topic Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585 in Sky Q

Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Christine46 — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 12:15:01 GMT

Despite Sky claims there seem to be many questions on Google regarding experiencing poor reception on the above channels which all use the same transponder. All other channels are fine. As the transponder is the common denominator together with poor weather it seems not it should not be too difficult to source the problem. This has been going on for several days whenever it rains.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

lettice — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 12:32:02 GMT

Think this is just vey poor weather or atmospherics today.

It seems to have cleared up now.

Have seen many today including Myself earlier having trouble with that set of channels.

edit:

Still happening occasionally while watching GB News.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Christine46 — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 12:40:27 GMT

Just the odd fluffy cloud at present and it seems that's all it takes to break up the picture on 512. The obvious question is why just the channels on this transponder and not any of the other channels. It seems this transponder is not working as it should be or the weather would affect all channels.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Chodley — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 12:42:40 GMT

Physics, basically. Some frequencies are affected while others aren't.

it's possible a realignment of the dish could help mitigate the effects.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

lettice — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 12:59:30 GMT

GB News did move transponders a few days back, coincidence maybe.

Just asked, GBNews are aware of picture breakup on Sky and Freesat.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Christine46 — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 13:42:03 GMT

I sent a message to GB News this morning telling them about the poor reception. Hopefully they will have a bit more clout in getting it sorted. Thanks for the update.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

DavidG47 — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 14:05:54 GMT

Now lost signal completely.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Godfrey — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 15:00:21 GMT

@Christine46 This website clearly explains why the decision by GB News to switch from a satellite transponder which previously provided a nominal 58 dBW signal across the whole UK, to a satellite transponder which serves a much greater area of Europe, but unfortunately now only provides a weaker 54 dBW signal to Southern UK and only a nominal 52 dBW signal to extreme Western and Northern UK areas.

Website providing an explanation

So, it will now be even more critical for Sky Zone 1 dishes to remain very accurately positioned.

Godfrey.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Christine46 — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 19:51:38 GMT

Thanks for the brilliant update. I have written to GB News complaining about the poor reception and their decision to move to a weaker UK transponder. Let's hope the rethink their decision.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Chodley — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 22:52:55 GMT

@Godfrey wrote:
@Christine46 This website clearly explains why the decision by GB News to switch from a satellite transponder which previously provided a nominal 58 dBW signal across the whole UK, to a satellite transponder which serves a much greater area of Europe, but unfortunately now only provides a weaker 54 dBW signal to Southern UK and only a nominal 52 dBW signal to extreme Western and Northern UK areas.

Website providing an explanation

So, it will now be even more critical for Sky Zone 1 dishes to remain very accurately positioned.

Godfrey.

I had no idea the signal was so good in Greenland

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Sharlene — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 23:14:13 GMT

Gb news been off for several days, restarted box and updated software - b can only watch through apps and listen on the radio.
Today, probably due to the weather all channels say techinical fault, but it won't even play on demand programmes.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

F1Jon97 — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 05:10:01 GMT

I sometimes watch GB News via their app on Apple TV, either live or on demand, and there are also little sattelite esque picture breakups on there. I think it might be a problem at their end or at least its contributing to it.

I get the same amount of picture glitches via their app as I do on Sky Q.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Christine46 — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 09:05:45 GMT

Apparently the change of transponder was to enable GB News to broadcast to more of Europe. This is affecting signal strength especially in the North of the UK. There is a very informative comment earlier on in this thread that has a link explaining what has been done. Some in the North may need a new larger dish. I think this should be at Sky's cost as they have altered things. I think I will be calling Sky to sort this out at their expense.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Chodley — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 09:09:25 GMT

@Christine46 wrote:
Apparently the change of transponder was to enable GB News to broadcast to more of Europe. This is affecting signal strength especially in the North of the UK. There is a very informative comment earlier on in this thread that has a link explaining what has been done. Some in the North may need a new larger dish. I think this should be at Sky's cost as they have altered things. I think I will be calling Sky to sort this out at their expense.

He's saying the internet delivered versions of the channel also have glitches.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Christine46 — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 09:21:30 GMT

Yes I noticed that, however as far as I am aware the two delivery systems are separate. Internet or cellular delivery can be affected by a multitude of causes and so would be much more difficult to diagnose. Satellite is fixed and therefore with the announcement regarding the changes to GB News coverage there is a definite link. I have no idea what might cause the Internet problems. Check Internet speeds etc. is a good starting point. HD needs good bandwidth.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Chodley — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 09:31:40 GMT

Well yes but he's saying maybe there is also something not quite right at the broadcast end which would cause glitches via all transports.

The sat issue does seem to be this transponder switch though.

HD only needs about 5Mb, remarkably. Though that was a lot back when it was first launched.

I would expect Sky will attempt to improve your dish alignment for free.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Christine46 — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 09:40:16 GMT

Good point. I agree it may also be a GB News technical problem. I have sent an email to them to see if they have a comment but so far only an automated reply. I am really surprised that they have swapped what must be their heartland of viewers in the North for viewers in Europe.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

oj01 — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 10:00:30 GMT

@Christine46 wrote:
Apparently the change of transponder was to enable GB News to broadcast to more of Europe. This is affecting signal strength especially in the North of the UK. There is a very informative comment earlier on in this thread that has a link explaining what has been done. Some in the North may need a new larger dish. I think this should be at Sky's cost as they have altered things. I think I will be calling Sky to sort this out at their expense.

Sky haven't and can't alter anything to do with GB News. GB News have altered things.

However, mine, in Yorkshire, is perfectly fine, which would indicate that anyone affected has a slight dish misalignment which will require an engineer to fix.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Christine46 — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 12:16:36 GMT

I now have an appointment with the engineer for tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully that will solve the issue.

Re: Poor weather poor reception on 512, 585, 180, 506 and 585

Christine46 — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 09:38:47 GMT

Engineer came yesterday with a really cool piece of technology and made a small adjustment to the dish which apparently was all that was needed. The signal then doubled in strength. Today is rain and picture is good. No breakup at all.

The engineer was really good and checked the settings and cables including the mini boxes.

If anyone has poor reception on GB News I would recommend contacting Sky. It was no charge and we got a free 2 month Sky Cinema bonus for our trouble. So we had an engineer within 24 hrs with excellent service all round. Very pleased.