topic Re: Pixellation and Loss of Signal in Sky+

Pixellation and Loss of Signal

daddybear14 — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 15:08:51 GMT

Good Afternoon All

I have an Amstrad Sky+HD box DRX890.

For the past couple of days I have been experiencing intermittent faulty Sky pictures with Pixellation and garbled sound. This is apparent when watching 'live' pictures and also shows up on the recordings list as " Part Rec" and the info. says "recording interupted by lack of signal".

The settings screen 'signal' tab when the problem occurs shows empty boxes against Inputs 1 & 2 with 'Lock Indicator' boxes showing "Not Locked".

These revert to full boxes and "OK" against the Lock Indicators when the problem stops. This intermittent behaviour appears to be at any time of night or day in a completely random fashion.

Are there any checks I can do myself before calling out a Sky engineer?

Thanks,

Roy.

Re: Pixellation and Loss of Signal

Mark39 — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 15:13:49 GMT

Really all you can do is check that the dish connections at the back of your Sky are secure, and that the cables are still properly connected to the connectors.

The box is best switched off at the plug when you do the checks.

Otherwise booking an engineer is your best bet, as they will have the kit to identify where the fault lies.

Re: Pixellation and Loss of Signal

daddybear14 — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 15:32:44 GMT

Thanks for such a prompt reply Mark.

Cables on the back of the box are fully finger tight - the dish is too high for me to check.

Perhaps the intermittent nature of the fault could be caused by wind movement on the dish??

Anyway, looks like no alternative but to get an engineer.

Re: Pixellation and Loss of Signal

Mark39 — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 15:40:00 GMT

@daddybear14 wrote:

Perhaps the intermittent nature of the fault could be caused by wind movement on the dish??

Yes, that's certainly a possibility.

Re: Pixellation and Loss of Signal

daddybear14 — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 09:51:28 GMT

Just discovered something which may be happening here.

I live in Lincolnshire about 5 miles from Waddington RAF airbase. Since 3 days ago (Tuesday 28th Mar) the RAF have been running 'war game' type flying execises with jet fighters both domestic and international taking part.

My problems with intermittent loss of satellite signals has only started since Tuesday - coinciding with the start of this flying - and last night I heard jets close above my house which was the same time as pixellation and loss of signal happened to a programme recording on Sky Atlantic.

This may be just a coincidence but it seems a bit odd that this new fault has been started just now. The flying is due to go on till April !!

Just wondered if any other forum members have experienced or heard of such a thing? Have tried phoning Sky Customer Support this morning but can't get through to a real person - their robot reply merely tries to sell me some Sky Q or recommends an engineer visit. Any ideas how I can discuss this with a human ?

Thanks for reading

Roy.

Re: Pixellation and Loss of Signal

Annie+UK — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 09:57:15 GMT

Anythng that can get between the LNB on your dish and the satellites can cause interference 😞

We live right near Heathrow Airport and planes cause an issue to us, though it is very rare also birds preching on the dish arm can also have the same effect 😞

Re: Pixellation and Loss of Signal

daddybear14 — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 10:11:09 GMT

Thanks Annie - when you say it is rare, how often are we talking about?

We have lived here (with Sky installed) for 25 years and haven't come across this before even though the RAF base has also been operating during this time.

I am just wondering whether the difference might be that a lot of the fighter jets that are taking part are from various countries and may have different electronic systems to our own. May also be flying lower than usual I suppose. Don't thinkl the RAF are going to give me any details over the telephone !!

Birds could be a problem, but we have always had lots of them here - Lincolnshire rural area- and never had interference. Also it happens during the hours of darkness on an intermittent basis and I don't think birds move around during the night once they are settled.

Difficult to know how to solve this.