Help please - low signal strength on one channel only

[mistapike]

Hi, anoyone who can help advise, really appreciated. I have a standard Sky+ box (about 4 years old) and suddenly, the signal strength has dropped right down on one channel (but not the second channel) although the signal quality on both channels is OK.

All the advice on signal strength problems seems to be around dishes being out of line, or obstructions etc., but I would have thought that this sort of thing would affect both channels ?

Any advice would be really appreciated. (I hope i've posted this in the correct forum)

Thanks
Ian

[Tivù]

Well, which Channel is it?

And how do you know it is confined to one Channel, as a Sky Box only reports Strength and Quality on the Default Transponder 11778 V .......... ?

Edit: I suspect you mean LNB Feed, not Channel!

Swop them over and see if the problem moves to the other Input.

If so, check the security of the connections at the LNB.

If there are spare LNB outputs, try one of those.

[satelliteman]

Fault can also be down to the cable run itself. As said a little fault finding is in order and check the connections as mentioned

[Crisbe]

If you have a Sky+ box then, as Tivu said, you will have two feeds to the box (two cables with screw connections that come down from the dish).
If, as Tivu suspects, what you meant in your post was that one feed that is giving problems and the other feed is okay then it is very unlikely to be a dish alignment problem.
I am assuming you have limited knowledge of satellite systems , so here is an explanation of why he told you to swap the feeds over and see what happens.
The LNB (Low Noise Block: the box on the end of the arm of the dish) has two cables coming out of it for Sky+. This is so that the Sky plus receiver can tune in to two channels at the same time. One to record and another to watch.
Because of this the LNB is in fact two seperate LNBs inside the same case. So each one operates independently of the other. Similarly the Sky+ unit has two tuners. Therefore you can get a fault on one half of the installation which does not affect the other half. If either half develops a fault the way to determine if the fault is with the Sky+ box or with the feeds to it is to swap the connections around as Tivu suggested. If the fault stays the same, one tuner of the Sky+ box may have become faulty. If however the fault moves to the other tuner, then the Sky+ box is okay and the fault is either, as Tivu suggested, a problem with one of the connections on either the downlead that is not working properly or it could be that one half of the LNB is failing. The first and easiest test to do is what Tivu suggested. If the fault does change to the other tuner, then check the connectionsat each end. If all looks okay, swap the leads at the LNB and see if the fault stays on the same downlead or if it moves back to the other one. If the fault moves to the other one then the LNB is suspect.
Hope that helps. Please let us know how you get on.

[fred08]

I'd agree with the information above. Swap the inputs and see if the problem moves.
I have 2 Sky+ boxes that are a few years old now (amstrad 40GB disk) that both started giving the same symptoms. 1 feed failing and eventually both. But if I put the feed into a freesat box or pc they were perfect pointing to the boxes. with the new white card. both started saying no signal on Sky premier and a few others. strange both boxes were giving problems at the same time.
Sky will just want loads for a call out. to check. I brought one off Ebay for £20 as loads available as people upgrade to Sky HD and the box is now fine, signal problems gone. Other is stil giving problems, so might buy another and it will still be cheaper than Sky's single call out charge!