st3v3

ok i was talking to a mate today whom is quite trustworthy, he says his satalite digi-box went down about 18 month after he had subscribed ,thus it was out of the 12mth gaurantee, now he didnt take out any secondary insurance iether so when it went down he had to call the engineer out who said.....

this is the interesting part........

"sky set up the box in a fashion as it breaks intensionally after 18 month or so"

now he couldnt be 100% sure wether it was by a "virus" down the phone line or a time induced thing inside the box itself,but he did say that people who took out the secondary insurance didnt get this kind of problem, and it was away of getting extra cash out of the punter

so what i want to know is has anybody else had this kind of problem and if so after how many months was it and were you insured????

cheers
steve

madenglishman

Weird I have had 2 dishes at two seperate houses and this maybe a coincidence BUT both gave up the ghost after 15 and 17 months respectively(sp) so I have had to buy 2 more digi boxes at about £80 each .

My present one is nearly a year old so will be interesting to see when this one goes and I will take it further this time surely they should last a bit longer,never really gave it a thought 'till I read this post!!

Carl2

I remember in the last 80's a discussion on after market ecu's saying that they could program them to go **** up when ever they want. I know you can also machine parts to fail after a certain amount of time. It's all a big con.

Carl2

Forgot to add. Quite often when your sky box goes **** up, just unplug it for a few mins and then plug it back in. This quite often sorts them out. The wife's box is over 3 years old now I think.

C h a z

| have been selling sky digital systems scince they came out and cannot say that I have noticed any trend in the way they have or haven failed.

Steve777

iTrader: (8)

Touch wood. I have had mine about 3 years or so now, maybe longer and no problems.

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

philgr

Still on the original Sky digi box, had it since it the digi service first launched, bought no insurance, and never had a problem, its still going strong,

I doubt very much if Sky is fiddling the boxes, if caught and proven there would be hell to pay!!

Phil G

[Edited by philgr - 5/27/2003 8:47:37 PM]

P-Town_Scoob

Just cancel the contract & take out a new one in the missus's name... Don't need the installation as u already have a dish, so nothing to pay !!!!!!

rhybeck

I HAVE HAD 6+ SKY BOXES AND 5+ LMB'S (THE THING ON THE DISH ARM)

rhybeck

YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW WHAT THESE BOYS ARE SAYING!!!!!!!!

Spoon

I know someone who got around this for £10.

His original subscription was in his wife's name, he said she'd left him and took the box and was cancelling the direct debit.

He paid £10 to have it re-installed and put the dd in his name, hey presto, 2 boxes etc for a tenner more.

ChrisB

Yup - we've got one of the original Pace boxes. We paid to have it installed, it was that long ago. Bar the odd lock up which a power cycle sorts, not a problem. Touch wood!

ADP

total rubbish, I work in the industry at a technical level.

however, they are built to a price, ie the quality of the boxes I would say is totally cheap. Thats why you only see 1 brand of sky+ box, they cant build them cheap enuff.

jonny32

I cant seem to get any bbc channels, even radio ,on my sky??since the weekend

st3v3

cheers guys thanks for the help on this

anymore comments welcome tho'

cheers
steve

wideboyuk

Spoon, r u saying that for just £10 Sky will supply you with a new box (if ur wife has left u ) ??

CooperS

We can't get any BBC channels either, we phoned up and there is an answer machine telling you that they have problems, something to do with BBC buying their own satellite.

Andy

4lex L

All my BBC channels are messed up too Jonny32, either a message comes up saying "No satelite signal received" or I get a gargled image. Anyone know why?

Clarebabes

I keep getting error messages on BBC1 when I flick up or down from another channel. If I type "101" into the remote, it works fine. If I get the message, all I do is flick one channel up or down and it comes back on.

I would not know what to do if I couldn't get BBC1! My Mum and Dad wouldn't let me watch ITV as a kid coz they thought it was a bad influence!

4lex L

Cheers clarebabes I'll give that a go tonight, its not just ITV you need to worry about now but all the other crap channels that seem to have croped on sky. The other day I couldn't find anything decent to watch, all those channels and not a single program of interest.

Clarebabes

UK Style But that's because I am a DIY and Gardening addict

That's OK because most of the progs on there are BBC anyway!

beemerboy

Bottom line for me is "right then, if it aint covered and it breaks after warranty period, come and take to fooking thing away and i'll save meself £40 a month into the bargain".

see what they say.....

this happened to me and the decoder got swapped out foc.
if you dont ask, you dont get...
its a buyers market (ps they have had nearly £800 out of me in 2 years!!!)so its a small price for them to pay.

BB

GavinP

The BBC have moved to a different satellite Astra 2D which is in the same position in the sky but is "more tightly focused" on the UK.

Following from BBC web site:

Why am I experiencing a loss of some BBC services on my Digital satellite system?

On 21 May 2003 the BBC began the process of moving its services from the Astra 2A Digital Satellite to Astra 2D which is in the same orbital position. Astra 2D has a footprint which focuses specifically on the UK. It is well within the receiving range of your equipment, which should retune automatically.


We suggest that viewers with reception difficulty try the following:

1) Switch away from 101 (BBC ONE) to 103 or 104 and then back.
2) If this fails to restore BBC services reboot (restart) the Digibox.

3) If this fails to restore BBC services talk to your satellite installer. If you don't have the contact details of your satellite installer, you are advised to look for details of a local installer in the phone book.


Sky have told me this is the BBC’s responsibility because of the Satellite changes?
The changeover from Astra 2A to 2D should not have impacted on BBC Services as your dish should have the capability to receive signals from both satellites. If that is not the case, you may need to consult your satellite installer

I pay the BBC a licence fee so that I can receive BBC Services – is it your responsibility to make sure I can get them ?
The BBC is still transmitting the signals but cannot take responsibility for any type of receiving equipment or its installation.



or see http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/answers.shtml#dsat

Thanks

Gavin

[Edited by GavinP - 5/28/2003 1:11:34 PM]

4lex L

Cheers Gavin,

Already tried resetting the box, I'll try the channel flicking tonight overwise I guess its a call to the TV guys

apples24

iTrader: (1)

so who is still on the old cable???

ive had a chipped box for 3 years and have had every channel, best £80 i have ever spent, and as its cable i can plug it in pretty much anywere and it works as everyone has had cable down here at one point or another.

Blackscooby

Just read this and went downstairs to check on my 101, 102 etc. This morning they were all messed up. Tonight haven't powered off or anything and the pictures perfect again... No idea whats going on !

Edited to say no its knackered again this morning


[Edited by Blackscooby - 5/29/2003 7:58:50 AM]