Stuttering blocky reception.

54and56

Hi all,

I think I know the answer to this one already but would appreciate some confirmation one way or another.

About 8 months ago I replaced my old Sky box with a Mutant HD2400 with 2 X DVB-C/T/T2 tuners and 2 X DVB-S/S2 tuners.

Picture quality has been perfect but over the past few weeks the satellite picture started stuttering and becoming blocky on an intermittent basis. Initially is was a minor irritant but over it has become much more frequent and is now almost continuously doing it particularly if the weather is bad.

The Saorview picture feed remains 100% fine so I'm guessing some of the satellite cables have become worn or lost their external protection up near the dish itself which is mounted on the roof of my house.

Would the following signal info for both the S and T tuners be consistent with that?





Here's a video showing some of the stuttering. It's actually pretty mild in this video which I took a few days ago and is now much worse.

Time to get someone to run some replacement cables?

Delta Lima

It could be cable related alright, as your satellite signal strength looks to be strong.

Is there any dodgy joints anywhere between the dish and your box? Is the coax cable good quality satellite grade? I wouldn't entirely rule out that your dish may have shifted slightly.

If the cable is worn, rain water can get into it, and run down inside the cable to your box. I've seen drips coming out of cable ends, if you give them a shake, if this happens.

It might be interesting to try out your old sky box, to rule out a problem with your box.

54and56

Delta Lima wrote: »

It might be interesting to try out your old sky box, to rule out a problem with your box.

Thanks Delta, I no longer have the Sky box so that's not an option but I do have a 2nd combo box in another room who's satellite signal seems fine but it doesn't get used much so I'll check the signal on it later for comparison. If it too is blocky I guess that would rule out the boxes being a problem and would indicate either the cables or the dish having moved a bit.

If the signal on one box is fine I guess that rules out the dish and means its either the cables to the other box or the other box itself, if that makes any sense!!

Delta Lima

Yes, that makes sense. Swap the two boxes, and see what happens.