone could advise me on this please. I have no signal with Sky. Rang them to check it out but they couldn't find the fault. Just discovered that there appears to be a problem with the dish outside. Excuse my description now, I'm not very good at this ha ha !! But the long antennae type thing is facing downwards (to the ground) as opposed to facing directly opposite the dish. I was making the comparison with the other satellite dishes positioned on other houses in the estate! I went to have a closer look and I see that the whole long antennae type thing is actually broken away from the dish and is just being held up by the wire cables.
I have been with Sky over a year now. I know I'm out of warranty as they advised me the other day when I rang to investigate the problem. At that point I didn't know that the problem could be with the dish.
Do I cancel my account now with Sky? Consider setting up a new one? Or possibly changing service provider? Can I get this antennae type thing repaired or do I need to get a whole new dish? Also I imagine this could be quite expensive!
No entertainment for nearly 5 days now.....aagghh!!!! So any help gratefully appreciated. Thanks everyone :-)

Hi Friday...
If your still paying a sub to sky,,and you have no service,ring them and tell them to cancel as you have don't have the service,,and you can't afford to get a new dish put up.

Good chance they will offer you a new set-up.

It'll only take a phone call to find out.

friday02

Ya I think that sounds about right. It doesn't seem to be the dish but the LNB thing that you describe. I wonder are they expensive to buy and can it be fitted onto the satellite dish? As the problem doesn't seem to be with the dish itself.

friday02

Ya I'm still paying sub to Sky alright, despite being out of contract. I'm over the year, I think a year and 5 or 6 months now I'm with them. I might give them a call about it, worth a try anyway !! Thanks :-)

MrFrisp

friday02 wrote: »

Ya I'm still paying sub to Sky alright, despite being out of contract. I'm over the year, I think a year and 5 or 6 months now I'm with them. I might give them a call about it, worth a try anyway !! Thanks :-)

No bother....

Let Us know how you get on,in case it may help someone else in the future.

Best of luck with it.

minterno

gkp1 wrote: »

still trying to progress this......ran a cable directly from the dish to box to eliminate any issues but still no channels found on a blind scan of Astra etc.
May look at replacing the LNB next......I presume this would be a non-Sky dish LNB? Is it a universal LNB that I need, also any brackets etc? picture attached, thanks.

a universal lnb should be fine,i might be wrong but the arm of the dish looks to be bent or it might just be the photo but if its damaged that may be your problem,as for brackets i think you might be referring to the collar of the lnb,if so its most likely a 40mm collar,lnbs can be got cheaply online,double check to see is the arm bent or is it just a bad pic,if the arm is bent even a few mill it could render the dish usless,good luck with it,regards

Ronnie Raygun

minterno wrote: »

i might be wrong but the arm of the dish looks to be bent

Yep, someone's been swinging on it alright, you can see the kink on the inside of the bend.

Get a new dish, OP.

tryfix

Try taking off the bar the LNB is mounted on and straightening it, it should be made of light material and easily straightened. Roll it on a flat surface after you have straightened it, to see if it's properly straight. Then there may be no reason to buy a new dish or LNB, you will probably have to realign the dish as the belt it got to bend the arm probably moved it off line.

It might be worth taking the LNB out of the holder and placing it in the position it should be in if the bar was straight. See if someone at the receiver end can see any activity that would indicate the lnb is working, a pick up in signal strength or a flash of a channel coming up.