topic Poor signal on ITV3 HD in Sky Q

Poor signal on ITV3 HD

RWalton — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 16:34:31 GMT

We're based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
Whenever we try to watch ITV3 HD at any time of day, the picture pixelates badly and the sound stutters too. It's the only channel that does it on our box. We've removed it and reinstalled it a number of times without success.

The settings we've used are below.

ITV3 HD (21050) Astra 2F, Transponder 111
Frequency: 11344
Polarisation: Horizontal
Mode: DVB-S2 8PSK
Symbol Rate: 27500 (27.5 Mbaud)
FEC: 2/3

We've even tried rebooting the box and calling Sky for help, but this meant the representative moving away from the crib sheet and was about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Is there anyone out there who can help?

If we can't fix this, we'll be going over to Freesat just as soon as we're out of contract.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Poor signal on ITV3 HD

xenon81 — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 16:43:35 GMT

You'll need to persevere with Sky. Faults like this are caused by a slight dish alignment issue, and can only affect one or two channels at first. Changing to Freesat won't solve the problem if the dish is misaligned as Freesat uses the same satellites as Sky.

The frequency that carries ITV3 also carries the following ITV1 regions. If you're not in one of these areas, only ITV3 will be affected:

Meridian East
Meridian Thames Valley
Meridian South Coast
Yorkshire West
Border Scotland
Anglia West
Central East

Re: Poor signal on ITV3 HD

PandJ2020 — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 16:43:56 GMT

@RWalton wrote:
If we can't fix this, we'll be going over to Freesat just as soon as we're out of contract.

If the problem is with dish alignment (or LNB/cabling) then it will likely be just the same on Freesat.

You need to get Sky to send an engineer to check alignment. (Or pay for a local firm)

Re: Poor signal on ITV3 HD

Daniel0210 — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 16:53:54 GMT

@RWalton
If you are connected to a communal dish you need to liaise directly with your building management company / landlord who will have their approved engineers to contact.

It’s worth noting that:

▪️ a misalignment is not necessarily something that will be visible to the naked eye and could only affect one or two channels

▪️ a Sky Q box requires a periodic 'Keep alive' signal that is delivered via the satellite so if that isn’t received the box will close down until the satellite signal is restored.

Re: Poor signal on ITV3 HD

nigea99 — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 17:18:53 GMT

@RWalton wrote:

We're based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
Whenever we try to watch ITV3 HD at any time of day, the picture pixelates badly and the sound stutters too. It's the only channel that does it on our box. We've removed it and reinstalled it a number of times without success.

The settings we've used are below.

ITV3 HD (21050) Astra 2F, Transponder 111
Frequency: 11344
Polarisation: Horizontal
Mode: DVB-S2 8PSK
Symbol Rate: 27500 (27.5 Mbaud)
FEC: 2/3

We've even tried rebooting the box and calling Sky for help, but this meant the representative moving away from the crib sheet and was about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Is there anyone out there who can help?

If we can't fix this, we'll be going over to Freesat just as soon as we're out of contract.

Thanks in advance.

hi @RWalton

Can we just check that you have SKY Q - the reason I ask is that manually adding the channel will not make any difference to the channel listed in the EPG & be no different to that channel unless you are using an alternative frequency (which you are not)