No Signal Quality

Bunggle

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Help!

I am living in south west France and am getting extremely frustrated with my sky system! I had the dish set up in my second bedroom until about 3 months ago and all was well. However, I had to take it down for the last few months as I had someone move into the room. Now they've gone and I'm tryng to set it back up again.

Before I took the dish down, I made marks of where it was. Now putting it back, I can get an almost maximum signal strength, but zero quality. The connections are good and I've tried rotating the dish, as well as changing the elevation, but I still get nothing!

Can anyone help me please?
 

PaulR

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It might be an idea to check the digibox on another known, working setup if possible. Similarly check your dish setup with a known working digibox. If not a digibox then almost any digital receiver will do to get teh FTA channels.

If the box has been disconnected for a few months then the box and/or card might have missed some over-the-air upgrades/authorisations.

First thing to do is update the box. A bit difficult if you have moved your dish to the wrong position but asuming the dish is correct (and it HAS to be working correctly) then unplug the box from the mains, wait a few moments and then press the backup button on the box (NOT the remote). Whilst keeping the button pressed reinsert the mains and wait until a load of LEDs on the front of the box light up, about a minute normally.

Do not unplug the box while the updating is going on as you could seriously damage some of the EEPROMs. The process is over when the LEDs go off - you can keep track on the TV through a scart (peritel) lead.

Now check if the box can get the FTA channels.

Then it's time for the card. This can be simple as all you have to do is leave it in the box for a day or so. After that it should be OK.

PaulR
 

Bunggle

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Thanks for the help Paul.

Now I've just got to get someone to loan me their box. I'm sure the offer of a free beer should do the trick!
 

rolfw

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Sounds to me like you are om Astra 19.2, does it give a network ID of 0001?
 

indios_se

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Bunggle said:
Thanks for the help Paul.

Now I've just got to get someone to loan me their box. I'm sure the offer of a free beer should do the trick!

sounds like lnb failure, are the numbers on 0000 ?
 

Bunggle

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indios_se said:
sounds like lnb failure, are the numbers on 0000 ?
Yes they are but I've tried 4 lnbs all with the same result!

Rolfw, can't be on Astra 19.2 as I ahve Germans living below me and their dish is pointing in a different direction.
 

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you'll need to unplug the box each time before retrying. you have 3 options remaining your ability to not tune a satellite in, the cable or connectors (likely) or box failure (likely).
 

Bunggle

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indios_se said:
you'll need to unplug the box each time before retrying. you have 3 options remaining your ability to not tune a satellite in, the cable or connectors (likely) or box failure (likely).
ok, thanks for yuor help. I've unplugged the box each time before changing lnbs, but I haven't tried a new cable or different box yet.
 

rolfw

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Bunggle said:
Yes they are but I've tried 4 lnbs all with the same result!

Rolfw, can't be on Astra 19.2 as I ahve Germans living below me and their dish is pointing in a different direction.

How much of a different direction?

There are a couple of other stellites which will give you a signal on the default transponder frequency, Turksat at 42E is one of them.


What make and model is the box?
 

Bunggle

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rolfw said:
How much of a different direction?
It looks like (before I started playing) that it is about 10° out, which seems about right? I've tried rotating the dish over probably around 45-50°

rolfw said:
What make and model is the box?
I'm not sure of the model (I'm at work right now), but it is a Pace box and it's about 3 years old.
 

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Hmmm, another PACE ZIF tuner gone bad?... I should start a business! ;)
 

Bunggle

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BGonaSTICK said:
Hmmm, another PACE ZIF tuner gone bad?... I should start a business! ;)
I'm beginning to get the impression that Pace boxes die a lot...? They just randomly go, or is there a known cause?

Gonna try and borrow an Amstrad box from someone to test my set up, but in the eventuality that my box is knackered, is it repairable, or if not, does anyone recommend a make / model to replace it?
 

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Yeah, so am I. Mine went a few months ago, so I replaced it with a Panasonic DSB-31 (around £45 - £50 on eBay). My ZIF tuner is sitting on the desk in front of me. It turns out that you can have them repaired on an exchange basis at www.mces.co.uk for about £12.50 + VAT, or a new one for about £16 + VAT if you do the work yourself. Have a look at my post in the Workbench and Soldering Station section for more info.

Definitely try your setup with a different box though.

It appears that the Pace tuners of that genre have an inherent weakness.

STICK
 

Bunggle

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BGonaSTICK said:
Yeah, so am I. Mine went a few months ago, so I replaced it with a Panasonic DSB-31 (around £45 - £50 on eBay). My ZIF tuner is sitting on the desk in front of me. It turns out that you can have them repaired on an exchange basis at www.mces.co.uk for about £12.50 + VAT, or a new one for about £16 + VAT if you do the work yourself. Have a look at my post in the Workbench and Soldering Station section for more info.

Definitely try your setup with a different box though.

It appears that the Pace tuners of that genre have an inherent weakness.

STICK

Thanks! I'll try a different box or mces could be hearing from me!
 

Bunggle

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Hi all. Just wanted to say thanks for all the help. Borrowed a box from a colleague today. Plugged it in and as soon I turned on the tv there was the lovely channel 998 message and music. Seems my Pace is going off to the menders!

Cheers for all the advice!
 
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