neighbours sky boxes not working call out needed

Stoner

My neighbour asked me to check his sky installation yesterday. He's called sky but they wont have availability till Thursday. Are there other options regarding people here calling out.

He has two boxes both have no signal.
I tried realigning the dish , no joy.

I took a working box from my house and tried it , no joy

The quad lnb was a little unstable as the clip holding it was snapped at the top hinge. I secured it with a cable tie.

The signal strength on all three boxes is zero
My box is not a sky one and its very responsive on the signal strength and quality indicators when looking for a signal.

There bars never moved from zero on any box.

It not the boxes
Its not the alignment although that might be a little out now.
The cabling looked OK.
Might be the quad lnb

Can anyone help him before Thursday. I can't do anymore on it.

He's in Dublin 15

Thanks all

The Cush

Did you use a meter to realign the dish?
If it's the LNB the only option is to replace it.

mickdw

Its worth sticking up a new lnb.
I could send you a new quad with bracket for 15 quid.

Kevin McCloud

Sounds like lnb failure, first thing was to put meter on lnb and check for signal, next approach would be to change lnb and see does signal work. You would have seen if the dish had moved.
The dishes rarely move and if you don't have a good meter then it makes the job harder. What kind of meter have you?

Thurston?

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

You would have seen if the dish had moved.
The dishes rarely move ...

Most times you wouldn't see it: only takes a small movement to lose alignment with the satellite. And they move plenty, if posts in this forum are anything to go by.

Stoner

thanks guys, i don't have any meters, i'm not in the business, i just assume its the LNB too. i was really looking for a company name that would sort it for him, someone with all the gear set up ready to go and can beat Thursday.

thanks guys

Kevin McCloud

How were you trying to align a dish with no meter? you made the job big now on your neighbour.

Thurston?

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

How were you trying to align a dish with no meter? you made the job big now on your neighbour.

Big job? For an installer to check the dish alignment? Which I'd like to think he'd do anyway, as a matter of course, even if the fault here is a duff LNB.

Stoner

I didn't make the job bigger for the right person with the correct tools. I'm just looking for a Dublin 15 installer.

Kevin McCloud

Thurston? wrote: »

Big job? For an installer to check the dish alignment? Which I'd like to think he'd do anyway, as a matter of course, even if the fault here is a duff LNB.

I get called out to an installation where signal is gone. Go straight to the dish and hook meter up to lnb, if no signal swap lnb for new one and hook up meter again.
If signal on meter is good then why would you try realigning it?
Trying to align a dish without a meter is like playing darts blindfolded.

Thurston?

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

I get called out to an installation where signal is gone. Go straight to the dish and hook meter up to lnb, if no signal swap lnb for new one and hook up meter again.
If signal on meter is good then why would you try realigning it?

True, if experience tells you the signal is about as good as you're likely to get it, then hardly much point messing with the dish. I'd find it hard to resist the temptation if I thought there was a bit of room for improvement.

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

Trying to align a dish without a meter is like playing darts blindfolded.

You would expect a professional to have a meter: amateurs might be able to get the signal display on the TV in view of the dish or use a 'beeper'.

The Cush

Stoner wrote: »

I'm just looking for a Dublin 15 installer.

List of registered installers here - http://www.isaa.tv/features.php?county=dublin

Tony from Satellite.ie is a regular poster here.

Stoner

The Cush wrote: »

List of registered installers here - http://www.isaa.tv/features.php?county=dublin

Tony from Satellite.ie is a regular poster here.

I sent him to tony thanks

machiavellianme

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

I get called out to an installation where signal is gone. Go straight to the dish and hook meter up to lnb, if no signal swap lnb for new one and hook up meter again.
If signal on meter is good then why would you try realigning it?
Trying to align a dish without a meter is like playing darts blindfolded.

I have no meter and have aligned 3 dishes to 3 different satellites within 5 minutes. All you need to do is look up the general direction, skew etc on dishpointer.com and tweak ffrom there while viewing the signal strength and quality on the receiver. Hardly rocket science?

mickdw

machiavellianme wrote: »

I have no meter and have aligned 3 dishes to 3 different satellites within 5 minutes. All you need to do is look up the general direction, skew etc on dishpointer.com and tweak ffrom there while viewing the signal strength and quality on the receiver. Hardly rocket science?

Ya, I've installed / realigned a hell of alot of dishes for family. No special equipment just work off the signal bars on the box. I have been known to turn up with a length of cable and a small tv to make things alittle easier.

Stoner

Yep. I've done it too. Bought my first kit about in the hibernian shopping center in dublin 10 years ago set it up in my place by pointing it in the same direction as the sky dishes used the two way radio set up on the house phones and lined it up using the box signal meter, my wife was on the phone watching the signal and quality meter on my Strong STB. I was on the roof and adjusted away. Its still there watching TV now.

I also bought a kit from Tony years ago .I met him near the n7 shot off to the west of Ireland. Looked the other dishes around popped it up with a friend and used the signal strength on the box to set it up in one hour all I did was look at the house two miles away and picked a landmark it was pointing at and did the same adjustments.


I understand an expert would be faster, more accurate and would have tools for the job . They'd also have a quad LNB. None of which I had at 16:00 last Saturday when my elderly neighbour asked if I could help him. As Sky told him it would be Thursday before they have someone else.

The Cush

mickdw wrote: »

Ya, I've installed / realigned a hell of alot of dishes for family. No special equipment just work off the signal bars on the box. I have been known to turn up with a length of cable and a small tv to make things alittle easier.

Did the same myself, basic sat receiver and portable TV and on some occasions in the back of the car near the dish if it was raining.

Have since invested in a small sat meter (digisat pro), a wee bit more portable than the TV/sat receiver combination.

Tony

Looks like a nice unit, how do you find using it so far ?

The Cush wrote: »

Have since invested in a small sat meter (digisat pro), a wee bit more portable than the TV/sat receiver combination.

The Cush

Tony wrote: »

Looks like a nice unit, how do you find using it so far ?

Great for the occasional dish alignment.