BuRR

I've had my Sky Digital setup for about 3 years now, but over the last few days have noticed some picture breakup.

Its got beyond a joke now, and can't watch any Sky programmes at all.

This is my System Status screen.



Can anyone suggest a course of action?

Thanks.

The_Gza

If the signal was fine until a few days ago I'd be looking to see if the dish has moved on its mountings.

Ian_S

any trees blocking the line of sight of the dish?

BuRR

None that have grown in the last 2 weeks

Seriously though - I see the signal strength is relatively high, but the quality is very low. What's all that about then?

I've just phoned Sky.... they've quoted me £65 to come out and take a look. This will also cover any repairs etc that need to be made.

Also, Sky+ will be £200 to buy, and £50 to install.

I might just ring Telewest and take on a digital TV package.

Albert47

I agree with above. If it was fine untill a few days ago, then Your dish has been moved. We have had some bad weather lately. Chech other dishes in the area to see which way they point. Everything is coming up on yr screen ok, I presumme from yr pic, it just says low signal.

BuRR

I've been up on the ladder this morning, with Walkie Talkie in hand, and son watching the screen. I moved the dish slowly, and he shouted out the results. The above pic is the best we could get (it was originally worse!)#

Could the LNB be screwed?

ADP

I work for SKY, your strength is not so important, the quality IS, yours is V low - I would suggest your dish has moved slightly - weather ie thunderstorms can affect it but I doubt its that!

There is a helpline you can call also, cant remember the terms but I think they will send an engineer out if they can fixon the phone

BuRR

When I was up there, I noticed that the LNB (I think that's what it is called) was "wobbly" .... it didn't seem a firm fit.

I think I might just order Sky+ - the woman said they fit a new LNB when they do so, so theoretically it should fix it. Right?

So - ADP.... looking at the above..... my Sky box is ok then?

NACRO

The signal quality is more important than signal strength. Your dish is almost certainly slightly out of alignment. This could be the elevation of the dish or it could be it's lateral alignment.

If I was you I'd get the TV where you can see and try to adjust the dish, seeing what difference *small* adjustments make to the signal quality.
Of course it may be that your installation is hard to reach in which case you need to get your ladder out or pay Sky.


I have to set my Sky dish up every time I actually want to watch TV (don't ask why) and I can do it in about 2 mins these days, it's very very simple.

Iwan

My Sky setup went like that after about 2 years. I tried unsuccessfully for 3 weeks to ring the helpline, it was busy non-stop. I finally lost the plot and stopped the direct debit from my bank (i was outside of the minimum contract) and chucked the digibox/dish away.

A couple of weeks later someone called to ask why my direct debit had been cancelled. I told them i cancelled it as i wasn't paying for a satellite service i couldn't watch, and that i'd tried calling them for 3 weeks before cancelling payment.

They were very apologetic, and to get me to sign up again they gave me a new dish/digibox with free installation, and put me back on the same tariff with no new minimum contract.

Dunno why Sky think anyone will pay £65 odd to have their dish/box fixed, when you can get a brand new setup with installation for £1 with the offer on their website?!

BuRR

Their website says you can't get a discounted install if you have already had one in the past.

imlach

1st rule in consumer purchases - NEVER read anything into "restrictions" like that.

Sky are gonna do everything they can to tie you back into a £x/month contract. If installation is free to new customers, it won't be hard at all to get free installation if you have had one in the past. You just have to ask/persist/say you're not interested unless install is free. They'll soon say yes.

Diesel

Well after having a bellyfull of Telewest and the time they made me take off work to grant them access to repeatedly fix things, and due to the general unreliability of their service I am getting SKY+ with another free decoder (Not Sky '+') all fitted for £200. Reckon they'll send astronauts to fix problems with this, and not make me lose valuable work time!

However I'm a bit horrified to find that I seem to be on my own if there are any problems? At least Telewest owned all the kit and it never cost me a penny to have it fixed...

I guess I'm happy to have a go though, & I know you can buy meters to help you realign the dish, which is prob the problem here. Try satcure.co.uk for as meter and then then bolt it down tight!

D

David Lock

Does search work on the old SN?? If so I started a thread on this with similar problem. I checked dish etc which was fine and ended up taking box into local shop you said "yeah they all do that after 3 years" and fixed it for IIRC about £70. Trouble is I can't remember what he did to it. But if you can get a freebie from Sky then save your pennies. David

Rex93

had viewing problems with my sky set up, the picture used to go all `pixely` and most channels would come up with `no signal being received` then lost all channels.

Was told to try changing the cable from the dish to the digibox. It now works fine and for about £5 worth of new cable from my local £ shop and about half hours work, its alot cheaper than the prices the chap from sky was suggesting.

RichardC

I had a similar problem which I thought might be an LNB fault but turned out was a faulty reciever. I could not watch any premium channels, but freeview channels were OK.
I too was told I had to pay the £65 call out, but I told them I would cancel my Direct Debit as i thought that the £45+ that I pay every month warrented a free call out. They agreed and an engineer was with me in 2 days.

RichardC