SKY Italia box dead

O

Oriasa

Member
My Satellite Setup
English, living in Madrid, with SKY Italia setup
My Location
Spain
Howdy folks,

Found my way on here after trawling Google for potential fixes to my little problem.

I am English, but currently living and working in Madrid. Getting UK SKY out here is a bit of a mission (need a huge dish which won't really fly in my apartment block), so we settled with SKY Italia instead (my girlfriend is Italian). Most of the channels switch to English audio and the programming is very similar to the UK .... and anything is better than Spanish TV.

Recently we kept getting issues with the signal from the dish on the roof. In the past just unplugging, and re-plugging, the decoder back up will fix the issue for a few weeks. But this time when I unplugged the decoder and plugged it back up again, the box was dead :(. No power (or any other) indicator light .. just dead. I've tried different power cables, different power sockets etc etc, but no dice. It's dead.

I'm not too sure what I can do from here to get my beloved SKY back and avoid having to watch Spanish TV at any costs. Can I just get my hands on any old SKY Italia decoder, stick my SKY Italia viewing card in, and it will work? Does it have to be an Italian box, or can I get a UK one and it will work with the Italian card? Does it need to be the same model decoder as the one that died (an old 2006 model PACE DS250NS). We have all of the channels paid for (with a totally legit SKY Italia card) but we don't have HD or anything like that. We just need a very basic and cheap solution to get back up and running again. I am not too fussed about HD, Storage etc, just a plain old box will do. But any alternative suggestions will be very welcome. Especially ones that are easy to get hold of in Madrid!!

Thanks for any help,
Cheers, James
 
I guess any old Sky Italia box will work but may need re-pairing by Sky Italia to the new receiver. You could try taking the box to your local repair man. Sounds like the power supply went - shouldn't be hard to fix. A couple of new capacitors will probably put it right.
 
Whilst as far as I know Sky Italia digiboxes are not paired with the card so any one can be used, it does need to be a Sky Italia box and not Sky UK. There are however other receivers around which can be used, I'm sure another member will update you on which ones.
 
All the Sky Italia recievers I've seen use an external PSU so thats dead easy to fix if yours is the same. They don't pair cards to recievers either so as long as you get another Sky Italia reciever it's plug n play. A Sky Uk reciever definatley will not work.
 
Rick said:
All the Sky Italia recievers I've seen use an external PSU so thats dead easy to fix if yours is the same.
Click to expand...

Mine doesnt :D
 
Thanks for all the responses so far guys, very useful. I have contacted another Italian guy over here who can lend me his old SKY box to test as he now uses an Openbox setup.

My existing (dead) box doesn't have an external PSU. It's a pretty old, no frills, model from 2006. Just has an older-style 'figure of 8' kettle lead that just goes directly into the back of the box, no PSU/Transformer or anything else on the way in. It's this one - _http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$(KGrHqR,!j!E4rl)ogqSBOLq(v,1Bw~~_35.JPG
 
Analoguesat said:
Mine doesnt :D
Click to expand...

See I KNEW someone was going to say that :D So glad I said all the ones I have seen lol
 
And somehow (I really don't know how, honest) I knew that someone would probably be you :D :D
 
hello, sky uk boxes can not be used for sky italia cards.
they do not pair the cards at all.i see people use one card on 2 boxes in the house.
and it is not connected to the phone.
you sky italia box may have a blowen fuse,unless the power supply buew up and caught on fire it is fixable.
find a tec that repaires receivers and it should not cost too much.
ralph
 
hehe yah, been trawling Ebay a fair amount. Biggest issue is that most specify delivery to Italy only, and when I ask if they would make an exception to sent to Spain, they say no!

So I wanted to make sure there are no easier 'local' options before I start hassling more Ebay sellers about their delivery locations :)

I am also trying to find an electrical shop nearby who could repair it if it's just fuses/capacitors. I could do that myself tbh, but the screws on the back of the unit are some crazy hex things with a 'nipple' in the middle, and god only knows where I find that kind of screwdriver in Spain!!

Cheers, J
 
Oriasa said:
I am also trying to find an electrical shop nearby who could repair it if it's just fuses/capacitors. I could do that myself tbh, but the screws on the back of the unit are some crazy hex things with a 'nipple' in the middle, and god only knows where I find that kind of screwdriver in Spain!!

Cheers, J
Click to expand...

Get someone to grind out an indent on the bottom of an appropriate sized allen key. I had one of the metal bashers at work do one for me for the nuts on a ceiling mounted projector a few years ago.
 
Just looked ta the one I have here, it's a single tuner HD model, just standard security screws.
 
Or just invest in some bit's -http://www.screwfix.com/p/security-bit-set-33pcs/96872]Security Bit Set 33Pcs | Screwfix.com or a set of torqs drivers
 
Ahh yes, those are the little blighters that I need.

I need to trawl some Spanish tool shops to see if I can find one. But then (if needed) I would probably also need fuses/capacitors etc ... nothing is easy over here!

I've given the viewing card to another Italian guy here to see if it works on his 'alternative' and much cheaper setup! But I'd still like to get this thing working again!!

Thanks for all the replies so far :D

Cheers, J
 
hello, these are like the afn box.
you should be able to find a set of hex that will fit it and open up the box.
it could be just a fuse.
how did you get the sky italia box?
if you have relitives in italy order the used box on italia e bay and have it shipped to ntheir address.
then repost it to yours.
that is another way.sometimes postage is free in italy.
or find a repair shop hear you that works on power supplies
ralph
 
I have a couple of sky IT boxes with remote you are welcome to the receiver for the price of the postage.:D:D
 

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Oh WOW! Seriously! That would be amazing! Thanks so much!

I am borrowing a box this evening off someone so that the installation guy can come and verify that the dish/LNB are all ok. I told him that we kept losing signal from the dish before I unplugged the box, and he said to absolutely NOT plug another box in before he's checked the dish, as a dodgy LNB could be what blew it in the first place.

I have to give this receiver back though in a week when the guy I am borrowing it off gets his installation done, so deffo need a reciever :D

I'll drop you a PM in just a moment Chris, and thanks again for the kind offer ... Spanish TV has me at my wits end!

Cheers, James
 
Curses .. apparently I can't use the PM functionality of the board yet as I am a newly registered user.

Are there any board rules about sharing mail addresses? Maybe I can contact you that way?

Thanks, James


 
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