Help Required all UK channels have disappeared...

[fla_independent]

Hi – I hope someone can shed some light on what my problem might be.

Set up in Northern France with two satellite dishes feeding into one receiver, in order to receive French channels on Astra 19.2 and British on Astra 28.2. A couple of weeks ago, BBC and ITV channels stopped appearing, something they tend to do when the weather is bad, but this time they didn't come back.

I have fine tuned the satellites with a signal finder, reset the receiver and scanned for channels afresh. I have a full complement of German and other international channels from 28.2, but am completely unable to pick up any from Britain. I have tried manual scans of the transponders specified for BBC, ITV, etc without any success.

The signal strength/quality is shown as very good – 90% and over – and we are certainly comfortably within the footprint for British satellite reception.

I must be missing a trick somewhere – does anybody have any bright ideas?

Many thanks!

 

[Analoguesat]

Sounds like your disecq switching is set wrong - if you are getting German channels on 28E then your receiver is scanning the 19E input!

 

[sonnetpete]

I'd also check your connections and cable for water ingress if you've had problems with rain fade (though maybe you are using a zone 1 dish).

 

[fla_independent]

Thanks for replying so quickly. I have always had a mix of German channels and other stuff, as well as British channels from 28.2, as far as I can tell. The receiver allows you to switch between output from each of the two satellites, and there is a multitude of European channels as well as UK showing up. The LNB setup is showing 19.2 for switch 1 and 28.2 for switch 2.

 

[fla_independent]

I'd also check your connections and cable for water ingress if you've had problems with rain fade (though maybe you are using a zone 1 dish).

Cables and connections all check out okay – tried that before getting into the painful procedure of using the satellite signal finder!

 

[Analoguesat]

Your switch may have failed - its defaulting to port 1.

 

[Analoguesat]

And double check how the receiver is set up - any possibility of toddlers fiddling with remote controls??

 

[fla_independent]

Definitely no toddlers! I wonder about the switch, though – do you think that the receiver would still be saying that it was showing content from the second satellite input, even while actually showing channels from 19.2?

 

[Analoguesat]

Yes - the receiver just uses an internal database of frequencies. It doesnt know its scanning 13E, 19E, 28E or whatever.

It just scans its frequency list assigned to that position.

Now the same set of frequencies are used on various satellite positions so where the database list coincides with an active frequency transmitting using the same parameters it will scan the channels in. As 19E & 28E are both operated by SES it makes things even more likely to scan in as SES use the same frequency plans at each orbital slot.

 

[fla_independent]

Your switch may have failed - its defaulting to port 1.

Thank you! I realised I had a spare switch - just swapped them over, and you are absolutely correct, the switch must have died - I have scanned with the new switch, and now have a full complement of British channels - and a happy hubby!

 

[Lazarus]

You might even be able to restore the old switch by sharply tapping it with the butt of a screwdriver: They contain a simple relay and these are highly prone to sticking.

Then again, I'm a Yorkshireman and jib at the meagre cost of buying a replacement!

 

[Analoguesat]

Thank you! I realised I had a spare switch - just swapped them over, and you are absolutely correct, the switch must have died - I have scanned with the new switch, and now have a full complement of British channels - and a happy hubby!

Great stuff - glad to hear it was a nice simple fix.

Make sure the terminals are adequately waterproofed if the switch is outside or the cables will eventually fill with water

I had a cable joint fail a couple of years ago, and when I disconnected the cable at the lnb I watched in absolute astonishment as a good couple of pints of water dribbled out!

 

[fla_independent]

You might even be able to restore the old switch by sharply tapping it with the butt of a screwdriver: They contain a simple relay and these are highly prone to sticking.

Then again, I'm a Yorkshireman and jib at the meagre cost of buying a replacement!

LOL, always good to get some money-saving tips! I will give it a sharp tap, and see what happens!

 

[fla_independent]

Great stuff - glad to hear it was a nice simple fix.

Make sure the terminals are adequately waterproofed if the switch is outside or the cables will eventually fill with water

I had a cable joint fail a couple of years ago, and when I disconnected the cable at the lnb I watched in absolute astonishment as a good couple of pints of water dribbled out!

Wow! I have the switch tucked up inside a little plastic box to keep it dry; there were a couple of tiny spiders in it when I opened up, but nothing more. That's an impressive amount of water to collect inside the cable! I'll bear it in mind something else to keep watch for...

Many thanks for all your help – much appreciated

 

[hairybadger]

You might even be able to restore the old switch by sharply tapping it with the butt of a screwdriver: They contain a simple relay and these are highly prone to sticking.

Then again, I'm a Yorkshireman and jib at the meagre cost of buying a replacement!

Birmingham/Manchester or standard?

 

[Lazarus]

Birmingham/Manchester or standard?

Lol.

The bigger the Butt, the better .................