FTA channels missing

BornSkippy

I haven't been able to get certain FTA channels on Astra 2, particularly all BBC and some Channel 4 channels.

I've tried scanning on both my TV, a 2023 Toshiba with a sat tuner, and an old 4ife Box.

Hundreds of channels are detected, but mainly subscription channels. All ITV FTA channels are detected.

The dish is an old dish, Sky I think, that came with the house. I ran a new cable down from it.

Should I get a new satellite tuner box, or could I have another problem like the dish itself being slightly misaligned?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

The Cush

If the same channels are missing from both receivers the the issue could be the LNB on the dish or the dish itself.

If you can get close to the LNB, check the feedhorn cover for cracks. Cracks on the cover can allow moisture ingress which can cause internal damage to the LNB. This can result in some or all channels to go missing.

LNBs can also fail due to age, how old is the LNB?

Might also be a dish alignment issue.

BornSkippy

The LNB may be about 13 years old, as the cables from it ran off to an extension that's roughly that old.

It could be older though, as there's an older dish connection cable I found lying in the roof gutter adjacent, evidently cut off in favour of the connection to the extension.

I didn't really examine it when I connected the new cable. I'll have another look.

Is fitting a new LNB difficult?

The Cush

Depends on how old the dish is, the LNB arm may be corroded, especially around the LNB.

A question, does the LNB have a little spirit level under the feed horn?

Iirc the newer Mk 4 dish did but the older Mk 3 dish didn't. Different LNB setup, snap-on the arm vs. slide-into the arm. Changed around 2009.