What can I do when my Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fau
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV How to Reset a Sky Digibox when 'No Signal' appears.
Reset method 1 - Delete and Rescan
- Turn the power off at the mains socket. Either do this by pulling the plug from the socket, or using a power switch if there is one.
- Remove the viewing card from the machine. Using a dry cloth or kitchen roll, clean the gold connector on the reverse of the card. Do not use any cleaning products.
- Check cables and connectors are in good order.
- Wait for at least 30 seconds.
- With the card still out of the machine, plug the Digibox back into the mains.
- Ignore all the messages, and wait for around a minute.
- Try 101 for BBC One, 102 for BBC Two and 103 for ITV-1.
- Insert viewing card, wait a few seconds.
- Check 104 for Channel 4 and 105 for five.
Reset Method 2 - Reset the LNB
If the above method does not work, the LNB may have a fault.- Press the [SERVICES] button and then press [4] [0] [1] then [SELECT]
On Sky HD, press the [SERVICES] button and then press [0] [0] [1] then [SELECT]
Press the buttons in the sequence above exactly - do not atttempt to use [UP] or [DOWN]. Note that when you press the second 0 and 1 nothing happens on the screen until you press the final [SELECT]. This is a "hidden menu".
- Then press [1] to go to the RF output menu.
- Press [DOWN] three times to highlight the line 22Khz Command and then press [RIGHT] to change the value to [OFF].
- Press [DOWN] and [SELECT] to select Save New Settings.
- Press [SKY].
- Again press [SERVICES], [4], [0], [1], [SELECT]; then [1] again for the LNB Menu. (SERVICES 0 0 1 SELECT for Sky HD).
- Now press the [RED] button (reset all settings), then [DOWN] until you can select Save New Settings again.
- Press [SKY].
Reset Method 3 - Upgrade the system software
If there are still problems:- Turn the Digibox off at the mains again and remove the viewing card.
- Whilst holding down the BACKUP key on the Digibox - NOT ON THE REMOTE - turn the mains power on.
- Keep hold of BACKUP until the screen displays a "UPGRADING SYSTEM SOFTWARE" message – this will be white text on a black screen. On some boxes this can appear as a half screen.
- Wait 10 to 20 minutes for the software to download and install. The box will restart when the process is complete.
- Ignore all the messages, and wait for around a minute.
- Try 101 for BBC One, 102 for BBC Two and 103 for ITV-1.
- Insert viewing card, wait a few seconds.
- Check 104 for Channel 4 and 105 for five.
All questions
In this section
Sunday, 18 August 2013
J
jb3811:26 PM
sugarpops: What exactly is meant by changing the pin to the dish to a 4 way plug? because if anyone already uses a Sky box and a Sky+ box is added into the system then what's known as a quad LNB has to be used on the dish, as the Sky+ box requires two "individual" inputs from the dish and with the standard box requiring one, this leaving one as a spare.
By the way the aerial referred to does not come into the equation, as an aerial is exclusively used for the reception of Freeview.
| link to this comment |
J
jb3811:54 PM
Chris b: If the fault is transferred to input 1 by swapping the two inputs over then this is a positive indication that a fault exists in what was the LNB2's input feed, the fault being caused by either the cabling or by the actual port on the LNB having failed.
This can easily be checked by swapping the two input feeds back over again and once again witnessing signal strength & quality on input one but with zero input on No 2, once confirmed proceed to the dish end and swap the two cables over that are connected into the LNB, if this results in the boxes LNB1 input now indicating zero then the LNB is faulty.
If you have a quad block then use one of the spare inputs, although these blocks can be obtained as a kit on places like e-bay for as little as around £10.00 or so.
| link to this comment |
Monday, 19 August 2013
C
Chris b12:09 AM
Jb38: Thank you for the quick response! I can confirm that the signal strength returned to normal on input 1 after swapping them back to the 'normal' position.
The strange thing is, I've replaced the LNB today as I suspected it to be the LNB (the old one was fitted to the house before I moved in and had a taped up bracket). Unfortunately the signal problem was still there after I installed the new LNB this afternoon.
So I moved onto the next plan and ran new cable temporarily from the dish to the box through the kitchen door. I checked the F-connectors too as the cable came pre-wired and they were fine but the signal problem remained.
So kind of at a loss now and wondering if it is in fact the PSU in the Thomson box. Thinking I might check the capacitors tomorrow when I come in from work and see what condition they're in!
| link to this comment |
J
jb388:34 AM
Chris b: If the situation was reversed by swapping the two input feeds over whereby input 2 started working again and input 1 indicated zero then your box can reasonably safely be taken out of the equation, however slight differences can exist between tuners as far as sensitivity is concerned and if your LNB is not correctly positioned in its holder then this can unbalance to the output levels between the ports.
However, although its a bit time consuming a positive way to pinpoint the cause of the problem is to concentrate testing your boxes LNB inputs as well as the LNB's output ports but by using only "one coax feed at a time", the second coax left unconnected at both ends to avoid any possible confusion.
Connect the coax into the boxes LNB1 input and if no signal is indicated then "at the dish end" connect the other coax into the LNB which should restore the signal, if it does then note the strength / quality being indicated then change the boxes connector over to its LNB2 input and ensure that the signal bar indicates around the same strength as when connected into its LNB1 input, albeit that in this instance only a signal level will be displayed and not a picture, if the signal level is OK then whilst on the signal check screen go back to the dish and change the coax over to the LNB's other port followed by rechecking the signal readings, this test verifying the both ports on the LNB are working OK.
Finally if all indicates OK then try the same test again using the other coax feed, leaving the one just tested unconnected at both ends.
| link to this comment |
C
Chris b10:15 PM
jb38: Thank you for the advice! I gave that a bash and have traced it to the cable used for input 2. No signal coming down it at all.
At first looks I thought it may have just been a corroded coax but having stripped both ends back and put new F-connectors on it still isn't working. So tomorrow's job will be to run a new cable to the box, luckily enough I have new cable already which I tested out temporarily through the kitchen and that got both inputs working.
Cheers for the help and glad to have sourced the problem and an easy enough fix too!
| link to this comment |
J
jb3811:55 PM
Chris b: Pleased to see that you have pinpointed the problem, as its always more difficult to determine the exact cause of a problem on twin tuner devices due to the fact of having doubles of all three components involved, and being: twin tuners / twin coax feeds / and twin LNB ports, as it involves constantly moving "to and fro" from the dish when carrying out any tests.
| link to this comment |
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Chris b
The cable isnt going under a carpet by any chance
A pin from a carpet gripper going through one of tge cables will short ut out
Not uncommon to find this
| link to this comment |
C
Chris b9:27 PM
kb aerials: it wasn't underneath the carpet, it ran round the outside of the house. Found a few nicks in it so not surprising it was giving problems.
jb38: new issue which is a strange one, ran the new cables today and now receiving full signal and quality for both inputs, success! But not quite sorted yet, as soon as I switch to the likes of "the box", "sky news", "QVC", I get error 28 no satellite signal and when I check the signal input screen, input 1 has disappeared. As soon as I go back to BBC 1 etc, the signal returns. I've tried switching the feeds to make sure that it's not just a bad connection and the same problem happens.
| link to this comment |
J
jb3811:56 PM
Chris b: As all channels mentioned operate on what is known as the high band then this can indicate one of three things.
(1) your LNB requires resetting, or alternatively that its failing to respond to the 22Khz band switching signal sent from the box.
(2) The boxes 22Khz high band output signal is defective.
(3) The boxes power supply capacitors have lost their capacity through age / heat.
The undermentioned procedure covers both types of menu systems used, choose whatever is appropriate.
LNB checking - reset on a Sky HD box
1:- Press services on your Sky remote control and you will see the main menu with "Options" highlighted.
2:- Highlight the "Settings" menu using the right arrow button and press select.
3:- Press "0 - 1 - Select" to access the Installer setup menu (this menu is not listed on the Settings menu options).
4:- Press Select to see the Setup menu displayed with Hi and Lo band frequencies indicated.
The correct LNB values should read:
LNB Type: Standard
1:- Low Band LO Frequency: 9.75
2:- High Band LO Frequency:10.60
3:- LNB Power Supply: ON
4:- 22 KHz Command: ON
5:- Single feed mode normally off.
Press the red button to reset them to default values even although they may already be indicating them.
If the aforementioned menu is not applicable then use this one.
Press Sky followed by Services.
2:- Highlight System Setup (4) and press select.
3:- Press 0 then 1 then select.
4:- Press select again to access the LNB setup screen.
5:- Press the red button to re-set the default settings.
6:- Using the up/down arrows, highlight Save New Settings and press select.
7:- Press select to confirm that the settings have been reset.
Further info dependant on results.
| link to this comment |
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
C
Chris b12:15 AM
jb38: thanks for the quick and detailed response! I did an LNB reset earlier this evening and tried switching LNB power & 22Khz off and then back on and this didn't fix it.
I also did a planner rebuild and forced update just on the off chance but again no joy.
It might be worth checking the capacitors for signs of bulging/leaking at this stage or am I jumping the gun a bit?
| link to this comment |
Select more comments
Your comment please