All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
John Whittaker: Pleased that the problem has finally been pinned down to a defective LNB, as other than water ingress in the "F" connector, a defective LNB was the only thing left as being the reason for the problem.
On the subject of the skew setting, by all means have a look at the sites mentioned by MikeP, but you can trim the one you are presently using (or the new replacement) by simply selecting two programmes received from transponders on different polarities, e.g: Pick TV (144) for Vertical / QVC (800) for Horizontal, flicking between both channels, making minor adjustments on each, until you achieve a reasonable balance between them.
You can also use this procedure on a new LNB, although start by setting the skew at about mid point in the range of markings. A little point to note though, don't expect to see large variations in strength / quality of the signal whilst adjusting the skew, as its not near so critical as might be thought.
LNB replacement. If you are using a standard Sky oval shaped mini dish? replacement LNB kits are obtainable for around 10.00 or so from a number of e-bay sources, the undermentioned link being to one source. But though, but have a read at the information given in the blue print section at the bottom of the advert.
GENUINE 4 WAY QUAD LNB FOR SKY+/FREESAT/HD/SKYPLUS LMB | eBay
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Samantha: Never carry out a retune unless a message to this effect has been seen on the screen, as a sudden loss of reception is usually always caused by something other than anything associated with your TV / box, likewise reception will return of its own accord without any action having to be taken, whereas it wont if the box has been retuned, as retuning wipes out everything stored in the tuner, creating the situation whereby reception cannot return without further retunes having to be made in an attempt to recover channels lost.
As your retuning has picked up less channels than previous stored, the only option you have is to carry out further same until they are all recovered.
It would though be of assistance to have knowledge of your location, (post code or one from nearby, e.g: shop / post office) as this would enable the status of the transmitter covering your area to be checked out.
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John Whittaker: Pleased to have been of assistance. Although I do admit to suspecting you as not necessarily being a novice where dishes are concerned, this by the very fact of you having previously carried out a successful repair on your old one.
However, purely out of curiosity, is the dish used on your motor-home of the sat detection LED indicator variety? only asking, as on a recent holiday I noticed that these are quite popular with caravanner's etc.
Finally, on the subject of dish pointer sites, although most likely already aware of this, but I did mean to add to my previous reply, that the snag with these type of sites, good as they are!, is that the skew settings are given in degrees, whereas skew settings on many modern replacement LNBs are marked in numerals of 1 - 5, this being why I mentioned initially setting the skew at mid point.
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Kit : The coverage requested can be seen on the undermentioned link, clicking LSV in the list of multiplex names on the left hand side revealing the coverage area in green, blowing the picture up slightly for more detail
Which Freeview channels does the Sheffield transmitter broadcast?
However, whether or not reception of this channel can be expected in these areas is better served by using DUK's reception predictor, entering a post code in the "coverage checker" box applicable to a household in each of the areas mentioned, remembering to check the box marked "detailed view".
If Sheffield is not seen in the list of transmitters, then its not considered as being the "station" that covers the area, if though it is seen, but L-SFD is not listed on the right hand side of the various multiplexes used by each station, then Sheffield's local multiplex (Mux55) is not expected to be receivable in the area.
Digital UK - Coverage checker
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John Whittaker: Well, although these EasyFind LNB kits certainly do make life easier for those who seemingly struggle every single time they set their dish up, however, people such as yourself, who have managed to get the procedure down to a fine art, obviously manage perfectly OK without the sophistication of Easyfinds auto detection system, plus of course they can choose to use any Freesat receiver (or PVR) they wish, and not one having to be compatible with the EasyFind system.
Returning to the subject of skew settings and the checking of same, and in particular my reference to the channels to use for this purpose, although the two channels mentioned do represent (V) and (H) polarities, as far as my comment on flicking between the channels is concerned, its possibly easier to use 607 & 608, 607 being CBBC (V) and with 608 being C Beebies (H).
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Fromagegrande: Sky boxes in general are amazingly reliable devices, but though boxes of the older variety (should this apply?) can develop problems such as that mentioned due to a fault having developed in their internal power supplies, the symptoms of being exactly as described, i.e: works OK when first switched on, but faults some time later after the internal components (capacitors) have heated up, repeating the mains off, waiting for a short period before switching on again usually curing the problem, albeit for a short time.
Out of interest, what signal strength and quality indications are you getting?, signal levels accessed on older boxes by pressing: Services - 4 - 6, signal indications on newer boxes accessed as below.
(1) : Press "Services" on your Sky remote control, this revealing the main menu with "Options" being highlighted.
(2) : Select the "Settings" menu using the right arrow button and press
select.
(3) : - Use the left / right arrows to scroll to "Signal" and press select, the
grey bars displayed will show you the strength of the signal being
received.
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Duncan Tannahill: Although the undermentioned link to DUK's reception predictor does indicate reception as being possible from Ayrshire's Darvel transmitter albeit under the status of variable, knowledge of the terrain in your area from times past makes me doubt if in real terms you would be able to receive anything from that transmitter.
The other point being, that if anything was received, its most likely to be the same programmes you already receive from the Killearn PSB transmitter, as the three commercial Mux channels you do require from Darvel, i.e: 23 / 26 / 29 only transmits on half the power of the main PSB channels.
If your TV or box has a manual tuning facility? you should carry out a signal test on it to see if any traces of a signal is being received from Darvel, that is even although your aerial is not facing in the stations direction as well as your aerial being mounted on the wrong polarity for Darvel, reception sometimes being possible from reflections in areas such as yours. (purely for test purposes)
The procedure being to enter Mux C22 (Darvels BBC) into the manual tuning facility box but "not" followed by pressing search or scan, as this makes the tuner act like a form of signal meter, likewise will indicate traces of a signal no matter how low it might be.
Coverage Checker - Detailed View
Terrain indications.
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
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mandy: Have you tried disconnecting it from the mains for a few minutes before reconnecting it again? although initialising is generally a term displayed when a problem exists with the hard drive, that is if your box is of the Sky+ variety?
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Michelle Murphy: No, as Virgin media operates on an entirely different system to that used by Sky, insomuch that its broadband based and not via satellite or terrestrial as used by Sky, Freesat or Freeview respectively.
Another point being, that you cannot buy a Virgin media box, as they are rented out along with a subscription, likewise are always Virgin Media's property.
You would be much better going along the Freesat line which is 100% compatible with Sky dish systems, purchasing such as a Freesat HD twin tuner recorder, this device offering similar facilities to that of a Sky+HD box but minus a subscription being required. Or if you are not bothered about recording anything, purchasing a Freesat HD receiver such as a Manhattan HD satellite receiver at just under 50.00, or I believe 44.00 from John Lewis.
Please note though, that satellite recorders (PVR's) require two feeds from the dish, whereas receivers only require one.
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Wednesday 23 December 2015 12:31AM
John Whittaker: Yes, that's by far the best policy, as the 70% quality indication only applies to that particular channel and could well be much lower on others, as satellite transponders are not by any means all received at the same strength, variations in levels even occurring between the two polarities on the same transponder.
As far as not receiving anything on the high band is concerned, water in the "F" connector having knocked out the 22khz high band switching signal is indeed the most common reason for this problem, as although minute traces of water might not (in some cases) be enough to kill off the 13/18 volts, it will where the tone is concerned.