equipment?

[Jimdefruit]

The signal will disappear if its an electrical storm. One of the reasons I think at least one or two analogue news transmissions should be retained. At least on radio if not tv.

[nanochickin]

Thanks for the advise Mikha, It didn't even occur to me that there may be a problem with dish, It just always seems to do that when we have heavy rain.

Only problem with asking Sky to fix the problem is that i told them to stick their subscription a few months ago. So that one won't work.

I have checked the dish this afternoon and the wiring is all OK, no water ingress or shorting between the layers at both ends. I thought it might be OK as I replaced it all with new CT100 on sunday when i connected it and the other dish up into the DiSEqC Switch. Both ends were also sealed with amalgamating tape (I think thats what you call it anyway)

I have also rechecked the alignment and its set so i get the strongest signal possible.

The old Grundig LNB that was on the dish when i moved in was also replaced a few months ago as it was well and truely up the duff. I replaced it with a brand new Thomson Sky minidish lnb i got off ebay for £2.50. It seemed a better idea at the time than paying a £65 Sky callout charge.

After all these checks i am most likely to agree with you that there may be a problem with the lnb. ops: I know from experience with other electrical items that just because its new doesn't mean it works.

Is it common for them to start to breakdown in this way or do they just stop working?

Anyway it looks like i'm going to have to buy another lnb for the minidish. Can you recommend a brand to go for. Its a pity really as i still have 4 universal lnbs that wont fit in my cupboard. (Spares for my 80cm dish)

[BGonaSTICK]

Some Sky LNBs have a rough skew adjustment on them, a sort of 1-5 or 1-7 scale or similar.

You just grab the body of the LNB once mounted on the arm and twist. The LNB should click round a notch at a time. Trial and error may bring you something better.

I've just replaced the sad old Grundig single LNB on my dish with a spanking new Raven Quad for £11 off eBay.

Fitted in minutes. Wish I'd done it earlier, as my signal has been sliding down toward the threshold for some time.

Some LNBs seems to degrade slowly over time, whereas some have a markedly more dramatic decline.

STICK

[nanochickin]

Well i took the plunge and purchased a brand new Wistron Sky lnb off fleabay for the grand total of £3.80 including postage.

Hopefully that should sort out the problem. :?

It looks like a normal lnb with a propper holder which i think may be better if it allows me to get the polorization angle set up more accurately. I have seen these lnbs on dishes before, although i have no idea how good they are. Will keep you all posted.

Nano

[BGonaSTICK]

That's interesting - does the LNB come out of the minidish fitting?

What I mean is, could you use the fitting and a different (standard) LNB?

I wouldn't recommend this, just interested.

[nanochickin]

It certainly looks like it stick. Not sure i would like to try fitting another lnb.

I'm sure i read somewhere that minidish lnbs are designed for the shape of the minidish and won't work correctly with other dishes. Come to think of it it was probably on this forum somewhere.

From what i can see from the Wistron website its showing it as a 0.3dB lnb. Other sites i have looked at are retailing it at around £14.50

Should be interesting to see how well it works. :?

[BGonaSTICK]

LOL, it was probably me that said it.

I was just wondering if it would fit. I'm sure a different LNB would work, as the Sky one would on another dish, because in this case you can correct for the skew

I doubt it would work as well, but would probably get you out of a fix, as a spare.

STICK

[nanochickin]

Think i've sussed out the problem with my signal loss.

Every time we have a heavy downpour the roof gutters overflow at an exact point. Yes you've guessed it more or less directly above the Sky dish. > I dont think having that much water pouring on to the dish and the lnb are doing it any good at all. I think it explains the signal loss and why the original Grundig lnb didn't work. :?

Anyway i've been up on the roof this morning and cleaned the gutters out so hopefully when i've fitted the new lnb that should sort the problem out.

I found an action man stuck in the top of the down pipe with a load of moss growing round it. I'm just waiting for the next heavy down pour to see if the gutters overflows again.

[Analoguesat]

:roflmao:

Brilliant. this will have me chuckling all morning

[BGonaSTICK]

Checklist:

1) Obstruction to line-of-sight
2) Poorly aligned dish
3) Action Man stuck in gutter causing waterfall into LNB

Never a dull moment here... :roflmao:

Be prepared to have your leg pulled about this for many years to come!