Some TV stations and not others - help!!

[Penny29]

Hi,

Have a weird problem - over past few weeks we have been getting "freezing" pictures on ITV and all BEEB channels, and over past 24 hours nothing at all on those channels. We continue to receive Channel 4 (okay quality) and fantastic reception on Channel 5. I have checked all connections, forced downloads etc all to no avail.

Any suggestions?????

Thanks

Penny

[Baz]

>Have a weird problem - over
>past few weeks we have
>been getting "freezing" pictures on
>ITV and all BEEB channels,

Penny,

Freezing pictures are almost always due to a poor signal, this can be more noticeable in bad weather. Two suggestions to cure this problem, firstly check that the dish is properly alighned, even a cm out can be too much. If you do not have a meter to check this, it may be worth getting a professional installer in. Secondly,if this fails increasing your dish size should cure the freezing.

ITV and Beeb channels are generally effected first, which will explain why you continue to receive channels 4 & 5. Hope this helps to solve the problem.

Baz

[Btuckey]

Penny,

There are a couple of reasons as to why youve lost some channels. The most likely is that your dish has gone out of alignment. ITV and the BBC use transponder (Astra) 2D which has a lower received signal strength (in France) than C4 and C5 which use 2A North and 2B North respectively. When the signal starts to go blocky or freezes, it is because the MPEG stream is suffering from a low bitrate caused by lack of signal strength. Try gently twisting the dish whilst monitoring the TV picture. Also, try gently lifting or pulling down the LNB boom (arm). This is a common cause of problems as the boom is very poorly secured on some mini-dishes. You can also diagnose the problem using the directions at the bottom of the page at: http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/page10.htm Of course, if you have access to an in-line signal strength meter or bleeper it makes life a great deal easier.

The other, less likely, problem is that your Digibox/LNB are not switching between bands. A Universal LNB requires a 22kHz tone at 0.5v p-p to switch its Local Oscillator to 10.6GHz (high band). Otherwise it uses its 9.75GHz oscillator. ITV, BBC 1 and BBC 2 use the low band (10.7-11.8GHz) whilst C4 and C5 use the high band (11.6-12.7 GHz). You are best off borrowing a meter such as the Digisat Pro http://www.satellitesuperstore.com/install.htm to sort this problem out.
I have tried to keep the above short, so I hope you can understand it!

Brian 11500

[Gwynydd]

>been getting "freezing" pictures on
>ITV and all BEEB channels,
>and over past 24 hours
>nothing at all on those
>channels. We continue to receive
>Channel 4 (okay quality) and
>fantastic reception on Channel 5.

First of all, don't alter the alignment of your dish.
Select channel 220, the Fashion Channel.
If you get a picture, then your problem is almost certainly dish alignment.
If you get "No Satellite Signal Being Received", then your problem is almost certainly LNB switching and the fault is more likely to be the LNB than the digibox.
Just replace the LNB.
If you have friends with the same sort of system, you could put your digibox onto their dish just to prove that your digibox is okay (or not)

[Penny29]

Just to thank you for all your advice.

In the end we gave up the DIY stakes and contacted www.skyinfrance.co.uk.

They came round today as promised, found that the dish had been installed before on a wing and a prayer (the dish was flapping about and losing signals due to faulty wiring and one screw holding the whole thing to the wall). They spent a couple of hours re-erecting the dish, checking all the wiring and didn't leave until they were sure we were completely satisfied. They were also honest enough to tell me that the dish didn't need moving to another part of the house (they could have charged me extra for this).

Very pleased with the service and found the price reasonable.

Would happily recommend them to others.

Penny