Freesat 4K (Arris) box - unusual issue

radiofoot

Hi All,

I'm hoping someone can help with an unusual issue I am having with my Freesat 4K box. I had lost reception a while back from my dish and had a repair carried out, which resulted in a new hybrid LNB being installed. This worked until I tried using non-Freesat mode, after which one cable is working and the other is not. In addition, the working cable is only receiving some of the channels and the channels received/not received reverse when I plug the working cable into the other port on the box.

Both cables still work fine when I plug them into the satellite port on my TV.

I have tried a full factory reset and re-tuning the box. Has anyone else has this issue?

Thanks...

The Cush

Assuming here you have a hybrid LNB with 2 or 4 fixed wideband outputs and 2 fixed legacy outputs.

Are you using the hybrid LNB in wideband mode or legacy mode to the Freesat box, with 2 cables from which outputs? And the LNB configuration set accordingly, wideband or legacy, single or twin cable?

You say the the cables work correctly with the TV, to me this says the cables are connected to the legacy outputs as no TV is wideband LNB compatible that I know of.

radiofoot

Thanks for the quick response. The installer told me that there are six connections on the LNB and all could either wideband or legacy - he said the receiver would control this.

The freesat box signal test says it's using wideband, but I can't see where this is configured. There doesn't seem to be an option to change it. Not sure about how the LNB is configured.

There is one difference between the two cables that could be having an impact. The one that's working is coming direct from the dish, whereas the one that isn't working is going through a distribution point in the attic that combines the satellite and saorview signals - they are then separated by a device close to the TV. Could that be causing the issue?

Thanks.

The Cush

Can you post a pic of the LNB?

Sky were the only ones that had a smart hybrid, discontinued more than 2 years iirc, replaced by fixed hybrids now.

There is still a few Sky smart hybrids about on eBay and the likes, and some in the hands of installers.

The smart hybrid defaults to legacy without a switching signal from a SkyQ or next-generation Freesat receiver. I believe the switching signal is DiSEqC or similar.

I don't have an Arris Freesat box but I remember reading the manual around the launch and it mentioned the LNB configurations.

radiofoot

This is the only angle I can take it from. It's actually branded Sky.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119290615#Comment_119290615

Yes, that's Sky's smart hybrid. Can't remember what the manual said about the configurations but I would assume it should be wideband which should send the switching signal.

Did this work correctly when initially installed?

radiofoot

Yes, it worked for a couple of years (although it was quite buggy) and it seemed to work with the new LNB until I tried non-freesat mode - that seems to have caused the problem.

radiofoot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119290641#Comment_119290641

I've just had a look at the manual and can't see anything about LNB config.

radiofoot

Yes, it worked for a couple of years (although it was quite buggy) and it seemed to work with the new LNB until I tried non-freesat mode - that seems to have caused the problem.

The Cush

My Box is not receiving a satellite signal

Go to Settings, and then System Information and then Signal Info to check your signal quality and strength. Next you could try doing a channel scan by going to Settings, then Freesat Channels and then Channel Scan. This will check for any LNB changes and search for a signal

Source: PVR2020v38manual.pdf.pdf (storage.googleapis.com)

Looking through the manual, I found the above, what do the signal quality and strength indicators show with the cables connected and what LNB type is indicated? (see page 31 of the manual)

Initially I'm wondering if the smart hybrid LNB has developed an internal switching fault? The legacy output seems to be OK.

You said its been quiet buggy over the years, could it have been a faulty or second-hand unit when installed on the dish?

radiofoot

Hi, I think it was a new unit and the issues seem common enough looking online (rebooting etc.). It was always receiving channels ok until recently and I'm fairly sure the old LNB had developed a fault.

When I try the signal test, strength and quality both look ok, the type is Wideband LNB and the LNB status is either 'stable' or 'Error 1' depending on which order I have the cables in. I can only rescan when the status is stable and this results in some of the channels being available (with the opposite channels becoming available if I then swap the cables).

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119293917#Comment_119293917

Is the fault with one of the inputs to the box or can it be with either input?

Sky no longer install their smart switching LNBs, I wonder if there were any other issues other than cost for end their installation of them.

Fixed output hybrids are the only ones available generally now.

radiofoot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119294402#Comment_119294402

I think both inputs work with the working cable, but with different polarizations (i.e. different channels work on each input). I think the most likely issue is that one cable is coming direct from the LNB (the working one) while the other is being combined with and then separated from a terrestrial signal. Some of the posts I found seemed to indicate that this wouldn't work with wideband. Looks like another callout charge or I just settle for the TV connection instead of using Freesat :-(

The Cush

Terrestrial aerial feed and wideband LNB feed cannot share the same cable as the wideband I.F. feed completely overlaps the TV frequencies. This would be basic knowledge for any installer.

Is this how your system is setup?

EDIT: the technical part, intermediate frequency range (I.F.) & Polarisation

• Terrestrial Saorview aerial - 470-694 MHz, single cable
• Wideband SkyQ LNB - 290–2340 MHz I.F., Horizontal & Vertical polarised channels down separate cables
• Legacy (universal) LNB - 950–2150 MHz I.F., Horizontal & Vertical polarised channels down a single cable

radiofoot

Yes, but it was setup years ago and not by the current installer. He may not have realised it when putting in the wideband LNB.

radiofoot

Thanks for taking the time to look into this Cush

Tony

Should the Arris box not work with both wideband and legacy inputs ? If both cables work with your TV then it sounds like they are both connected to legacy IE non wideband inputs

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119290352#Comment_119290352

The Saorview combiner/splitter may be causing issues with the wideband signals. It’s designed to work with universal LNBs.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119295078#Comment_119295078

The Freesat box works with wideband (fixed hybrid or standalone wideband), hybrid (smart switching), legacy (universal) and SCR (single cable routing) LNBs/switches.

But you cannot manually select the LNB type that I can see from the manual, auto selection only it appears. So in this case it auto selects wideband LNB via hybrid switching.