No satellite signal being received????????

[Megan le Fey]

I seem to have lost satellite signals on UK TV channels 101, 102, 103, 115,116, 118 and 120 but where they are available, I still get the plus one hour channels and on BBC one I can get the regional channels and on BBC two, I can get Scotland and Wales. They went down today early evening, between 5.30pm and 6 pm and I am getting the nessage, No satellite signal is being received.   At first I thought of bad weather in the London area but it still hasn't cleared and nobody else on here seems to be complaining so I guess it must be somewhere on my system.  We have a really old Panasonic Sky box without a card - so old that we have had it almost 7 years and it was given to us by a nephew who had had it for a few years before that.[:-))].  I have tried the old cure-all and pulled the plug out and left it for several minutes but obviously that didn't work.  I would really appreciate any ideas from our technically minded members.

[Théière]

Have you had a look at the system setup signal test to see what level of signal and signal quality you have?

[Megan le Fey]

[quote user="teapot"]Have you had a look at the system setup signal test to see what level of signal and signal quality you have?[/quote]

Yes, but both are quite good, strength around 75- 80 and quality about 85-90.  The other two items, system test and system health check,  require either a connected phone line or a Sky card.

[Théière]

Oh that sounds bad, we had similar this year after the storm, signal test ok box dead, changed box for the spare and ok.

[Martin963]

Before we write anything off.....

Which BBC region do you normally get?

Can you take the box round to a friend who also has a dish on Astra 2 and give it a try there?   Can the friend bring their box round to you and try it on your dish?

That will eliminate a lot of possibilities.

It is an odd one though as apparently it's unrelated either to Hor/Ver polarisation,  or indeed to 22 kHz switching (I'm thinking out loud there).

(The signal test -  while useful - only relates to one transponder out of about sixty,  so a slight mis-alignement can leave the test signal intact but knock out ones you actually watch,  in your case possibly some of those on Astra 2D).

[Megan le Fey]

Hi Martin

I get BBC London on ch,101 but that and BBC2 on ch.102 came back on this morning.   I can get other regions on the 900 group of channels, they didn't go off at all.  ITV1, 2 and 4  are on and off this morning and ITV3 is fine.  If I leave the lost ITV channels sitting on the no satellite signal message for several minutes they sometimes come on OK.............and sometimes don't. 

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone around here who has a box so that I can test it.    It is a bit weird because when the channels in question are working they don't give any problems, it is just when we change channels that there is a problem.  If we were talking about really old-fashioned technology, I would say that they need time to "warm up".[:D]

I think that we will probably have to return to the UK in about 6 months anyway when our dog's passport becomes valid so it won't be worth us getting another box here.   I suppose I must see how it goes, so far at least, we do have some BBC channels and, with a bit of a lottery, occasional  ITV. [:)]

[Martin963]

It's difficult to advise further but it could just be that your LNB (on the dish arm with the wire running to it) is getting too hot in this summer weather.   I've had to change one for a friend recently although in that instance it had taken out pretty much all the channels..

The other more general possibility -  have any trees/shrubs grown into the signal path?    We have had an ongoing fight with all sorts of greenery over the years and this year we've got a lot more firewood as a result of three ash trees getting in Auntie's way!

ITV 3 is on a different frequency to a lot of the rest of ITV,  and if it's stable while the others are not it does suggest that the dish has moved very slightly,  as they're the same vertical polarisation,  and if the box was failing you might expect all the same polarisations to suffer together.

On the other had it may simply be that your box is getting old and if that's the case it'll go on getting worse....

Keep up posted,  and don't forget that you CAN get cheapish free to air digital sat boxes in France for about €60 which will get you all the channels a cardless Sky box gets.   But don't buy one until you know for certain it isn't the dish,  as you will be aware the smallest movement means the difference between working and not-working!   If I was sorting it out for you it would be the dish I'd check first in spite of the good signal on the meters.

[Megan le Fey]

Thank you very much Martin, you're a star.  I feel such an idiot but I never thought of trees.  We have 3 poplars(I think that's what they are) growing on the lawn right in front of the dish.  It could very well be them, although they have been there all the time, perhaps they are just a bit bigger now.  We can't cut them down because we rent the house but another week or two and they will begin to lose their leaves so that will help.  It is also very possible, as you suggest that the dish has moved a scrap - we have had some fairly high winds lately, though not exactly gale force.  We have hardly had any trouble with it at all today so I will cross my fingers, hope for the best and see what happens.

[Martin963]

Oooooh you say the nicest things.

Well that certainly sounds like a possible culprit.   Losing the leaves will help but you will eventually have to do something if it is the poplars.

If you can't cut the trees can you move the dish laterally (other end of a wall for example?)

[Anton Redman]

Remember the dish a parabola so the size of the hole you need is only marginally bigger than the dish itself.

[Megan le Fey]

I am afraid we will be gone before the trees get much worse.  My husband has Alzheimer's and whilst we have coped with it for the past few years, I think the time will be coming soon when I will need the kind of help I will only find in UK.  I think we will probably be heading off come next spring and the new tenants will either not need the dish or will realign it for the French telly, or maybe there will be a big butch bloke who will go up a ladder and lop off the tops[:D].  In the meantime, I am hoping that we will continue to get something through as Frank watches it most of the time regardless of what the programme is - so long as it is not football, Eastenders or Corrie[Www].

[Théière]

That is such terrible news, where is centre west? if it's not too far I would be happy to move the dish for you when I am over.

 

[Martin963]

Very sorry to hear of your situation.  

I'm sure someone on the forum will be near enough to give you a hand with the dish if necessary.

Bon courage.

[Megan le Fey]

Thank you, you are both so kind but over the past few years we have learnt to deal with the situation and, after all,  it is just another disability.  I am afraid that I have the bad habit of explaining in case people wonder why I am apparently sometimes so helpless[:P].

There is a man nearby who put up the dish in the first place but his shop seems to have closed down (recession?) or I would have spoken to him.  I do know that he is still around so if the problem becomes too annoying I can always get in touch with him.

Again, thank you for being so thoughtful, I do appreciate it .[:D]