FTA Signal being lost from dish

[NewEdition]

I have an old sky box, not the newer one where you can pause etc.
I have the satellite dish from an old subscription to sky and I get all the free to air channels.

Recently the picture on most channels goes.. in the lead up to it going, the sound and picture gets distorted before the following message:

No satellite signal being received. Please unplug your box, wait 5 mins.......

I tried that and the problem remains.

Bbc1 and 2 are affected but itv is fine. So i dont think it is the box.
There was a workman on the roof a week ago. If he nudged the dish, how can I relagn it?

 

[dub_nerd]

Have you checked the dish for obstructions? A mate of mine was embarrassed to finally discover that a branch had grown across his. With the trees coming into leaf it's the time of year for it. Failing that, a sat installer would be able to test it with a signal meter, but that would cost money so look for the obvious first.

 

[mathepac]

I get this from time to time and the best explanation I can come up with is that birds land on the bit in the centre of the dish. It is very rare for me to lose signal and it never lasts long. I have a rookery a couple of fields away and some of my neighbours in our small estate choose to feed the crows.

 

[MrEarl]

Hello,

The point raised by dub_nerd above is a good one and one that I've also encountered, where the tree in my back garden had grown and over time, was blocking more of the satellite signal. Obviously, the solution is quite simple - cut back the tree

Another few possibilities:

• The dish has been slightly misaligned as result of the wind etc. It may be slightly off "target". If the dish has only been moved a little, it can have an impact on some but not all tv stations due to the stations broadcasting from different transponders, with some transponders having slightly stronger or weaker signals over Ireland (due to the footprint of each transponder etc.)
• The LNB (the "microphone" at the end of the arm facing your dish) may have a spider or similar living in it, causing part of the signal to be blocked. If you can get easy access to the dish and LNB, remove the cover from the LNB and give it a quick (but gentle) clean with a dry cloth, then put the cover back on nice and tight). Obviously, also clean the inside and outside of the cover on the LNB.
  
• The cable (or cables) may have become lose, wet, or damaged. If this has happened, the odds are it's at the point where the cable (cables) connect with the LNB. Again, if you can easily access the LNB then check the connections to ensure they are nice and tight, also check that they are water proof (a little electrical tape around each connection helps). Next check the cable(s) connecting to your receiver box to ensure they are tight and finally, check the cable run to see if the cable has been damaged anywhere between the dish and the receiver (least likely scenario, but possible).
• Finally, there is the possibility that you are suffering as a result of aging equipment starting to malfunction. While this would not be my first concern, by process of elimination you may find yourself coming to this conclusion. Easiest way to check the receiver is probably to swap it with a friends receiver, hooking their box up to your set up and seeing if all channels work.

If you are comfortable working with these type of things and have reasonable access to your dish then all of the above are reasonably easy to check and resolve. Otherwise, call an independent satellite tv engineer.

 

[babyblackie]

Good advice above. You receive feed from different satellites so that explains why some channels are ok. We had same and it was foliage although I was sure the tree wasn't in the way. It was. Cut it back. Perfect. (Our dish is attached at waist height on our house. Very easy to check things.)