Help Required Skybox F5 No Signal Issue

sean gallagher

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Hi, I hope someone can help. I have a "no signal" issue with my Skybox setup. I have searched the internet and see this is a common issue. So I bought a connecting cable off Ebay that is supposed to fix this by adjusting the voltage output to the LNB. I connected this "no signal" fix cable, but am still having the same problem.

To give you a clearer understanding of my issue: I have 1 quad LNB with 3 Skybox F5s connected to it. When I have only 2 boxes switched on, all works well, I receive all Horizontal and Vertical channels. When I switch on all 3 boxes, one of the boxes freezes on the channel it is showing. When I try changing channels on that box, ALL of the Vertical channels show no signal. Horizontal channels are fine.

If I switch off one of the other 2 boxes (it's only 1 of the 2 that affects this), the picture returns to the unit that was showing "no signal" and all Vertical channels can be viewed. It appears that the quad LNB seems to have a "paired" set up, not an independent setup?? I can run 2 boxes but not 3. My guess is that if I had 4 boxes connected to the quad LNB, I would still only have 2 boxes that would work. Perhaps I am wrong but all boxes work fine independently or with 2 on, until I try having more than 2 switched on each time.

Do you have any idea what may be causing this? I bought the cable fix hoping this would resolve the issue, as has been described on other forums. If my LNB is goosed, then I'll buy a new one. But it's pointless doing that if my LNB is fine. At this moment, I haven't a clue what the issue is. Any help would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks.
 

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Well there are a great many Skybox F3 and F5 users here on the Forum and we've never heard of the need for a "fix" like you described.

The problem actually sounds like a faulty LNB.

Never heard of any true Quad that does not have four totally independent outputs.

What make of Quad LNB is it?

You haven't got a Quattro instead?
 

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sure the LNB isn't a quattro?
 

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ !!!!!!!! :-lol
 

sean gallagher

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Well there are a great many Skybox F3 and F5 users here on the Forum and we've never heard of the need for a "fix" like you described.

The problem actually sounds like a faulty LNB.
The issue and fix is commonly discussed on satellite forums. There are a number of people selling the "cable fix" on ebay. Apparently, these Skyboxes output a higher voltage to the LNB than some LNBs are designed to handle (13 volts for Vertical & 18 Volts for Horizontal). This can apparently cause an issue with some quad LNBs, preventing them from switching between Horizontal and Vertical. See item number 111211956021 on Ebay as an example. That's why I say, if the LNB is goosed, fine, I can buy a new one for £5,00. But if it isn't, I will be no further forward in resolving this.
 

sean gallagher

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No, it is a Sky Quad MK4 LNB
 

Lazarus

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Yes, I've found reference to it elsewhere now - but as I say we have a thriving Skybox following here and it's never come up before.

If it were me, I'd try a different LNB, but then most of us tend to have spares to hand anyway.

It must be significant that the "fix" doesn't work, when the eBay Feedback for the item you mentioned suggests that it generally does.
 

sean gallagher

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Well there are a great many Skybox F3 and F5 users here on the Forum and we've never heard of the need for a "fix" like you described.

The problem actually sounds like a faulty LNB.

Never heard of any true Quad that does not have four totally independent outputs.

What make of Quad LNB is it?

You haven't got a Quattro instead?
I'm not sure I made myself clear in the previous post, so to confirm - I have a quad MK4 LNB. It has 4 inputs for each coax cable/satellite box. I am only using 3 of those for quad inputs. If I disconnect one cable from a port and move it to teh spare port, the problem just transfers to a different box. So it doesn't matter what combination of ports I connect to, the issue will be there, just on a different box.
 

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No, it was clear enough, thankyou.
 

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I've used two different quads with by Openbox S10 without any problems - an Inverto Multiconnect and an Inverto Black Ultra. My solo2 has an "increased voltage" option but my Openbox doesn't. I wonder if the Skyboxes have a similar option and it's been inadvertently selected.
 

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sorry.... skim-read your message and missed the quattro bit :)


Well it isn't a Quattro anyway, it seems.

Any thoughts?

I have a Mk 4 Quad myself (as well as Black Ultra and a couple of other generics) hooked up to my own Skyboxes and haven't ever come across the symptoms described.



Edit: Mea culpa - you already done it! "Fifteen all. Your service"


The Skyboxes only have LNB Power On/Off.
 

sean gallagher

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Well it isn't a Quattro anyway, it seems.

Any thoughts?

I have a Mk 4 Quad myself (as well as Black Ultra and a couple of other generics) hooked up to my own Skyboxes and haven't ever come across the symptoms described.



Edit: Mea culpa - you already done it! "Fifteen all. Your service"


The Skyboxes only have LNB Power On/Off.
I have messaged the supplier of this cable fix to see if he has any ideas, or if he has had any similar feedback. He hasn't come back to me yet and no guarantee he will. The fix seems to work for everyone else on other forums, I haven't come across anyone saying it won't work. I can add that I have checked each input on my quad LNB, with only one satellite box connected. The LNB works on all inputs. But connecting to more than 2 inputs creates this issue. Hopefully the seller will respond with some ideas.
 

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Ok, that's great. If there is an answer other than "faulty LNB" we'd be grateful to know in the event it crops up again.

Can I just confirm, from your own comments and from what the description and feedback on eBay suggest, that it's only Sky Quads that exhibit the incompatibility?

If so, fitting a non-Sky Quad might be cheaper, easier and wholly effective. Just a thought.

(I know there is a feedhorn shape mismatch, but it really shouldn't matter with current EIRP levels: I have an Inverto Twin on a Zone 1 dish, fitted using an inexpensive Triax Adapter, also from eBay).
 

sean gallagher

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I am not certain to be frank. I know it affects many of these Quad MK4 units, whether it affects all of them I do not know. From what I have read on other forums, it is purely a voltage issue. The MK4 units cannot handle more than 2 inputs supplied by some boxes such as Skybox, Openbox and a few others because the voltage is too high. The high voltage inhibits the LNBs ability to switch from H to V. So you get all the H pollar channels but V channels just come up as No Signal.
 

sean gallagher

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You're not going to believe this one. After racking my brain for hours on this, I decided to move the satellite receivers around again. Rather than just move the boxes this time, I decided to move the power supplies as well to eliminate any issues there. Lo and behold!! During a very recent room make-over, my wife had connected the Skybox in our room using the power adapter for my portable hard drive, not the adapter for the Skybox. An easy mistake, as the end plugs are the same. The voltage or power output was insufficient to drive the LNB completely. When I connect the correct adapter now, all works fine, even when all 3 Skyboxes are on simultaneously.

So, this was indeed a power or voltage issue, just not one I had never anticipated. :-bighappy
 

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Excellent! And you've got someone to blame ........................ :-rofl2
 

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Some years ago I was working at a university in London. I was trying to connect an old Sun box (SparcStation 2, maybe) to the network. The lights were coming on on the network card but I couldn't connect. Eventually I ran a packet sniffer and noticed that I couldn't see any activity at all. Finally (after a few hours of fiddling about) I realised that the cable I was using had an RJ11 connector at one end and an RJ45 at the other. The pins were making enough of a contact to turn on the lights, but not enough to pass any traffic at all. Had the lights not been on I would have assumed a bad cable much sooner :)
 

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Some years ago I was working at a university in London. I was trying to connect an old Sun box (SparcStation 2, maybe) to the network. The lights were coming on on the network card but I couldn't connect. Eventually I ran a packet sniffer and noticed that I couldn't see any activity at all. Finally (after a few hours of fiddling about) I realised that the cable I was using had an RJ11 connector at one end and an RJ45 at the other. The pins were making enough of a contact to turn on the lights, but not enough to pass any traffic at all. Had the lights not been on I would have assumed a bad cable much sooner :)
Aargh! I've just (about 15 years later...) done it to myself again :( I've been trying to set up an IP camera with my home security system. It needs plugging into a free ethernet port on the router. I've been fighting with it for the past day trying to get the system to see the camera. The problem? My router has 6 RJ-45 ports - 4 are ethernet, one is fibre and one is for the telephone. The fibre one, naturally, was free since it'll be a cold day in hell before fibre is available in this neck of the woods, and lo and behold this is the port I'd chosen to plug in the camera. The requisite lights came on both on the router and the camera to fool me into thinking the connection was valid, but of course nothing worked.....
 
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