old sky box! No signal!

JR23

Hi guys, looking for advice, i got an old sky box from friend and the plan was to put it in the kitchen as a free to air box. (sky is already in the kitchen, cables and all) So when i hooked up the box i received the message that there was no satellite signal. I was told to take my sky card and put it in this box, plug out the power, remove the card and the box will work. My worry is that ill mess up my sky card and it'll cost me a fortune to sort it all out. Any advice would be appreciated.

swoofer

say the make and model of sky box, look at underneath, is it sky+ box ie 2 sat feeds, is it an SKY HD box?

Why put your card in the box? Was it working while with friend? Are you sure sat cable is connected to dish?

JR23

GBCULLEN wrote: »

say the make and model of sky box, look at underneath, is it sky+ box ie 2 sat feeds, is it an SKY HD box?

Why put your card in the box? Was it working while with friend? Are you sure sat cable is connected to dish?

thanks for the reply< its just normal sky box, (amstrad dx550?), someone told you have to re boot the box to get it to work as a free to air box and by inserting the card etc that would work. yeah the sat cable is connected to the dish because there is already a tv connected to it.

swoofer

OK you have me stumped, when you say there is a TV connected to the dish?? does the tv have a sat tuner? and are you trying to split cable?

To get box to work I need to be sure it is connected correctly to the dish, it its own cable. did you make up the lead that goes into the lnb slot on back of amstrad box?

When box is switched on and you press services do you get a menu and then you can look at signal level.

Unless its connected properly you will get nowhere.

And do you know how to do a software update?

Peter Rhea

JR23 wrote: »

. . . yeah the sat cable is connected to the dish because there is already a tv connected to it.

Just a tv? Is this cable actually coming from another Sky box RF output?

What input did you connect it to on the 'new' box?

JR23

GBCULLEN wrote: »

OK you have me stumped, when you say there is a TV connected to the dish?? does the tv have a sat tuner? and are you trying to split cable?

To get box to work I need to be sure it is connected correctly to the dish, it its own cable. did you make up the lead that goes into the lnb slot on back of amstrad box?

When box is switched on and you press services do you get a menu and then you can look at signal level.

Unless its connected properly you will get nowhere.

And do you know how to do a software update?

Ok, sorry for the confusion. I have two tvs in the house(kitchen and sitting room), one sat tuner. Both tvs show the same programme. Everything installed by sky. So to hook up the second hand box i got, i connected the scart to the tv and the sky cable from the wall into the dish connection at the the back of the sky box. A message appears on the screen saying that there is no satelite connection, disconnect power and try again in five minutes.

JR23

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Just a tv? Is this cable actually coming from another Sky box RF output?

What input did you connect it to on the 'new' box?

Yeah the cable comes from the attic and was connected into the tv (to be precise it went through the eye gadget first then into the tv)< not 100% sure but i think it was called a lnb dish connection?

jgbyr

JR23 wrote: »

Ok, sorry for the confusion. I have two tvs in the house(kitchen and sitting room), one sat tuner. Both tvs show the same programme. Everything installed by sky. So to hook up the second hand box i got, i connected the scart to the tv and the sky cable from the wall into the dish connection at the the back of the sky box. A message appears on the screen saying that there is no satelite connection, disconnect power and try again in five minutes.

Sounds like the cable is just a feed from the rf2 output of the original sky box. If you look at the dish, how many cables are connected. If it just two then they are running to the existing box. If there's an third one then you need to connect that to the new box you got or else add a new cable .

Peter Rhea

JR23 wrote: »

I have two tvs in the house(kitchen and sitting room), one sat tuner. Both tvs show the same programme.

JR23 wrote: »

Yeah the cable comes from the attic and was connected into the tv (to be precise it went through the eye gadget first then into the tv)< not 100% sure but i think it was called a lnb dish connection?

It's not an lnb connection, it's from RF2 on your sitting room Sky box. It allows other tvs to tune into the currently selected Sky channel via their analogue tuners & the 'eye gadget' allows remote control of the Sky box.

You won't get a satellite signal from it: this requires a feed from the lnb.

JR23

Peter Rhea wrote: »

It's not an lnb connection, it's from RF2 on your sitting room Sky box. It allows other tvs to tune into the currently selected Sky channel via their analogue tuners & the 'eye gadget' allows remote control of the Sky box.

You won't get a satellite signal from it: this requires a feed from the lnb.

So I have to run a new cable (lnb cable)from Satellite dish to the tv?

readytosnap

JR23 wrote: »

So I have to run a new cable (lnb cable)from Satellite dish to the tv?

you have to run a new cable from the lnb on the satellite dish to the sky box you got from your friend. each sky box needs its own sat feed from the dish.

nudger

I just ran a cable from the dish to an old Grundig sky digibox, all is fine except it want's me to insert my card, which I don't have, so no channels.

An installer guy told me it should work without a card.

swoofer

nudger, do a software update, switch box with remote, unplug from wall, wait 5 mins, now this is the tricky bit, hold down power button and backup button on the box, keep holding these down, now plug box back in at wall, and wait and wait, until eventually it will say software update, takes 10 mins and after that you should have uk epg. when its finished updating box will switch off, give it a few mins before yous witch on with remote, might need a few tries, then it will open on demo channel, press guide and voila bbc1 etc.

gbc

nudger

Thanks gbc will give that a go shortly, by the way I found some channels but they are scattered al over the place, i'll do what you said hopefull that will sort it out.

readytosnap

you could also add the scattered channels to the favourites list, that would make finding them a bit easier.

nudger

GBCULLEN wrote: »

nudger, do a software update, switch box with remote, unplug from wall, wait 5 mins, now this is the tricky bit, hold down power button and backup button on the box, keep holding these down, now plug box back in at wall, and wait and wait, until eventually it will say software update, takes 10 mins and after that you should have uk epg. when its finished updating box will switch off, give it a few mins before yous witch on with remote, might need a few tries, then it will open on demo channel, press guide and voila bbc1 etc.

gbc

Fallen at the first fence, not sure what you mean, switch box to what?

Thanks.

swoofer

oops it should say " switch OFF box etc"

swoofer

nb you must keep those 2 buttons pressed while you plug box into wall socket and keep holding until message appears

nudger

GBCULLEN wrote: »

nb you must keep those 2 buttons pressed while you plug box into wall socket and keep holding until message appears

I held the buttons in for about 5 mins, i've got cramp in them, i'll do it again with the power off.

swoofer

nb its hard to explain but by pressing the 2 buttons together, you have to use the other hand to plug in the power. and you have to have them pressed before you plug in power cord, make sure plug at wall if it has a switch is powered on.

so press the 2 buttons first, plug in box while at same time holding the backup and power buttons until onscreen message appears.

nudger

So sky box is in off position, red light on, I unpluged it and waited 5 mins.

holding the 2 buttons in I then plugged it in, about 5 seconds later i got no signal bla bla, then gone, then back again 5 seconds later, then nothing.

Should the box be unplugged from the tv (scart wise) and the sky cable removed so all by it's self so to speak?

Had mine connected to both.

swoofer

no, it downloads the new software from the satellite so it has to be connected to LNB and it has to be connected to the tv via scart so you can see the message " UPDATING SOFTWARE etc.

try again

nudger

Keep getting the weak or no signal thing and nothing else.

I tried it with the upc line in and out, same thing.

Watched a few youtube bits and it looks so simple but no go on my box.:(

Ronnie Raygun

You shouldn't need a software update. Is there another box connected to this dish? Does it work alright?

The Cush

Can you test that old Sky box with one of the feeds to the existing box in the sitting room?

Make sure when connecting and disconnecting the LNB cable that the 2 boxes are completely powered down to prevent a short and possible damage to box/LNB.

nudger

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

You shouldn't need a software update. Is there another box connected to this dish? Does it work alright?

Yes there is a sky+ with the 2 cables connected to the dish.

Does it matter which of the other 2 connections you connect to off the dish.

The Cush

nudger wrote: »

Does it matter which of the other 2 connections you connect to off the dish.

No.

nudger

The Cush wrote: »

Can you test that old Sky box with one of the feeds to the existing box in the sitting room?

Make sure when connecting and disconnecting the LNB cable that the 2 boxes are completely powered down to prevent a short and possible damage to box/LNB.

Kinda want to steer away from that, just if it was easy I'd give it a go.

I can put them on favourites but thought the UK spec would be easier.

Peter Rhea

nudger wrote: »

Keep getting the weak or no signal thing and nothing else.

I tried it with the upc line in and out, same thing.

Don't attempt software updates unless you have a good signal. Certainly don't try it from a UPC connection. (Though I assume you had UPC connected to 'RF-in'?)

Also, you should only have to hold in the 'backup' button on the Sky box when you switch the power on.

nudger

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Don't attempt software updates unless you have a good signal. Certainly don't try it from a UPC connection. (Though I assume you had UPC connected to 'RF-in'?)

Also, you should only have to hold in the 'backup' button on the Sky box when you switch the power on.

I have upc in the house but also have sky.

Connected the cable to the sky dish into old sky box, picture is perfect, just that the channels are all over the place, I know I can put them in favorites but would like them on normal menu if possible.

I tried the single button (backup) and all the led's on the box lit up and stayed that way for a few minutes but the channels stayed the way they were.:(

jgbyr

nudger wrote: »

I have upc in the house but also have sky.

Connected the cable to the sky dish into old sky box, picture is perfect, just that the channels are all over the place, I know I can put them in favorites but would like them on normal menu if possible.

I tried the single button (backup) and all the led's on the box lit up and stayed that way for a few minutes but the channels stayed the way they were.:(

You can't group channels together on sky box when you use it for fta channels. The best thing to do is put them in favourites

Peter Rhea

You're stuck with the Sky guide layout. No amount of software updates will change that.

If you don't want to see the encrypted channels in the list, all you can do is use favourites.

The Cush

nudger wrote: »

I tried the single button (backup) and all the led's on the box lit up and stayed that way for a few minutes but the channels stayed the way they were.:(

What channels do you have from 101 onwards?

nudger

Thanks guys, I had a look on youtube and there are a few saying that you could reset it to uk settings but has not worked for me.

swoofer

what channel are you getting on 101 at the moment?

nudger

RTE1 not BBC.

swoofer

ok, its becoming very hard to switch boxes to uk, hence the software update ploy. Another way is to use a UK freesat card but not everyone has one of those? What you can try is, if you can is put your existing card into the box upside down. Or even a credit card may suffice. Also have you told us the make and model of the box yet, ie look in the settings menu, it will say software version as well. If that box is as old as I think it is it should not be that difficult to get UK epg but if we know the age of it one can do a google but I think there were a few grundigs.



And

nudger

On the bottom of the box it has, GD 5310/2 and GAF 9700.

From the menu, model 283 527, Version 4E0403.

swoofer

that is a very old box and may have other faults but the EPG version on my old panasonic is 3.8.8 so should be same on grundig if not its out of date. however if box has fault it may never update.

Try the upside down card trick either with the box powered on first, just put in card and if that fails, unplug power etc. Or if you know someone with a uk card try that.

Also check signal strength in settings as too low a signal can cause problems. I'd say box may be on its last legs. get a second hand pace as they are cheap as chips now.

read here for a bit more info.

http://sam-radford.me.uk/digibox.htm

Peter Rhea

nudger wrote: »

On the bottom of the box it has, GD 5310/2 and GAF 9700.

From the menu, model 283 527, Version 4E0403.

And it's working fine now, apart from the annoyance of the encrypted Irish channels in the first few channel slots?

Putting cards in upside down doesn't do anything, btw.

nudger

EPG is 3.5.3, tried the card trick a few times but no go.

Think it will have to be the favourites option, thanks anyway.

nudger

Peter Rhea wrote: »

And it's working fine now, apart from the annoyance of the encrypted Irish channels in the first few channel slots?

Putting cards in upside down doesn't do anything, btw.

None of the channels on the first page work, Rte1+2, Sky1 etc, it's mostly from BBC1 onwards.
I have upc connected as well so have 17 channels there.
I have a upc pace box but I don't think they get anything.

Peter Rhea

nudger wrote: »

None of the channels on the first page work, Rte1+2, Sky1 etc, it's mostly from BBC1 onwards.

The Irish EPG has all subscription channels on the 1st page.

People have come up with various 'tricks' over the years for getting & keeping the UK EPG: hard to know what was actually necessary & what was 'well, it works for me'.

I don't know where the upside down card thing came from, unless some boxes were only happy if there was something stuck in the card slot.

nudger

If I put my sky card in will it damage it, don't want to feck it up.

Ronnie Raygun

nudger wrote: »

Think it will have to be the favourites option, thanks anyway.

You can only take favourites from the EPG, so you will need to use "other channels" for Channel 4, as the "Irish" version on the EPG is encrypted. And I don't think Channel 5 is even on the Irish EPG, so same goes there.

watty

Peter Rhea wrote: »

People have come up with various 'tricks' over the years for getting & keeping the UK EPG: hard to know what was actually necessary & what was 'well, it works for me'.

I don't know where the upside down card thing came from, unless some boxes were only happy if there was something stuck in the card slot.

The tricks changed with:
Box model,
Software version,
If it had a UK card first (certain SW version).
Yes, some combinations of Box Model & SW "remembered" the Irish card unless something inserted.

Almost all the "tricks" worked at various times / models etc.

The best "trick" now is to buy a Freesat HD basic box or a Freesat HD PVR. The Sky boxes are so crippled compared to Freesat HD boxes which can cost less than 5 months of the cheapest sub.

Only some Freesat Boxes do Diseqc for other Satellites. No Sky box ever did. Only SW.

razor8

Hi

I cancelled my sky last month and it went off today. I’m trying to get the free view channels on Samsung TV but I keep getting a weak or no signal error check the antenna cable connection

Should it not just work through the sky box?

colm_mcm

Which sky box did you have?

Are you plugging the sat cable into an inbuilt tuner in the tv, or is the wiring setup between the dish>sky box>tv the exact same as it was before you cancelled?

razor8

Got it. Left all the same. Just took card out and restarted and it worked