Water In Cable?

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
Hi

I think I am in trouble!

For the last few months I have been having a problem with my co-axial cable in that the part of the copper core plugged into my digibox, after 4 weeks or so, virtually disintegrates and turns into a brittle black core that snaps off as soon as my receiver is moved even slightly. The cable surrounding this is also the same, as though it has been burnt, and some residue is left on the digibox input. Every time this has happened I simply cut off the last couple of inches or so of the cable and make a new copper core, plug it in and no problems, everything works again.

I have just been setting up a new DVD recorder so had to move my digibox but the above has happened again, only this time the digibox will not work no matter how much I cut off to find a clean core, plus there is more residue than normal on the digibox input. All thats comes up on the screen is 'no satellite signal is being received' but no channel name box at the bottom or anything, just that infamous message on the screen.

There were no problems until the digibox was moved i.e it didnt just stop working it was due to the move, so I am surprised I cant get it up and running again.

I fear the worst this time, is it likely to be water ingress that has actually got into the box?

Good excuse to get Sky HD I suppose :D 'O'-red
 
Quite possible. You will need to renew the whole cable run from dish to house, and make sure you waterproof the lnb connection.
 
Thanks for the reply.

Is it likely my digibox is basically knackered now, for want of a better word.
 
If water has been getting into it then yes its most likely toast. However replace the cable run first then try it again - if the cable is full of water its almost certainly absorbing the satellite signals travelling down the cable.
 
Seems like my worst fears are confirmed!

Thanks for the confrmation, much appreciated.
 
Remember if you want to go for a self install for Sky+ you are going to need 2 cable runs......

Of course the easy way to test your digibox is to take it round to a friends house who has sky and connect it up to their dish. You may be lucky.
 
I think if I was going down the Sky HD route I would get them to install it. I tend to start with good intentions then just mess it all up and would end up calling them anyway!

I`ll do the digibox test at a friends house as suggested and hopefully it will still work as I dont really want to splash out on other Sky equipment right now.
 
Problem solved!

The cable had actually come loose within the connector at the LNB end and has probably been like that for some time, hence the problems (my LNB is right up on my chimney so it is not an oft checked place!).

I put it all back in place but still no signal so I reckon the weather must have finally written it off.

Anyway, to cut an already long story short(!) I purchased 15m of new cable and a newish receiver on ebay, installed tonight with the help of a joiner friends ladder and lots of weatherproof tape, and all is working again, hooray!

All Ive got to do now is put the new cable back in the holders in the outside wall and it will be as good as new, at last!

Thanks for all the help above.
 
Well done philh. You have learned some things, fixed the problem, and saved yourself a few quid too!
 
Cheers mate, I now have a warm glow inside :)
 
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