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
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
11pm Christmas Eve, Northumberland
Just got home to find failed recording during the evening and ,no signal, message. I,ve gone through sky diagnostics with no success. On settings, signal, there,s no signal at all from the satellite, input one to two. However, the weather is seriously awful here, total thick cloud cover. Is the weather a likely cause?
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jb3812:44 PM
Keith: Yes, but though on any dish that is set up correctly inclement weather conditions does not usually block out a signal for longer than maybe 5 / 10 minutes or so (absolute max) at a time, unless of course in really bad cases where it might linger, however once things are back to normal carry another signal check as both strength / quality should be no lower than the equivalent of 60%+ (75% ideal) but if the quality is lagging on the strength then no matter what the indications are the dish could do with a trim up, as lagging quality makes reception more vulnerable to the weather conditions referred to.
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E. Mole11:41 PM
signal quality on Input 1 is less than 50%. Gone through diagnostics with no success. What else cal I do
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Wednesday, 26 December 2012
J
jb3812:24 AM
E. Mole: If you are referring to either a Sky or Freesat satellite installation then a 50% strength (or quality) reading is not conducive to reliable reception and can indicate that the dish is slightly out of alignment, this usually always being in the "right or left" horizontal plane, and so this aspect will require to be checked out.
However in cases where the TV can be seen from the dish, then provided that the latter is not located in a precarious position this out of alignment problem can sometimes be rectified by an able bodied viewer giving a slight nudge to either side of the dish whilst observing the results on the boxes signal check screen, preferably having slightly slackened the dishes horizontal clamps before attempting the exercise.
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Thursday, 27 December 2012
S
Steve 722:23 PM
Please help. Sky+ box has stopped working keeps cominsaying no signal error number 29 which is a weather fault apparently. Since problem occured on chchritmas eve whenever I try to turn it on It is saying the wrong date. Exactly one day previous. Can this knock out my viewing and if so how do I sort it. Thanks for assistance.
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J
jb385:06 PM
Steve 72: Excluding the possibility of the box having developed a fault and which can result in the error warning seen, the more likely reason is that either the dish has been moved slightly out of alignment by a sudden strong wind, or that water has entered the "F" connectors on the dishes LNB.
As its a Sky+ box it will have two coax feeds on the rear so try swapping them over, because should it be a water in the plug problem then water is not likely to have affected both connectors and swapping them over "might" bring the signal back, this being because LNB1 input is the one used for normal reception and with LNB2 being mainly for recording.
Before carrying out the above though you should go into the signal test screen and check if any levels are being indicated, if they are then they (both strength and quality) must be no lower that 60% (or equiv of) to produce a reliable picture.
Further advice dependant on findings.
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Steve 7210:11 PM
I have swapped the coax feeds and we have sky back on. Thank you. Only thing is. Input % isapprox 25 % on top and approx 50 % on quality on input 1.
Input 2. 0% on each. Can I rectify this and if so how?
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J
jb3811:47 PM
Steve 72: I thought that might be the case, and which indicates that the "F" connector on the dish end of the coax that is presently connected into the boxes LNB2 input is possibly water logged, and so the "F" connector in question will require to be unscrewed from the LNB and then further unscrewed from the coax, then both the connector and the end of the coax dried out with a tissue.
After this is done smear some Vaseline on the inside of the "F" connector and likewise on the end of the coax then screw the connector back onto the coax, first of all double checking that all strands of the braiding are pulled back over the coax's outer covering, then screw the connector back onto the LNB.
But though before carrying out the above it would be prudent to make sure that it isn't the actual port on the LNB that is faulty, and so after tracing which coax is used to feed each of two inputs on the box (LNB1 and LNB2), remove (on the LNB end) the one used to feed the boxes LNB2 input and just leave it unconnected, then transfer the one used to feed the boxes LNB1 (which you know is working) over to the port you have just removed the LNB 2 feed from.
If after having done this the signal is found to have vanished again then the port is defective, but if it hasn't vanished then that confirms that its the connector at fault, or maybe even the cable!
By the way although the LNB1 input is now working OK the connector on the other end of this input (at the dish end) would possibly benefit from the same treatment as you have given to LNB2's connector, as this might be the reason for the less than perfect signal strength indications.
Hope you can follow these instructions OK! as I have tried to simplify them as much as is possible.
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Friday, 28 December 2012
R
Radical2:17 AM
Hi, hoping you can help!
We first started to get a flickering signal on our 2nd sky+hd box (picture would occasionally be distorted) this stopped for a while, however Xmas eve the box has stopped working all together stating "no signal" error 29. I followed the advice on sky centre - one time this actually worked! However 2 days later and it has gone completely. Stating the same error, I have done all 3 reset methods mentioned above. I have also switched the feeds around as per your advice Steve.
Absolutely puzzled at this as the sky+hd box in the lounge works perfectly?
Any advice would be great
Thanks
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J
jb387:33 AM
Radical: Although a "no signal" warning can be caused by a either a fault on the LNB or the "F" connectors used on with the most common reason being caused by water having crept inside the connector thereby shorting out the signal it can however also be caused by a fault in the box, its internal power supply being the usual reason by a reduced voltage being fed to the tuners, but though as you apparently use two Sky+ HD boxes then the easiest and quickest way by far in pinpointing the source of the problem is by swapping the boxes over for a few days, as that would soon indicate whether its a box or a dish related problem and save you the trouble of needlessly working outdoors checking LNB connections etc.
By the way, if error 29 had not appeared then an intermittent distorted picture could have been HDMI cable related like the connector not being fully seated properly.
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