Bad reeption on ITV and BBC2?

[Philouis]

Has anyone else experienced the breaking of their signal on the two channels that I have mentioned. I thought first off that it might be the weather, but it seemed to be happening whatever the weather at the time.

Tonight, all is well. But some nights we are completely wiped out on all channels! Is it a fault with my Sky box, if so should I get it overhauled?

Any information would be appreciated. Thank you!

[Tim]

Well the way the signal gets to your box from the satellite means that if you can get BBC1 then the same signal also carries BBC2, BBC3, BBC4,CBBC,Cbeebies and BBC News 24 - similar things apply to most of the ITV channels. So,what I am saying is that if you can one of those channels you should be able to get the rest as well.

If you are only getting trouble on one of the BBC channels then you appear to have a rather odd problem that's got me scratching my head at the moment.

Perhaps when this issue pops up again you could check the other channels I've mentioned to see what is going on there.

Anybody else any ideas?

 

Tim

[Clair]

We had some problems with reception of all the BBc channels around lunchtime today. The other channels were fine so we put it down to the bad weather and it all went back to normal very quickly.

[ChezShells]

most of it is down to allignment and/or dish size

[AnOther]

Clair, around lunchtime yesterday in UK there was a massive, virtually nationwide, downpour which temporarily wiped out even some terrestrial broadcasts so I think that might account for your observations.

What Timco says is basically correct however it's not quite as simple as it may seem.

Each individual channel is broadcast from the satellite on a specific frequency and polarisation, plus the satellite utilises multiple antennas, hence a channel's propogation properties are unique and as such can be uniquely affected by various factors.

Assuming of course that your dish size is adequate for your area and that the cable/connectors are in good shape then, as ChezShells suggests, it's quite possible that you may have a slight misalignment.

[Clair]

[quote user="ErnieY"]Clair, around lunchtime yesterday in UK there was a massive, virtually nationwide, downpour which temporarily wiped out even some terrestrial broadcasts so I think that might account for your observations.[/quote]

Considering this is the only time we've lost the BBC channels since installing a new and slightly larger Sky dish, we're confident the short-term loss of reception was caused by the weather in the UK.

[Tim]

I was trying to keep it simple and although I'm not an expert I can say for certain each channel does not have it's own frequency. The digital system for TV - whether terrestrial or satellite - has channels grouped into bitstreams, generally called multiplexes and each muliplex has it's frequency.  One of these multiplexes carries some of the BBC channels - not all because there is a limit to the capacity of each bitstream - therefore, as I said, if you lose BBC1 - then BBC2 etc are carried on the same stream - in theory this means that you have problems on all those channels carried.

If the problem is to one or two specific channels then you have a more interesting problem that's still got me scratching my head.

We need a little more information as to whether other channels are affected - it is possible that you my have a minor mis-alignment of the dish or perhaps an odd fault caused by water ingress to the cable.

Tim

[microwave mike]

"... therefore, as I said, if you lose BBC1 - then BBC2 etc are carried on the same stream ..."

Only if the BBC1 in question is BBC1 London. There's a good chance that the BBC1 is a regional variation and they are all transmitted on different frequencies and polarities to the national channels.

[Martin963]

I think Mazan would have been proud of this thread,  I must dust off the Mazan Memorial Award.

@ Timco - I've PM'd you. 

M.

[Tim]

[quote user="microwave mike"]

"... therefore, as I said, if you lose BBC1 - then BBC2 etc are carried on the same stream ..."

Only if the BBC1 in question is BBC1 London. There's a good chance that the BBC1 is a regional variation and they are all transmitted on different frequencies and polarities to the national channels.

[/quote]

Quite right Microwave M - the OP didn't say which region he usually watched and I forgot to ask - blast it! As Martin has said - it's almost certainly a weather issue - perhaps a small tweak on the dish or the LNB skew would improve things, but unless it's constantly dropping out I'd probably suggest he leaves it alone.

Tim

[ChezShells]

we had a minidish when we lived in the Deux Sevres, good piture whatever the weather

[sid]

A problem with the LNB perhaps? Some channels are horizontal polarised and others vertical. If the switching isn't working this might explain it. The switching is done by the digibox though, so perhaps a problem there!

In this situation I'd be doing some checking by substitution. It means borrowing from a friend, using known working components.

You can get LNBs via Ebay for £20. A SkyBox you'd have to get from UK unless you want to spend a fortune.

Sid 

[Chancer]

I just changed my LNB for a similar problem but it only cost 10 quid from Brico-Depot.

I was getting no sattelite signal messages on CH5 sky3 and several other CH4 derived staions as well as other funnies that pointed to the box being faulty, for the sake of 14 euros I decided to swap the LNB as perhaps it was having dificulty in switching from horizontal to vertical.

It worked perfectly with just one 30 second hiccup once only when switching to CH5 so perhaps the LNB switching current is weak on my sky box.

It has also improved the signal quality significantly so I would suggest always trying a new LNB first.

[Fridgeman]

Martin

You are a little terror[:)]

I find dropping the sly box (NOT a spelling mistake) in a bucket of water does the trick.

If at first you don't succeed, give up, it's normally not worth all the bother.

 

[Martin963]

I know I know.... dreadful aren't I.

How's your motorised system?   I'm still manually replugging between my four dishes,  but the Technomates are alive and well and picking up all sorts of things!

[Fridgeman]

Martin

I did not know you had a Technomate........crafty little devil .............are you getting all the good channels like me?

I watched the Speedway world cup Saturday terrific racing but a very poor result for GB

The world can be your oyster.........but what if I don't like oysters????????

[:D][:D][:D]

[Martin963]

yes, it's been a good period for Technomates in general and the 1500 in particular.   I've never seen them advertised in France,  now why should that be I wonder?

[Fridgeman]

Hi Martin

I have seen them advertised in the French satellite magazines, are you into Le Tour de France?    Available on 1w 11093 v 6111 or 24.5w 11486 v 13235 (English Commentary) or 19.2e 1221 h 27500 German Eurosport (German Commentary)  ALL FREE TO AIR the first 2 are Feeds.

Any questions Just ask

[Martin963]

ah  .... that's where you score with a motorised system.  I took one of my dishes off 1W about four years ago.  Interesting though,  I might try putting it back.  I used a 1 m in the UK,  will an 80 cm do for 1W over here?

[Fridgeman]

Hi Martin

Your 80cm dish should be OK as you are that bit further south, I am using a 80cm dish here in UK and it's working fine, I have just bought and awaiting delivery with baited breath , a Funke 1mtr plus a 0.2 lnb which hopefully will solve my problem with Feeds on 10e. By the way the 1w is a feed which is liable to be there till the Tour finishes and has English commentary, great if you are in to cycling, I'm not but you have to admire them.

I hopefully will be in France full time by the end of the year, which I am looking forward to with my motorised new dish, Martin you just can not beat a motorised dish, once set up and it does take a bit of setting up, at the press of a button you can cover so much of the world, I do not understand why people stick with sly, well I do really it is something they feel safe with, with a standard digi box and motorised dish you get soooooooo much more, OK you do not get channels 4 & 5 but your sure not missing much imo and having to pay for all the other channels,  more money than sense.

Enough of my ramblings

If you can't get it to work, as a last resort look at the instructions.................

All the Best

[Tim]

It's been interesting to read these posts about motorised dishes. I set up my own motorised system when I was still living in England and I must admit that I do miss it. The trouble is that although I'm not employed now, I just haven't found the time to get the kit out and set it up.

It was a fairly 'bog standard' system - 80cm dish and a Pace analogue receiver - can't remember the model number now -(just remembered that I had a Dmac box as well)  I later added a Humax digital box which I do still use on a monoblock LNB for 19e & 13 e.

I can still remember picking up the Atlantic feeds - seeing the Grand Prix direct from Canada and seeing a nasty crash as it happened, then switching back to ITV who had gone to adverts - when they came back they showed the crash as 'live' - rather naughty I thought.

I have a feeling that just before I moved the Pace developed a fault but I left it in circuit as it controlled the dish, so if I want to put the system up over here I will have to find another way to move the dish.

This will have to wait though - usual reasons, time and money - but it's a little project for the future, perhaps.

Regards - Tim

[Fridgeman]

Hi Tim

Your Humax stb will move your dish, depending how old it is and which motor you have (Diseqc or Usals) I personaly find the Usals system to be the better option, the diseqc motors are useless once you go over 80cm, they are just not powerfull enough, you should be able to set up the whole system in a couple of hours depending where you site the dish, it does not have to be on the highest part of the roof (a common mistake) you need clear sight south, no trees or buildings, mine is sited on the side of the house about 8 foot high, makes it easy to apply a drop of WD40 which they all need to keep them running sweet. 

[Tim]

No, the old Humax relied on the Pace analogue box for the dish - it's not got the bits needed for that. All my kit is much too old to be Usals - in fact I've been so busy doing other things in recent years that it's only recently I've found out what Usals is - just about.

Still, maybe one day........

Tim