xxfrecklesxx

Ive got sky plus, Ive always lost BBC1 and ITV about 8pm, (so I switch onto the Channel Islands versions) Channel 4 is iffy in the afternoon, but in the last month there seems to be a lot of other channels I cant get or hardly get at all, I used to get all of the music channels, but I cant get most of them at all, (the box, kiss, hits etc...) and now a lot of the documentuary ones, Discovery, Animal planet, they come and go, though never had a problem with them before, cant get Animal planet +1 at all,

any one else had the same problem, or is it just me??????

Jen x

The Guy

...and i was around your area about 2 hours ago doing a few fixes...

sounds like your LNB has been damaged. i have been to a fair few with all the storms we have had recently, where select channels have not been coming in.
i lost DMAX on my big dish, but could get it easily on my very small dish, quick replacemtnet LNB and bingo bango bongo DMAX was back (must watch Airwolf to satisfy my childhood tv craving!)

also you may want to check to see if any "nasties" have manged to crawl up into the inside of the LNB, where they have settled and are disrupting the siganl. be careful when doing this as i have had one or two "nasties" jump out at me. you can remove them by being careful and using a prodder that is not metallic or conductive. Again BE CAREFUL not too prod too hard or you could damage the LNB.

hope this helps but if you want more info see my signature or PM me....

xxfrecklesxx

Hi

I will go and have a prod, what do you suggest using, I did have it all checked about 2 months ago, as I lost just about all my channels, that was due to a creapy crawlie, plus one of the foals had reached over the electric fence and chewed one of the cables oops

The Guy

i always use a plastic cable tie for my prodding - but sometimes the only way you can get rid of things in there is by totally removing the LNB and feedhorn.
if something has nested up there to get out of the rain this could have damaged the LNB (similar to shortcircuiting it) so a replacement will be required.

Dibble

I lost my skyplus box, do I get a new one in the uk or here? and how much?

EsuriJohn

I'm intrigued how do you "loose" a Sky Box?

The Guy

it depends on what you mean you lost your skyplus box?

in some cases a new hard disk drive (HDD) sometimes a bit tricky to self install, solves some problems like not recording or not booting up. but they are a bit picky as to which HDDs they can use. cost - depends on what size of HDD you use - i got 500gig in mine

channels breaking up very early - or channels that never have broken up suddently start breaking up coul dbe either the LNB, or more likely the inner workings of the S+, either the power supply or the actual tuner - in which case it is favourable to get a new box - which will also mean getting your skycard re-paired to the new box to get all the recording functions working. cost again depends on what size of HDD is in the new box, 40, 80, 160 gig. expect to pay around 325-375€ for a Sky plus.

Dibble

It died, sadly without divulging the rest of the cook tour of spain! If I knew it was going to with hold that I would have killed it myself!

Sorry, on off, on off....electric supply and it had an update but the signal was not good enough to compete it.

The Guy

it is possible to retrive recordings from a Sky+HDD and transfer them to a new disk or a new sky+box. as long as the HDD is not damaged a good installer (shame i am not in your area!!) should be able to do this for you. the process does not keep all your future planned recordings so you will have to go thru and put them in manually, but you will have all your recordings back.

have you tried to do the software download manually (unplug, hold back up button on front of box, plug back in , wait until download software message appears)? i find it is best to do this firth thing in the morni gwhen the default transponder 11778 (where i understand the software downloads are) is the strongest?

Dibble

Yep we have tried that but we/ sorry, he will get up early in the morning to try it!

spain

can you tell me the number of ITV channel islands - and what time does yours stay on til ? ours usually goes off about about 10ish and wonder if the CI would stay on any later

The Guy

ITV London (993) is on the same frequency as ITV2 and ITV4
ITV Channel Islands is on the same frequecy as ITV3

so you can uses these as benchmarks to see which ITV1 stays on longer. of course it all depends on digibox, dish, dish size, LNB, cable length and location. you know where i am if you want me to pop around and have a look at the dish and set uyp for you

ITV CI will have to be tuned in manually if it is not already in other services
Services, 4, 4, Frequency 10905, v, 22.0, 5/6, yellow (puts tick) and select. This ITV CI is then available under Services and other channels.

And for the moment there is an ITV Test channel showing ITV1 programes with a strong signal - services,4,4, frequency 12402, V, 27.5, 2/3, yellow, select - channel ident is "12199" - i dont know how long this will last but this can also be picked up on some smaller dishes (less than 1.8m depending on your location!) - note no programme info available.

note you cannot set Sky+ to record Other Channels.

The Guy

it may help that you are getting a signal on 11778 (the normal DT) when you hear the background music when you use the EPG...

poshnbucks

Recently my Sky HD box started displaying signs of ill health.The box was only 14 months old my box was HD but this fix works with Sky Plus. The problem initially manifested as 'blocking' or pixellation on certain channels (such as Sky Movies, BBC HD, Ch. 5, UKTV Gardens, etc.) making those channels unwatchable.
It turned out to be caused by electrical interference from a failing power supply unit (PSU). Today I replaced the unit, and all appears well again.
The fix involves purchasing a replacement PSU board See Link Below re purchase of new board. opening the box, unscrewing and unplugging the faulty board, and inserting the new one.
The cost with outward and return postage (you have to send back the old PSU) comes to around £35-£40, so it is a pretty cheap fix.A new box is 200 squid.
If you have replaced a board in a computer before, you have all the skills you will need. (No soldering.) Order from here http://www.satcure.com/accs/page12.htm#hd Scroll down until you see the PSU unit complete rebuild this has panasonic capacitors which are much better than those fitted to the Thompson or Grundid boxes. They deliver to Spain no problem. Return your old unit and they return fifteen pounds plus vat to your credit card. I advise you to buy the little screw/grumit type thing's as the old ones will be a bit tired due to heat within the box.

(Note: all directional references henceforth are as if you have the front of the box facing you.)

Diagnosis
Firstly, this pixellation problem can be caused by other things, such a dish misalignment, or atmospheric conditions. So don't jump to conclusions.
If it persists for more than a week or two, it isn't the weather. If you have multiroom, and the affected channels are fine on that, it isn't dish misalignment.
Cabling can also be to blame, so visually inspect, looking for any damage to the outside of the cable.
For me, the problem spread to recordings failing before they were due to record, and sundry other glitches. After having to reboot the box for the sixth time in two weeks, it became clear that the problem was internal.
The final diagnosis is to open the box and check the capacitors for bulges (subtle bulges of the metal top part), a sure sign of failure.
They are located just forward of the black cooling fin on the leftmost board.

Opening the Sky HD box
First, unplug all cables and remove your viewing card from the slot behind the flap on the front (right). Leave the box to cool down for 10 minutes before opening.
Note that your box might not be the same as mine, but here is how I got in:
Undo the screw at the middle-top of the back of the box.
Turn the box upside down and unclip the three tabs at the front of the box.
Slide the internal metal box backwards away from the outer plastic cover.
Lift out the metal box (you may need to flex the sides of the cover slightly).
Turn the metal box back over. You'll see a square board on the top, which has some buttons on it. Undo the two screws holding it in place.
Locate and undo the three screws on left-hand side, which secure the metal lid.
Open the lid like a book to 90°, and slide it right to remove it completely.

Replacing the PSU
Discharge yourself of static electricity often by touching something metal, like a radiator. You could easily fry the electronics if you accidentally zap it with a 10,000 volt discharge!
The PSU is the board furthest left, with the fan above it. There are five screws securing the board, four inside, one outside (just above the socket for the power cord). Access to one of the internal screws is blocked by the fan.
Remove the fan by pushing the rubber plugs back into the holes, and then gently pulling them through.
Unplug the white connector on the front-right of the board by carefully pulling it out (do not pull the cable). You can push down gently on the label just behind the black metal cooling fin to stop the board from bending as you pull. The plastic was very brittle due to the heat, so be careful!
Undo the five screws holding the board in place, and lift out.
Position the new board, and secure with the screws.
Plug in the white connector, carefully, so that it is secure and level (support the board in the middle to stop it bending). Compare with the plug on the other end of the cable if you are unsure if it is in right.
Replace the fan - a bit tricky. Push the rubber supports into the holes at the corners of the fan so the conical plug is fully inside (the needle-nose pliers might come in handy here). Once the conical plugs are in, put the fan in position with the rubber supports sticking out the side of the box. One by one, push gently on the flat end of the rubber supports, keeping the shaft straight and in line with the hole, squashing the shaft towards the hole. Gradually the plug will slide through, and when the point sticks out, grab it and pull it the rest of the way.

Close up the box, insert viewing card, plug cables back in, Sky Box fixed.

searcher48

Thanks for that tip...just pulled a big spider out! Ive got TV again!