Irish Tv no signal

UrbanFret

A neighbour cannot receive either Irish tv or the showcase channels. These are both on the same transpoder. I took his box over to my house and tuned them in fine, When i brought them back over to his house I get no signal. I'm no expert but could the lnb need replacing? all the bbc and itvs, channel 4sm etc are coming in. He's a big country music fan.;)

Nerovad

UrbanFret wrote: »

A neighbour cannot receive either Irish tv or the showcase channels. These are both on the same transpoder. I took his box over to my house and tuned them in fine, When i brought them back over to his house I get no signal. I'm no expert but could the lnb need replacing? all the bbc and itvs, channel 4sm etc are coming in. He's a big country music fan.;)

It does sound like a problem with the dish or LNB.

UrbanFret

Any way of knowing without replacing it?

Kristopherus

What make & model of box has he got.

Nerovad

UrbanFret wrote: »

Any way of knowing without replacing it?

Not that I know of considering all the other channels are coming through,
Its happened with my parents dish aswell.. Just that channel. They have one of the Aldi/Lidl free view boxes!

UrbanFret

Kristopherus wrote: »

What make & model of box has he got.

its a technomate dm1000 freesat box.The channels worked fine at my house

Kristopherus

UrbanFret wrote: »

its a technomate dm1000 freesat box.The channels worked fine at my house

All I can suggest is this: Set the LNB frequency to Universal (9750-10600) Then, if not already done, do a search of transponder 11344 V 27500 and see will that find the channels.

mikom

Pro Tip........... For best signal strength you should wear a stetson and cowboy boots when tuning in Irish TV.

Gerry Wicklow

Have you tried your working box in their house to confirm a dish/lnb issue?

UrbanFret

Kristopherus wrote: »

All I can suggest is this: Set the LNB frequency to Universal (9750-10600) Then, if not already done, do a search of transponder 11344 V 27500 and see will that find the channels.

Unfortunately I cannot tune his box so I I brought over my box which has these channels working fine on and when i set it up at his house it says no signal or no service. Two different boxes have yielded the same result. i'm leaning towards changing the lnb . it's got to be it signal strength is around 70% which should be fine.

UrbanFret

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Have you tried your working box in their house to confirm a dish/lnb issue?

Yes it wont work either.:(

Nerovad

UrbanFret wrote: »

Yes it wont work either.:(

New dish time so Id say!!

UrbanFret

Nerovad wrote: »

New dish time so Id say!!

Dish or LNB? Dish looks in fairly good shape.

Batzoo

Just had a check of my own set-up and see that my Irish TV channel is shown at ~45% signal while bbc 2 is shown up at ~73% signal. This would indicate a weaker signal/footprint from that transponder. Given the high winds we had recently I would say that the dish is slightly out of alignment. Worth trying a slight adjustment first if it is easily accessible.

UrbanFret

Batzoo wrote: »

Just had a check of my own set-up and see that my Irish TV channel is shown at ~45% signal while bbc 2 is shown up at ~73% signal. This would indicate a weaker signal/footprint from that transponder. Given the high winds we had recently I would say that the dish is slightly out of alignment. Worth trying a slight adjustment first if it is easily accessible.

I'd be slightly wary of adjusting the dish as i don't have a sat finder. If i tweaked it slightly would I risk losing all? Showcase is also on that transpoder and it is missing also.

Batzoo

UrbanFret wrote: »

I'd be slightly wary of adjusting the dish as i don't have a sat finder. If i tweaked it slightly would I risk losing all? Showcase is also on that transpoder and it is missing also.

Yes it sounds like that transponder is weaker then the other ones. Its not uncommon for different transponders to have different output powers depending on the locations they are set to cover.

You don't have to use any tools to check it, if the dish is accessible. If you can get someone to leave the box on the Irish TV channel and watch the TV. You can slightly and gently move the dish. Approach the dish from the side, don't block the front or the lnb signal path. Pull on the side of the dish just a little to the left and hold it for a few seconds. Wait to see if the picture comes on the tv. As it is a digital signal, it will not come on instantly. It will take a few seconds for the box to decode the signal. This is why you will have to hold it in position for a few seconds. If not let go, the dish should spring back to its original position. Then try by pushing it back a little and hold. Do the same from the bottom of the dish.

What you will be trying to do is temporarily distort the dish in each axis by about an inch. Nothing major and it should spring back when released as no screws were loosened by you. What I would be trying to accomplish is just to see that the signal comes back with minor adjustment. All you are doing is tweaking a weak transponder. There is an outside possibility that the LNB is out of focus or skewed but most likely the dish itself due to the recent winds.

It may seem like it will all go wrong if you touch it and are not familiar with them or have no sat meter but if you only move a slight bit to the left, check the signal, if it is worse move it back to the original point. The try a slight bit to the right. Then a little bit up or down. At each point check if the signal gets better or worse. If its worse move back to your reference point. We are talking several millimeters not inches. You may even find if the dish has being up a while that it may prefer to settle back in it original alignment due to rust/wear.

Do it methodically, reference the starting point and only move a little at a time. Each time returning to the starting point. It is a lot simpler than you may think.

It would be strange for an LNB to go faulty on a particular transponder only and work on others.

Gerry Wicklow

I would be reluctant to move the dish without a meter as you might just compound the problem. it might be possible to apply some pressure to the dish without opening the bolts to see if it makes a difference. A few mm can make a big change.
In fairness these days a new LNB is fairly cheap and no harm replacing it.

EDIT: Snap Batzoo :-), great minds etc....

Batzoo

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

I would be reluctant to move the dish without a meter as you might just compound the problem. it might be possible to apply some pressure to the dish without opening the bolts to see if it makes a difference. A few mm can make a big change.
In fairness these days a new LNB is fairly cheap and no harm replacing it.

EDIT: Snap Batzoo :-), great minds etc....

Yes new LNB's are cheap, and if you existing LNB is several years old it may be worth replacing just for the better gain and lower noise available now. It can work wonders on weaker signals or in heavy rain.

UrbanFret

Ok Lads I will give this a go. I'm not a complete novice so I get what you are telling me what to do. I have a spare lnb that a lazy sky engineer left behind instead of fitting. I'll try it first and then I'll tweak the dish!

UrbanFret

Changed the LNB and lo and behold he's dancing around the floor with cowboy boots and stetson.
Thanks for the help!;)

Batzoo

UrbanFret wrote: »

Changed the LNB and lo and behold he's dancing around the floor with cowboy boots and stetson.
Thanks for the help!;)

Result, glad it all worked out.