Advice Needed Afflicted with "No Signal"

[Slumberjack]

Hi everyone,

New to here and hoping someone can help…

About a I've had a Satellite Dish up and running for about 6 or so years (SkyHD for the first 4 or so and FreeSat HD for the rest of the time) it's always worked perfectly but I had noticed it was pretty rusty this summer and would probably need replacing soon. Then about 2 weeks a go it just stopped working so I thought I'd go online and order a replacement.

I managed to swap out the dish etc with no real problems and have used a CSL sat-finder to align the dish properly.

But alas I still have no signal on either cable going through to the TV. I've also tried hooking it up to my old SkyHD box and that gets no signal either.

Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm at a loss here.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Captain Jack]

Are you sure you are aligned on 28E? Little sat-finders are good for finding satellites but they will beep at anything that transmits - including non-28E satellites.

 

[Slumberjack]

Are you sure you are aligned on 28E? Little sat-finders are good for finding satellites but they will beep at anything that transmits - including non-28E satellites.

I'm 99% sure. It looks like it's in the same position as before and is pointing in the same direction as all my neighbours dishes. I had a the issue before I changed the dish and LNB over. So I'm wondering if there's a fault in the cables maybe?

 

[Ghostleader]

Just to add to what Captain Jack has said there, you could well of aligned the dish to a strong neighboring sat such as 23.5East or the like, Even if you set the elevation on the clamp on the new dish as a carbon copy of the old you may well have just strayed to far to the one side mate.

Sent from my HSG1316 using Tapatalk

 

[jeallen01]

In the Southern UK the UK beams on 28E are very strong and should be picked up with very little trouble if the dish is pointed in roughly the right direction, which you can do with a simple sat finder - so if the dish is pointed in roughly the right direction and there is any signal at all from 28E coming down the cables then one of the receivers should have picked up something!

Therefore, given that a new dish (and presumably a new twin LNB ?) have been fitted, I would suspect that there are some problems with the cables and/or the F-connectors on them at one/both ends - and that's where I would look next.

 

[sonnetpete]

On your Freesat box, are you getting any reading at all? I.E. are the signal meters completely blank or does it show signal strength but no reading on the quality? If they are both blank, I'd tend towards the dodgy connection as an initial problem.

 

[Slumberjack]

On your Freesat box, are you getting any reading at all? I.E. are the signal meters completely blank or does it show signal strength but no reading on the quality? If they are both blank, I'd tend towards the dodgy connection as an initial problem.

I've now got it plugged into my skyhd box as I don't know how to get the signal strength/quality meters up on my Samsung TV (it has a built in FreeSat tuner). But both of them are completely blank. I've also tried doing a slow sweep with the dish but have still gotten no signal at all the whole time. I should probably mention I'm using a larger zone 2 dish so I shouldn't have a problem picking up a signal.

As for the F-Connectors… is it normal to get a small shock off them when touched? I don't get one on the tv/sky box end of the wires but I'm getting one at the satellite dish end if I touch them whilst everything is switched on.

 

[sonnetpete]

Yes, you can get a small shock from the F connectors. If you now have the SkyHD box plugged in and the F connectors from your dish connected up to it, you should be using the signal meter on the Sky box. Whichever you use, there should be an indication of signal strength, regardless of which satellite you may or may not be aligned to.

Also be aware that in searching for a signal the dish should be moved in very small increments with a slight pause between each move, a 'slow sweep' may be passing the required satellite. Sort out whether you are in fact getting a connection from the box to the dish before trying to align the dish again.

 

[rolfw]

A faulty cable would normally mean that the sat-beeper wouldn't work, I would suggest it's on the wrong satellite. Comparing where the dish is pointing to your neighbours' dishes is very deceptive and not advised.

Move gently and pause when you get a reading on the meter, then try tilting the dish fractionally up and down until the meter peaks, then check the signal meters on the Sky box, repeat until you get right sat.

 

[Slumberjack]

Yes, you can get a small shock from the F connectors. If you now have the SkyHD box plugged in and the F connectors from your dish connected up to it, you should be using the signal meter on the Sky box. Whichever you use, there should be an indication of signal strength, regardless of which satellite you may or may not be aligned to.

Also be aware that in searching for a signal the dish should be moved in very small increments with a slight pause between each move, a 'slow sweep' may be passing the required satellite. Sort out whether you are in fact getting a connection from the box to the dish before trying to align the dish again.

I'm not sure how to check whether I'm getting a signal from the box to the dish.

I've just 'retuned' the dish with meter. But still nothing.

This is what I'm getting on the sky box and on the meter…

 

[jeallen01]

Rofw could well be correct (had forgotten that!) as, whilst the lateral alignment might roughly correct, even a slight misalignment in the vertical plane is more critical - and that could have easily happened when the dish was replaced.

 

[Archive-8]

I'm not sure how to check whether I'm getting a signal from the box to the dish.

I've just 'retuned' the dish with meter. But still nothing.

This is what I'm getting on the sky box and on the meter…

View attachment 101458 View attachment 101459

Looks like you are pointing to the wrong satellite. My guess would be 23.5°E.

Give the dish a nudge.

 

[archive10]

Looks like you are pointing to the wrong satellite. My guess would be 23.5°E.

Give the dish a nudge.

Agree.

It is very likely an alignment thing

If the sat-meter picture (with signal showing) is taken inside with the meter attached to the aerial lead that otherwise is connected to the box, your dish is not aligned to 28.2E.
But if you have signal, you're not a million miles away.

The easiest thing to do would be to go to dish with a "real" satellite meter, and tune antenna to 28.2E.
That is what an installer would do.

In the light of your equipment, I suggest the following:

1) Position friendly helper in front of TV, and open window for shouting / communicate via cell-phone
2) take spanners / ratchet key + marker pen to where dish is (roof?)
3) put a mark (line) with the pen across mounting bracket and pole to know where you started
4) loosen bracket bolts
5) tell friendly helper to observe the indicators on the tv, and shout / talk on speaker phone continuously
6) gently move dish to the left/east (looking from behind) - and this is millimeter at the time! until

a) there a reaction from helper, or
b) the mark on the bracket is more than 1-2 cm from the mark on the pole.​

7) if nothing happened, return bracket to starting point by aligning marks on pole / bracket.
8) try the same thing, but in the other direction (right/west)
9a) if you get picture / signal, adjust until strongest, then tighten bolts. Adjust elevation of dish until maximum strength. Hurrah!
9b) if still nothing, return to pen-marks, adjust elevation slightly up, and try the whole things right and left again.
10) if you still haven't succeeded, call an installer

Less-likey, but still possible causes are faulty LNB (LO/HI broken or similar), or bad cable (garbling the signal too much, or not letting the right frequenceies throuhg). LNB can be check by swapping for another one, and see if problem persists, whereas cable can be assesed using spare 50m coax or similar.


Good luck!

 

[a33]

If you are pointed to another satellite, why not do a blind scan to see what programms you can receive, to determine what satellite that is?

For that you can 'define' a second satellite in your diseqc setup, and then do a scan fooling your receiver that you would have reception on diseqc port 2/B/AB or whatever it is named on your receiver.
Then you can sort out if you have to turn your dish slightly right, or left.

Afterwards you can delete the data on that second satellite, but your channel list for 28E is untouched.

Greetz,
A33

 

[jeallen01]

If you are pointed to another satellite, why not do a blind scan to see what programms you can receive, to determine what satellite that is?

For that you can 'define' a second satellite in your diseqc setup, and then do a scan fooling your receiver that you would have reception on diseqc port 2/B/AB or whatever it is named on your receiver.
Then you can sort out if you have to turn your dish slightly right, or left.

Afterwards you can delete the data on that second satellite, but your channel list for 28E is untouched.

Greetz,
A33

If the box is from Sky, it doesn't have blind search!