Any Sky engineers?

[MarkCarroll]

Hi folks, I have a sky plus box which was the second box in a multi room set up at home. I have just moved into a new house which already had a sky dish installed with two feeds. I plugged my box in hoping to use it for freeview for a while but when it boots up it says no satellite signal is being received error 29. When I check in system setting I have a strong signal on input 1 though no signal on input 2 which I believe shouldn't matter.

Now the strange thing is if I swap over the connections I get a feed in line 1 but still not line 2. I have read about box problems though the box was working and am going to verify this today back home.

So far I have tried resetting the lnb. Resetting all other setting then finally a system restore with software upgrade all to no avail.

All I can think of is that the dish is rather old and slightly rusty possibly a fault with that. So I was either going to go an buy a new lnb or a signal finder incase the dish is misaligned though like I say the bars in light grey display a strong signal in input 1. Just would like to keep costs down as much as possible but lost without any tv! So if anybody has any insight on this would be grateful for any advice.

Thanks

[Super Slo Mo]

I don't know a huge amount about satellite downlinks, but here's a few ideas.

The rusty dish shouldn't make a difference. The problem might be one of alignment, but if, as you say, you've got a good signal level this probably isn't the case.

Are you able to turn LNB power on/off? It might be the case that you need power going to both lines. It might simply be the case that the 2nd line isn't connected at the dish, or that the cable is damaged, as a short will cause problems.

It might simply require a new LNB. They're a simple device, simply an oscillator that downconverts the satellite frequencies to the frequencies that your box can receive.

Try disconnecting the second line at your box. If it's shorting, it might be stopping the LNB from powering up. THe other alternative might be to disconnect one cable at the LNB end, if you can reach it safely (it should only be an F-Type screw connector). It might actually be enough to disconnect and re-connect both cables at the LNB.

[MarkCarroll]

Thanks for your reply. I am able to turn lnb power on and of and did try resetting it this way but with no luck.

I have tried with one cable disconnected but again no success. I am unable to access the dish until I get some ladders but will follow your advice and try and remove and refit the connections when possible. It is a fairly old dish that I don't think has been used for a while so may try and replace the lnb at the same time and see what happens. Just unsure if it is possible that these can be faulty or the dish out of alignment or fault connection if the box says it has a strong signal?

[miniman]

Sky will only charge you £60 for a home move - by the time you've bought a new LNB and cable...

[Super Slo Mo]

It could be. Your box might be giving an erroneous reading. The way to tell would be to have someone watch the level reading while you block the signal between the dish and LNB. If it drops off, and then comes back when you get out of the way, the box is ok.

LNB's can go faulty, definitely. However, it might be a cable short that's 'blown' the LNB, so make sure your cables are good before sticking a new one on there. If you are able to do a continuity/short test with a multi-meter, then do.

[Super Slo Mo]

miniman said:

Sky will only charge you £60 for a home move - by the time you've bought a new LNB and cable...

That's pretty cheap actually, almost not worth messing about with it for that.

[Super Slo Mo]

The other thing that's occurred to me, and I might be miles off the mark here, is that the dish might not be pointing at the satellite you need (there are loads up there).

There might be a slim possibility that the previous owner directed it at another 'bird' for some reason, which would be why you can see the signal, but not decode it.

[MarkCarroll]

Thanks again for the advice. Will try that with the lnb when I have some ladders. It seems to be pointing roughly where neighbouring dishes are pointing though as you say may be slightly off.

Phoning Sky isn't an option really as I am not signing up for a new package it is my old multiroom box was just hoping to use it as a freeview box as I don't have a normal aerial.

[MissChief]

FreeSAT box. FREESAT! Free view uses. Standard aerial!

[MarkCarroll]

I wasn't aware of that thank you.

Just also noticed the dish has been put up on a pole with two bracket attaching it to the house. The top bracket I can see is not attached flush with the wall it is maybe 1cm off. Anybody's past experiences back up that this could be enough to cause a problem?

[pete a]

MarkCarroll said:

I wasn't aware of that thank you.

Just also noticed the dish has been put up on a pole with two bracket attaching it to the house. The top bracket I can see is not attached flush with the wall it is maybe 1cm off. Anybody's past experiences back up that this could be enough to cause a problem?

Yes it could be off line.

Call a local satellite engineer to take a look at it for you, not an expensive job to get sorted without any hassle, unless you enjoy pissing about with stuff you know nothing about.

[C&C]

Not sure whether this is any help, but to use the Sky box for freeview, I believe you need a sky freeview viewing card - which I think is available from Sky for a one-off payment of around £25.
Do you have one of these, or any viewing card installed?

I'm no expert on this, but am intending using our old Sky+ box for freeview in another room and when I looked into it, was informed of the above by Sky.

[bennyboydurham]

Might be a daft question but have you tried using the Sky+ box while you have an locked signal on input 1? The box doesn't use input 2 until it needs it, i.e. you record one channel whilst watching another. I know this because a branch fell on my dish, knocking it out of alignment and I spent hours moving the dish about trying to get an elusive fix on input 2, even though input 1 was locked with a strong signal. In the end I gave up and came back in, turned it on and started watching something and shortly after the box started recording something my wife had put in the planner. I didn't understand how the box could record with only one input and when I checked input 2 had come on and was locked. So try watching one thing whilst recording another.

[bobda]

bennyboydurham said:

Might be a daft question but have you tried using the Sky+ box while you have an locked signal on input 1? The box doesn't use input 2 until it needs it, i.e. you record one channel whilst watching another. I know this because a branch fell on my dish, knocking it out of alignment and I spent hours moving the dish about trying to get an elusive fix on input 2, even though input 1 was locked with a strong signal. In the end I gave up and came back in, turned it on and started watching something and shortly after the box started recording something my wife had put in the planner. I didn't understand how the box could record with only one input and when I checked input 2 had come on and was locked. So try watching one thing whilst recording another.

To get around this, put the box in single feed mode - although the OP should have two working feeds as one is showing a signal.

If it shows good signal on input 2 and when swapping the feeds over the signal strength still shows OK on only 2 I would say it's a faulty or locked up box. Try putting it in single feed mode; http://www1.sky.com/HDGuide/pdf/HD_EPG_MICROSITE.p...

[Digger]

How do you reset an lnb? I didn't think they had any switches, or is there a pinhole on them?

[MissChief]

it's done through the box menu. Services, 0, 0-1-select, select again on setup. Turn LNB power supply and 22Khz command to off, press green to save, then put them back on again and press green to save again.