Sky FTV problem

[curbs]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and hoping someone can help....

I have a sky+ digibox and dish left over from when I subscribed to sky a couple of years ago. Having read this forum and as such having discovered that I could recieve FTA/FTV I thought I'd setup the digibix in the bedroom - so I rerouted the cable from the lounge and connected it to the digibox.

When I switched on the box it said "Searching for listings" for a very long time... eventually I think it said "No satellite signal being received". Now bear in mind that from this point on I don't really know what i'm doing. :?

I searched the internet for a solution, as I was convinced that the dish couldn't have moved, and found something that mentioned changing the default transponder to 10.832,H,22.0,5/6

I did this and to my suprise listings appeared and I could watch a whole bunch of FTA channels. Channel 4 or 5 did not appear in the listings. I assumed, after reading this forum, that this was because I did not have a valid viewing card. I called Sky and the next day it arrived. Inserted the card, called Sky, and after about 24 hours or so Channels 4 and 5 had appeared in the listings. I also noticed that the ITV region had changed from Central to Meridian which is correct for my location (Brighton) - so I assumed this meant the card had been successfully activated.

However... and thanks for staying with me on my first, long, post, ... cos I'm actually going to get to the point you'll be relieved to know... when I switch to Channel 4 or 5 the message "No satellite signal is being received" is displayed.

The quality of the picture on every channel I can receive is absolutely mint, crystal clear. I chose "Signal Test" from the menu and no bars appear at all in signal strength or quality. Lock indicator says "Not Locked", network id is 0002 and transport stream is 0805. Means nothing to me... but I was suprised to see nothing for quality and strength since the picture is so good for all bbc and itv channels etc.

Any help would be great... (apologies for the long post but wanted to provide as much info as poss).

[Jimdefruit]

I think this is a simple case of the box needing to be updated. Unplug the box and hold the on off button while plugging the main in. The box should then update.

If I am wrong, someone will be along in a minute to give more help.

[BGonaSTICK]

Hi curbs.

You say it's a Sky plus box - how many coax runs have you re-routed to it?

If you don't subscribe to anything (i.e. you have an FTV-only card) I think you'll find that the second tuner will be inactive. It's used for PVR functions of course, and you don't get this facility without subscription.

As Jim says, the box is probably just confused from having been disconnected for so long. You can get the firmware revision from one of the system menus.

How old is the dish/LNB? Do the connections look sound?

[curbs]

thanks for replies... yes it is a sky+ box.

and sorry, forgot to mention that i had already tried an update (holding backup button while plugging in?) - now reads epg version sky+ 4.10.c and operating system version 1.31B00 - but didn't resolve.

dish/LNB are about 2 years old - haven't checked connections at the lnb end, but i will when it's daylight. I put the F-connectors on myself at the digibox end as I shortened the cable run - bedroom is much nearer to dish than lounge was.

I re-routed both coaxs and have both connected. Tried swapping them over and get the same very good reception of bbc/itv etc.

did notice that when i checked the dish on the wall on sunday that although the dish itself had absolutely no movement in it whatsoever, the quad lnb had a small amount of vertical movement - caused by it's own weight I think... hard to explain but if i offered some support with my hand it would change the angle very slightly - could this cause a problem??

just seems wierd cos the reception of all other channels is so good. are channels 4/5 broadcast from a different satellite in the cluster?

thanks...

cheers

[BGonaSTICK]

Right then:

First off, I'd leave your dish alone for the time being. It sounds OK. The LNB arm will flex a little under the weight of the LNB, but that's the position it will have been in when it was originally aligned.

Next up, yes, it sounds like your card is OK and activated.

All (both) the cables from the LNB will do the same job, so if you've tried swapping them already you can probably rule out any connection problems at the dish. As I said, the cable to tuner 2 is probably just decoration now.

Changing the default transponder may well have confused the box. It will probably account for the zero readings on the strength and quality indicators, as it's the default transponder it uses for this purpose. Put it back to how it was. It's extremely unlikely that it did any good in the first place, though I suppose it might have nudged the box into clearing it's head. Just leaving it turned on normally kick-starts them eventually.

Sounds bizarre, but Sky boxes really are this 'emotional'.

Both the box and the card need to catch up on world events by being left to soak up the satellite signal for a while. Leave it unplugged for a few hours, and then leave in standby for 48 hours once you've reset the default transponder back to it's default setting.

Leave the card in the slot. It has to catch 'stay-alive' signals from satellite periodically. The receiver also uses satellite to keep itself up to date. That's why Sky boxes use so much power in standby - it's still chucking 13-18V up the coax to power the LNB!

You also don't need the phone-line with FTV as you're no longer under any contract.

Different channels are located on different transponders, and each transponder can vary in it's power output - but if you get good reception on BBC & ITV it's likely that C4 & Five should be OK too.

For digital reception, there is a very fine line between reception and blackness, unlike analogue where there is a big fat area in the middle. If your dish is mal-aligned then BBC could be just on the OK side and C4 on the wrong side, but it's unlikely unless your dish is way off.

No tree grown up in the line of sight over the last two years? Just a thought.

If, once left to its own devices for a couple of days, it hasn't cleaned up its act, let us know.

It would also be nice to know if the EPG is still OK once you've reset the default TP, and if you then get a signal reading from the system settings indicators, as well as a picture on C4/Five instead of 'No satellite signal is being received' of course.

If you know anyone else with a Sky box, a temporary swap-out will help narrow down the likely culprit too of course.

STICK

[curbs]

thanks for all the advice STICK... will give it a go, cheers

[Analoguesat]

The default transponder will reset itself if the box is unplugged from the wall for a few minutes.

C4 & C5 will not appear on the epg if the card is inactive (which it will be as the box has been off for a long time) Leave it a few days and it should reactivate eventually.

[BGonaSTICK]

Originally Posted by Analoguesat

The default transponder will reset itself if the box is unplugged from the wall for a few minutes.

Cool. I didn't know that! That two things I don't know! :roflmao:

[Analoguesat]

Apparently it causes havoc in Spain where the dishes are too small to get the north beam as the box wont populate the epg unless the defaul tp is changed to the south variant

And in some areas the electric supply is rather unreliable

:roflmao: