Strong signal but less channels!

P

philh

Knowledge is power.
My Satellite Setup
Amstrad Digibox and zone 2 dish.

Technomate 1500ci+, 90cm motorised dish on a very thick pole!
My Location
Leeds
A friend of mine has a sky+ box, probably about 9 months old, along with standard 60cm dish. He has approx 50% signal quality and strength but gets all channels without any problem.

I, however, have an 80cm dish and have 80% signal quality and 90% strength, yet cannot get channels such as Bad Movies (not that I would watch it, it`s just an example!), just a 'no satellite signal can be received' message. I wanted to watch Raj TV last night for the Thai Boxing but the picture was so blocky and jittery it was unwatchable.

I can get on the roof and get the quality up to 90% which I have done before. This alleviates the problem and channels are again received, including the Czech Eurobird ones. I do not like heights though and the first strong wind that comes along will blow it off again so am not going to do that just yet.

I have an old (at least 6 years) Panasonic digibox, could this be the reason for the problem?

All the usual channels e.g. Sky Sports are fine, it just seems to be these minority ones which my friend has complete access to.

Any help will be gratefully received.

Regards

Phil
 
Unfortunately, there's a known problem on Panasonic digiboxes, see threads on this in next section down (B Sky B General).
 
Thanks for the help.
 
Hi, me again!

Ive got hold of a Panasonic TU-DSB31 and have just started using this tonight in case it was my old stb (a TU20) that had the problem. Sky sorted my viewing card change over within minutes so I have my Sky Sports etc again, no problems there. Also got 90% on both signal and quality, and its a lot faster, so hooray on that score.

Raj TV, however, is still being hugely problematic to the extent where I cant receive it at all now (this was the problem channel in the post above) . I have manually tuned on 11.307H 27500 2/3 to see if this would help. Quality and strength come up at about 80% and I have Lock.

After ten seconds, however, the quality drops to 60%, then five seconds later drops out completely to 0%!

It is a still night with no rain weather wise, so can someone please help me with a reason as its driving me mad!

Regards

Phil (another night of Thai Boxing missed!)
 
Although the frequency doesn't exactly tie in, do you have a DECT telephone near the digibox? If you do, try taking it in to another room and see if the reception improves.
 
Thanks for the prompt reply Rolf.

I got the settings from Lyngsat tonight, are they incorrect? RajTv shows up as one of the channels in the frequency list.

I have a digital portable phone so have taken that out of the room but it has made no difference. The picture is coming up intermittently but it is unwatchable. When manual tuning the network ID and Transport Stream are also changing between the correct code and all zeroes, and the quality is now jumping between 0 and 10%.

I`ve looked at other channels on the same frequency such as Challenge+1 and FTN and have the same problem, so I`m now assuming its a reception problem. Would that be right even though when looking at my general signal strength and quality they are both static on 90%.

Thanks for your help so far anyway.

Regards

Phil
 
Hi Phil, by the frequency not quite tying in, I meant the frequency which would normally be disrupted by a DECT telephone signal 1.8Ghz, the Intermediate frequency for that transponder is 1.55Ghz (this is the frequency after down conversion by the LNB). Did you remove the base station as well?

It just seems strange that your problems are limited to that very narrow frequency band.

PS. The strength and quality you see in the main menu is only for the default transponder 11778v.
 
I didnt take away the base as it was in a tangle of wires but I did unplug it from the wall socket. Could even an unplugged phone base cause a problem?

Thanks for the info on the frequency, I learn something new everyday!
 
No, if the base is unplugged, then unless it has a battery backup, it won't transmit, you could also try taking the batteries out of the handset.
 
Check the connection on the lnb and then the cable for deteriation or kinks.The panasonic 31 doesnt work so well over here,it does act strange on certain channels/frequencies,like eurosport,sky sports news and national geographic.
 
rolfw said:
Hi Phil, by the frequency not quite tying in, I meant the frequency which would normally be disrupted by a DECT telephone signal 1.8Ghz, the Intermediate frequency for that transponder is 1.55Ghz (this is the frequency after down conversion by the LNB). Did you remove the base station as well?

It just seems strange that your problems are limited to that very narrow frequency band.

PS. The strength and quality you see in the main menu is only for the default transponder 11778v.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt count the phone out just yet. You have to remove the batteries from the handset too. If you still have no joy, it could be due to your neighbours. Believe me, this is true. If you're living in a block of flats for example your neighbours phone could disrupt your setup.
We have the same problem. The flats above me were converted into offices and promptly filled with DECT phones. As from that day bye bye to certain channels........



Methos
 
Thanks for the extra info chaps.

My phone base unit didnt have any batteries so I discounted the DECT reason (moved the phone into another room as well).

I dont live in flats so I assume that kicks that one into touch.

I`ll post if the movement of dish and/or cable check helps as it could be that simple after all.
 
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