Signal problem re UK tv in South of France - Dec 2013

[JudithP]

I am English and now live in the Toulon area, south of France, since Feb this year, 2013. I have a big 1m satellite dish on my roof and, with a Humax freeview box, have been happily viewing all UK tv plus many other channels as well. Just got home from a month away and last night found that most of the channels have gone, the message says 'the receiver is not receiving a signal or the signal is too weak'. There are no British people that I know of in this area and the local French tv man who installed the dish does not know much about UK tv signals etc. Does anyone out there know what has happened to the signal and perhaps what I can do to solve the problem? I would be very grateful for some answers.

 

[supermagagnosc]

Nothing has changed dramatically in terms of the signal being beamed to SofF, I am in Grasse. So the problem is likely to be local. there were some very strong winds about 3 weeks ago so the dish might have moved. But check all the wiring connections to make sure they are all good. Also turn the mains supply to the Humax off and on again after about 1 min, sometimes the boxes get a bit confused a a reboot can work wonders.

 

[PaulR]

The first thing I would suggest is a rescan for new channels or, even better, a fresh install. If you left you receiver switched off from the mains then it will have missed any changes and this might be confusing it.

BTW, have you checked the obvious such as the dish is still there and hasn't moved in any wind or that someone hasn't accidentally cut the feed cable?.

 

[peapod1]

I am English and now live in the Toulon area, south of France, since Feb this year, 2013. I have a big 1m satellite dish on my roof and, with a Humax freeview box, have been happily viewing all UK tv plus many other channels as well. Just got home from a month away and last night found that most of the channels have gone, the message says 'the receiver is not receiving a signal or the signal is too weak'. There are no British people that I know of in this area and the local French tv man who installed the dish does not know much about UK tv signals etc. Does anyone out there know what has happened to the signal and perhaps what I can do to solve the problem? I would be very grateful for some answers.

How near to Bandol are you? We are here until Friday but then return to UK until mid Jan. At present all UK channels incl Ch 5 are fine on my 1m dish.

 

[PaulR]

At present all UK channels incl Ch 5 are fine on my 1m dish.

Even when it rains?

 

[peapod1]

Even when it rains?

Newly installed Gibertini 100xp - not yet tested in bad weather, and it was 20 deg and sunny today!

 

[JudithP]

Nothing has changed dramatically in terms of the signal being beamed to SofF, I am in Grasse. So the problem is likely to be local. there were some very strong winds about 3 weeks ago so the dish might have moved. But check all the wiring connections to make sure they are all good. Also turn the mains supply to the Humax off and on again after about 1 min, sometimes the boxes get a bit confused a a reboot can work wonders.

Thanks for this advice. I need to check the connections. Waiting for the tv man to come as I have just had a hip replacement operation and cannot move about much yet. Just want to relax and watch telly!! Some of my UK channels are still there, looking a bit dark when I open a channel then they lighten up. Some remaining channels are the +1 version, ie itv+1 or itv2+1, channel 4+1 etc. Very strange.

 

[JudithP]

How near to Bandol are you? We are here until Friday but then return to UK until mid Jan. At present all UK channels incl Ch 5 are fine on my 1m dish.

I am in La Seyne sur Mer, very near Bandol. If your channels are fine then something must have gone wrong which can hopefully be fixed. As I said to another kind person who replied to me, I do need to check the connections - so waiting for the tv man to come as I have just had a hip replacement operation and cannot move about much yet. I really just want to relax and watch english telly!! Some of my channels are still there, a bit dark when I open a channel then they lighten up. Some remaining channels are the +1 version, ie itv+1 or itv2+1, channel 4+1 etc. Very strange.

 

[JudithP]

The first thing I would suggest is a rescan for new channels or, even better, a fresh install. If you left you receiver switched off from the mains then it will have missed any changes and this might be confusing it.

BTW, have you checked the obvious such as the dish is still there and hasn't moved in any wind or that someone hasn't accidentally cut the feed cable?.

Thank you so much for replying. And other replies too. As I mentioned in my email to you I need to work out how to do these reinstallations - afraid of wiping all my series recordings. I am just glad that the satellite is still up there as I was warned that the UK were going to cut us off in France!! So I must be able to reconnect unless it has moved. Sorry I am not very technical.

 

[PaulR]

...I need to work out how to do these reinstallations - afraid of wiping all my series recordings.

I think you have the Humax Foxsat HDR then, same as I do. Doing a fresh install does not affect any existing recordings. It will cancel all your schedules though so you will have to input those again.

 

[supermagagnosc]

If you have some channels and they "lighten up" then it suggests the problem is more to do with the box. The suggestion of a fresh install is probably the route to follow to start with.

 

[supermagagnosc]

Even when it rains?

I too have a 1m dish, all be it rather ancient, installed for the 1N panic many years ago. With current signal strength from 2F I have no problems when it rains at a rate of 5mm/hr - rate according to my weather station. What I have also found make a difference is wiping the face of the LNB to remove water droplets, about 5% inc in signal quality. So a small rain cover to minimise chance of droplets on LNB face could be useful. Now in spring/ early summer 1m was not enough for 2F in clear weather

 

[JudithP]

I too have a 1m dish, all be it rather ancient, installed for the 1N panic many years ago. With current signal strength from 2F I have no problems when it rains at a rate of 5mm/hr - rate according to my weather station. What I have also found make a difference is wiping the face of the LNB to remove water droplets, about 5% inc in signal quality. So a small rain cover to minimise chance of droplets on LNB face could be useful. Now in spring/ early summer 1m was not enough for 2F in clear weather

Thank you for your kind advice, although my dish is high up on my roof so wiping it is not possible for me. You refer to 2F, what is this?

 

[JudithP]

If you have some channels and they "lighten up" then it suggests the problem is more to do with the box. The suggestion of a fresh install is probably the route to follow to start with.

Thanks for your response. I await the local tv man - he is young and highly technical so I am hoping he will be able to use all the advice I have received from this forum and get the problem sorted. I will also contact Humax customer service to ask them about the lightening problem.

 

[JudithP]

I think you have the Humax Foxsat HDR then, same as I do. Doing a fresh install does not affect any existing recordings. It will cancel all your schedules though so you will have to input those again.

Thanks again PaulR. I will try this. The tv man is coming tomorrow so he can help me too.

 

[peapod1]

Thank you for your kind advice, although my dish is high up on my roof so wiping it is not possible for me. You refer to 2F, what is this?

2F is one of several satellites co-located at 28.2 east which is where your UK tv channels come from. Ch 5 comes from 2F so your man needs to peak the signal for this channel.

 

[JudithP]

2F is one of several satellites co-located at 28.2 east which is where your UK tv channels come from. Ch 5 comes from 2F so your man needs to peak the signal for this channel.

Thanks peapod1! As you are so near to me in Bandol, do you have a tv man to recommend in case mine cannot fix problem?

 

[peapod1]

Thanks peapod1! As you are so near to me in Bandol, do you have a tv man to recommend in case mine cannot fix problem?

There's Cotti in Bandol and Chanel in Six Fours, but I have no first hand knowledge of their skills. Has your man resolved the issue? Otherwise it's Pages Jaunes. Let's hope we don't have to face it all again when 2E goes into service in the coming weeks.

 

[JudithP]

I am English and now live in the Toulon area, south of France, since Feb this year, 2013. I have a big 1m satellite dish on my roof and, with a Humax freeview box, have been happily viewing all UK tv plus many other channels as well. Just got home from a month away and last night found that most of the channels have gone, the message says 'the receiver is not receiving a signal or the signal is too weak'. There are no British people that I know of in this area and the local French tv man who installed the dish does not know much about UK tv signals etc. Does anyone out there know what has happened to the signal and perhaps what I can do to solve the problem? I would be very grateful for some answers.

Not sure how to use this forum to update my own page, but need to let all people who have replied to my original post that my tv signal has returned and all channels are back. I did nothing and have cancelled the visit from tv man, although one evening last week the signal faded again for some channels but came back again. Just hoping it will stay ok. Thanks for all your kind replies so far.

 

[PaulR]

Your post at the end of the thread is absolutely fine Judith. We don't encourage editing original posts as this tends to make following the whole thread difficult.

Strange about your signal coming back of its accord. Hope it stays that way for you but experience is that an intermittant fault will reoccur, And usually at the most inconvenient time!