Sky Dish Repair

[...Mole...]

came back home tonight to find my sky dish has been smashed with something. Its slightly bashed on the side and the receiver has been smashed off and is unusable.
Any one had experience with fixing something like this as i dont really fancy a big repair bill from Sky.
reckon it was our upstairs neighbours as there has been an ongoing dispute with their overflow leaking and causing damp and mould in our house

[dickymint]

...Mole... said:

Any one had experience with fixing something like this as i dont really fancy a big repair bill from Sky

????????

Just buy a new dish for about 40 quid.

[Mello]

You'll need a meter to make sure it's pointing in the right direction too. A few quid on eBay... Doddle to do.

[dickymint]

Mello said:

You'll need a meter to make sure it's pointing in the right direction too. A few quid on eBay... Doddle to do.

Or just mark the direction of the existing dish/LNB using something like a knitting needle mounted in a ball of plasticine - then replace the dish.

[spikeyhead]

I'm quite capable of fixing whatever is wrong with it.

My minimum charge is £1480. Can I suggest using ebay or sky, depending on how much hassle you want.

[Plotloss]

dickymint said:

Mello said:

You'll need a meter to make sure it's pointing in the right direction too. A few quid on eBay... Doddle to do.

Or just mark the direction of the existing dish/LNB using something like a knitting needle mounted in a ball of plasticine - then replace the dish.

Or maybe even use a mobile phone, a friend and the signal strength meter on the skybox.

[...Mole...]

ah seems easy then,

im a bit clueless when it comes to DIY but i will give it a bash.

[MonkeyHanger]

...Mole... said:

Any one had experience with fixing something like this as i dont really fancy a big repair bill from Sky.

It's a doddle of a job, but if you don't fancy tackling it yourself just find a local Independant installer.

30 minutes at most to swap the dish and re-align it assuming it's easily accessible. You can pick up a dish & LNB for less than £30 so don't let anyone have your eyes out

[mr_fibuli]

This is handy, shows you the angle it needs to be relative to your house on google maps: http://www.uksatellitehelp.co.uk/2007/08/12/satell...

I used that, a spirit level and a big protractor thingy and got a good strong signal.

[Parrot of Doom]

...Mole... said:

reckon it was our upstairs neighbours as there has been an ongoing dispute with their overflow leaking and causing damp and mould in our house

Expanding foam is great at blocking water pipes.

[Disco_Dale]

I'd ring sky and say "someone/something has broke my dish, you gonna fix it or should I just cut my losses and go with virgin?"
New sky dish, job done.
Any quibbles from the sales drone and a simple "could you just put me through to cancellations please" should do it.

[eldudereno]

mr_fibuli said:

This is handy, shows you the angle it needs to be relative to your house on google maps: http://www.uksatellitehelp.co.uk/2007/08/12/satell...

I used that, a spirit level and a big protractor thingy and got a good strong signal.

Excellent find.

I've set up a few dishes in my time, it's very easy to do. Have a look at your neighbours dishes to help with the alignment. Apart from the dish alignment you might also need to rotate the lnb very slightly to get the best picture (skew adjustment).

[Gylen]

Agreed. Mine got damaged by some bad weather last year and the conversation went like this:

Me: Hello, I hope you can help, my Sky dish seems to be broken

Sky: Well, you're on the third floor so it will be £60 (or something) for the heights team and £50 (or something for new equipment as your warranty has expired.

Me: So I have to pay you £110 (or something) to continue using a service that I'm already paying you £40 pcm for?

Sky: Well, I suppose so but your dish is broken so it seems silly to not pay

Me: No, I don't think so, I've paid you enough

Sky: What?

Me: I don't think I want to pay anymore so could you please put me onto your cancellations department?

Sky: Hold please....Ok, we'll fix it for nothing and you can have a tenner off your bill (or an extra package or something)

Done. Tossers. Thing was, I was actually quite happy to leave so maybe a bluff that could blow up in your face. I was having a bit of a 'Falling Down' day and that was the final straw.

[Disco_Dale]

Gylen said:

Done. Tossers. Thing was, I was actually quite happy to leave so maybe a bluff that could blow up in your face. I was having a bit of a 'Falling Down' day and that was the final straw.

It won't. Trust me, they'll give you the moon on a stick before seeing you defect to beardy boy. A simple broken dish is not a problem.

[Jon C]

Disco_Dale said:

It won't. Trust me, they'll give you the moon on a stick before seeing you defect to beardy boy. A simple broken dish is not a problem.

You are the Curious Orange, AICMFP