Sky 1HD and Nat Geo HD

[newgen2005]

I have had my Pace Sky+HD box (2 feeds) for about 2 months and I am having problems with some HD channels. Sometimes these 2 channels breakup and become pixelated as if the signal is weak! the strange thing is that the standard def Sky 1 and all of ther other channels are fine! Though it doesn't do it all the time, usually in the morning or late at night!!

I live in a flat and we have the feed box in our loft, this has recently been upgraded to a bigger one due to us wanting an extra feed in the bedroom for Freesat.

To be honest I did a bit of d.i.y for the second feed, I used the existing coax cable and used a coax to sat connecter and joined a new piece of sat cable to the end of the coax in the loft and connected that to a spare feed on the box. Worked fine got my 2 feeds, can record without any issues. Would the pixelation be something to do with my handy work on the second feed or is the dish getting tired?

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks

[Tivù]

Joins should be avoided where possible as they can not only provide a weak point for interference, but they can also cause unpredictable effects at some frequencies, particularly if the cable sections are not identical in construction.

[Analoguesat]

Could be any one of half a dozen reasons

the dish may have moved slightly
the cables may be damaged
the cables could be full of water
there could be local interference
the joins in the cable could be causing impedance mismatches

etc etc

[newgen2005]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Let’s say my join is causing the issue, wouldn't this effect all channels? why just HD channels?

A neighbour had an issue with the music channel 'the vault' the engineer came out and checked the dish, this was all OK and turned out it was her cordless phone that was causing the pixilation due to interference from the phone!

So it looks like it might be my join then! I do remember having job getting the Sky connecter on the end of the coax as the coax appeared to be thicker so I had to really force it on!! The length of cable between the feed box in the loft and the join should be OK as this was already made up. The joiners and connectors I got from B&Q, maybe I need a connector that is bigger to allow for the coax thickness?

Silly question but is it possible to have connected it to the wrong place on the feed box?

If I take some pictures of my setup, could you guys have a look?


Cheers

[newgen2005]

Here is some pictures, it does look as if the signal is very poor though!!

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1220/64992803.jpg

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/461/43057873.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8039/83439096.jpg

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2268/69531543.jpg

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/2408/11796238.jpg

[nanochickin]

Excuse me while i stop laughing

Whoever installed that switch is breaking every regulation in the book

There is no earth bonding anywhere from what i can see. That system should be switched off until the earthing issue is resolved.

Its also not very neat is it? If i did work like that i would be on the dole now

You will need to run a cable straight from one of the unused outputs with no joins using good quality CT100. You can connect it to any of the feeds numbered 1-12.

By the way the cable you are using is probably one of the main causes

Fit a new run of cable from the switch to the receiver and come back to us. I would also mention to your landlord that the system has to be earthed by law

You want it to look like the one i did earlier in the picture below

Not one of my neatest but at least its got the all important earth bonding



Nano

[newgen2005]

Excuse me while i stop laughing

Whoever installed that switch is breaking every regulation in the book

There is no earth bonding anywhere from what i can see. That system should be switched off until the earthing issue is resolved.

Its also not very neat is it? If i did work like that i would be on the dole now

You will need to run a cable straight from one of the unused outputs with no joins using good quality CT100. You can connect it to any of the feeds numbered 1-12.

By the way the cable you are using is probably one of the main causes

Fit a new run of cable from the switch to the receiver and come back to us. I would also mention to your landlord that the system has to be earthed by law

You want it to look like the one i did earlier in the picture below

Not one of my neatest but at least its got the all important earth bonding



Nano

Oh OK, I will get the earthing checked out. So much for qualified installers!! I only did the join myself as the installers take forever to show up!! I am not an engineer so could you explain about the earthing issue?

[Tivù]

I am not an engineer so could you explain about the earthing issue?

I'm in the process of drafting a mini-tutorial on Earthing and Bonding and why the term "Earth Bonding" is misleading. Owing to other commitments, it'll be a day or three yet!

But you're right: Suffice it to say that anyone installing systems like yours should be competent not only to understand what Earthing and Bonding is and how to implement it, but should actually do it!