ddarlow

Freesat has been a boon - so much better and cheaper than Sky. Unfortunately, however, we've recently begun to lose most of the channels. The cable from the antenna connects to a Humax box, and then to the tv. When I lose reception, just waggling the cable or screwing/unscrewing the connector brings back the picture. Ah, you might say, just a dodgy connector. But we've taken cable and connector back to England and had it remade and tested. Moreover, when we lose reception it's always BBC1/2, C4 and C5. ITV whilst BBC HD stay on. Could it therefore be the Humax? But if it's the Humax, why should waggling he cable make any difference and why should it only lose certain channels. Is any electronically-gifted person able to advise?

Ka Ora!

I would be inclined to get your dish realigned by a professional with a meter, As it would help with getting the optimum lnb skew etc etc.

Oh and welcome to the Forum, If you get any issues give me a shout.

ddarlow

Thanks. I got the antenna installed by the local electrician, who used a field strength meter. And the thing is - I normally get a very good picture on all channels, until suddenly it disappears. If I waggle the cable around long enough it comes back. Surely if the antenna was misaligned then I wouldn't get a good picture, and waggling the cable around wouldn't affect anything?

Ka Ora!

Do you find it happening at the same time on the days it happens?

Did you take all the cable that runs from the Receiver to the Dish/lnb and have it tested or did you just have a small piece that goes from the Receiver to say a wall socket?

Well I would say Faulty cable but you have eliminated that, Alignment which can become even worse at certain times of the day causing you to loose the signal.

cjm

Tend to agree with KO. I have a Humax with twin coax from the LNB. I have not used a meter, which is recommended, but suck it and see gives us a very good picture across all channels. If the cable cannot be guilty, then either the alignment, or I am thinking the security of the LNB fixing or dish itself may be the issue. If your waggling is at Humax end there may be an intermittent fault at the point of connection (you mentioned only one cable, which I would not recommend as recording is much more limited).
Your Humax also has a strength meter built in, so check out where the red/green lines are marked on the TV. As an aside, we did have a signal problem a bit back now; I found the fixing nuts were not fully tight, gales etc had worked some bad magic, so the dish was slewed. LNB was okay though. So check the roof fixings. For the dish either use spring washers with the nut, or ny-lock nuts. And, take great care ....

Ka Ora!

I just today received one of THESE, It comes preloaded with Sat data you just enter you Lat and Long then it calibrates itself to all the satellites you can receive. Im so bored with having to use the OH to shout and I find them tiny meters useless. I used this SITE no connection it was £150 well spent.

ddarlow

Why I think it is not an antenna misalignement is that the picture is perfect on all channels, the freesat diagnostic thingy says the signal strength and quality is 90-100%, and that surely waggling the cable at the receiver end wouldn't cause the picture to come back it is an imp?

Since we have already tested the cable/connector, my hunch is that it is an imperfect connection inside the Humax. What I can't figure out though is why we never lose ITV and BBC HD.

Now I've made things even worse. I decided to retune the Freesat channels. It automatically wipes all the existing channels and then asks for your postcode. When I entered my postcode it said that it was invalid! So now it won't download the channels.

I desperation I've done a manual download - which gives me about 300 channels, with weird numbers, that I have to sort through in order to get mainstream television. Help!!!

djstu_d

hey,

i'd suggest you got here http://www.avforums.com/forums/satellite-tv/ and ask.

lots of very helpful people on there who might have some info for you.

hth

stu

cjm

Hear what you are saying, but a wonky connection is a wonky connection. It don't discriminate. If the problem wasn't there from day 1, then it has to be the cable - yes, I hear you had it tested. Can I suggest you re-reconnect the terminal ends of the coax, at least the one to the Humax. Yes, I know you had it done, but I don't see why the Humax box is the culprit. Also, tape the parabole end well, to keep out moisture etc.
I'm sure you can go through the same motions in your head that go through mine (don't suppose by any chance the coax has a fracture in the outer sheath).
Just had a look at mine. Do you use HDMI or Scart from Humax to TV? Have you changed the Scart, is it nice and tight, cos I find them a bit wiggly. I prefer HDMI link (if you have it)

cuthbert

With respect to some channels not coming through and other coming through perfectly this is often due to dish alignment, not a big enough dish and/or any thing else likely to cause scatter between your dish and your LNB i.e. dirt etc.
If you have perfect signal on one and not on another this tends to rule out the cable and connectors.
Though the satellite transponder might show 100% signal, not all channels come from this one satellite. In the UK this is never an issue as the there is very little beam divergence from all the satellites, however the nearer you get to the edge of the footprint the footprints of some channels are weaker than others, hence you need big dish and clean setup.

In my experience, and as this seems to be all channels if I read it correctly then I'm inclined to go with CJM here and say connection issue, but one thing people don't do, is run a needle file inside the connector on the satellite box and the LNB, it's usually two pieces of spring loaded metal that grip on to the metal core of the coax and can get gunked/oxidised if the connection hasn't been made properly. Now also if the contacts have been forced etc and are too far apart then waggling might re-make the connection and give you the intermittent phenomenon you are seeing, a fine needle push down the outside of this metal connector pushing it back to the centre might help.

If you don't know what I'm talking about please power everything down before sticking metal needles into holes etc

ddarlow

Thanks. I've spoken to the people in England and they say the cable connection was remade and fixed tightly to the box and all worked OK. So I suspect that your idea about the connection inside the box might be right. It's absolutely dreadful at the moment, losing picture every minute or two.

ganzic

Hi, Freesat or any satellite cable needs to be handled with care. Any sharp bends, and improperly attached connectors will cause this fault. I have seen moisture getting into cable that runs outside specially if you have a DiSEQC(splitter ) fitted somwhere by the dish. If the cable you are wiggling is inside the house then most likely your dish alignment is ok. Cable carries 12Volts so be carefull not to short it while pluggin it in. Don't use a standard areal cable, use a special Satellite cable( its thicker than tv cable and has less resistance, better insulation) you can find it in most DIY shops in France.

ganzic

Good price , where did you get it?

Ka Ora!

The link is included in the post.

And welcome to the Forum.