LNB or Alignment

Kevin!

I have Sky + and recently I could only receive certain channels, I rang the helpdesk and he ran through diagnostics and seem to establish that it was only a certain band of channels that wasn't working by the channels I was receiving, a day or two later I am not receiving any channels and the signal strength is at 0

Does this sound like an LNB issue or alignment?

Thanks,

Ger Roe

If nothing has changed with the receiver setup, it could be a number of things :

Dish alignment - maybe moved in the wind
LNB - Faulty, or out of primary focus position

It would help isolate the cause if you could advise if there were any recent changes to the system.

When you say you lost certain channels - were they missing completely (did you see a signal strength and quality level), or were they displaying a broken up picture?

I would always look to prove or eliminate dish position as the most likely cause - while it is possible for an LNB to fail, generally they don't and picture loss is usually caused by other factors in the majority of cases.

Kevin!

Ger Roe wrote: »

If nothing has changed with the receiver setup, it could be a number of things :

Dish alignment - maybe moved in the wind
LNB - Faulty, or out of primary focus position

It would help isolate the cause if you could advise if there were any recent changes to the system.

When you say you lost certain channels - were they missing completely (did you see a signal strength and quality level), or were they displaying a broken up picture?

I would always look to prove or eliminate dish position as the most likely cause - while it is possible for an LNB to fail, generally they don't and picture loss is usually caused by other factors in the majority of cases.

Some channels including RTE and TV3 were completely missing (many others, can't quite remember) and could get Sky 1 and a few others perfectly, the signal quality was low about 1/4 and strength was similar - now they both appear to be empty and box displays (NOT LOCKED)

Nothing was changed between from some channels working and some others not - the sky rep on the phone said that the channels missing were consistent with a specific band as he checked them all individually - but now none are available

thanks

Ger Roe

I would suspect the dish position has changed - you would have to rule that in, or out, first.

You can prove the receiver is working by trying it on a friends dish - but I would take a close look at yours to see if it is loose and capable of moving in any direction.

More than 4mm out of position and you will loose signal - some channels may go first if the initial movement is very slight, with any additional movement everything will then be lost.

Kevin!

Ger Roe wrote: »

I would suspect the dish position has changed - you would have to rule that in, or out, first.

You can prove the receiver is working by trying it on a friends dish - but I would take a close look at yours to see if it is loose and capable of moving in any direction.

More than 4mm out of position and you will loose signal - some channels may go first if the initial movement is very slight, with any additional movement everything will then be lost.

I've got two sky boxes and they are both giving the same issue unfortunately, what is the best noobie way of aligning the dish? is an iPhone app accurate enough for satellite direction or would it be advisable to use a signal tester?

thanks

Kevin!

Just on the signal page now, it's showing about 75% signal strength but that seems to drop every now and again- signal quality is at 0 though?

swoofer

kevin its quality you want and it will say locked. the best method to align your dish is put box on a channel, say sky news, then move dish ever so slightly to the left or right BUT you must wait, there is a delay for when the signal hits the dish and reaches the box. Its even better if you can have tv in sight of you as you may need 2 people otherwise. i turn up sound if i cant see tv. That signal test is only for one frequency so its best to check channels. weak ones at that, if i recall, al jazeera was weak, and cnbc, and of course setanta. check itv as well as bbc and that gives Horizontal and Vertical check. You can move dish up and down as well and lnb arm may have rusted away. NB when you have a good signal it will say locked and show network id. All of this is from memory. I have a portable tv, a spre box and can reach dish from a chair and I use a triax dish so its easy peasy. Up on a roof or chimney is a different ball game. For that I have a smaller tv black and white, battery driven.

just be patient.

Kevin!

GBCULLEN wrote: »

kevin its quality you want and it will say locked. the best method to align your dish is put box on a channel, say sky news, then move dish ever so slightly to the left or right BUT you must wait, there is a delay for when the signal hits the dish and reaches the box. Its even better if you can have tv in sight of you as you may need 2 people otherwise. i turn up sound if i cant see tv. That signal test is only for one frequency so its best to check channels. weak ones at that, if i recall, al jazeera was weak, and cnbc, and of course setanta. check itv as well as bbc and that gives Horizontal and Vertical check. You can move dish up and down as well and lnb arm may have rusted away. NB when you have a good signal it will say locked and show network id. All of this is from memory. I have a portable tv, a spre box and can reach dish from a chair and I use a triax dish so its easy peasy. Up on a roof or chimney is a different ball game. For that I have a smaller tv black and white, battery driven.

just be patient.

Went up on ladder, the arm going out to the LNB was corroded so i cable tied it to a branch of wood which supported it and the signal came back

All channels are working and signal is nearly full - bar channel 4, channel 4 is working on my ariva box but is blotchy on sky?

Thanks

swoofer

well that is a result!! but it wont last, you need a new dish? If you are with sky ring them and say you have to cancel as dish blew down, they should offer a free one, be tough, it tales 31 days to cancel so they will ring you back. otherwise look on ebay and get a new dish, just use existing holes and note direction of lnb. ch4 weak means dish or lnb, most likely lnb is off a tad. c4 blotchy on sky may mean you are on irish frequency and arriva is on a uk one. i'll have a look, you could put uk c4 in other channels as a check.

Kevin!

GBCULLEN wrote: »

well that is a result!! but it wont last, you need a new dish? If you are with sky ring them and say you have to cancel as dish blew down, they should offer a free one, be tough, it tales 31 days to cancel so they will ring you back. otherwise look on ebay and get a new dish, just use existing holes and note direction of lnb. ch4 weak means dish or lnb, most likely lnb is off a tad. c4 blotchy on sky may mean you are on irish frequency and arriva is on a uk one. i'll have a look, you could put uk c4 in other channels as a check.

Signed up to broadband with them and now they know that I'm in a 12 month contract they're less than willing to help and want a 100e call out charge unfortunately -

It's unusual that it's literally just C4 and the three channels that follow, checked a couple hundred and the rest seem to be functioning perfectly.

Would it be enough just to replace the LNB arm if needs be? http://www.tvtrade.ie/satellite-dish-feed-arm.html, probably need to buy an MK4 LNB too because It's been there for a couple of years.

swoofer

when arm goes dish not far behind, go on adverts ie and you will get dish, lnb, lnb arm, delivered for 32 euro, that will be hard to beat.

gbc

ps i checked c4 and its now only on one frequency, 10714h, you could fiddle with lnb, twiddel it a bit and raise/lower arm. its a strong signal so just needs a little tweak but i would get new dish etc

Skull Murphy

The encrypted Channel 4 Ireland is still on 12480 V. Powering off a DECT phone worked in this case: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056887840