Lost channels

[Captain54]

I live in Scotland and I have a SKY + box with a "Free to View" card which we purchased from Sky because terrestrial TV was so bad. The signal is 90% on both strength and quality on the satellite.

Over the past few months we have started to lose a number of channels, Quest, Quest Red, D Max, Blaze, Together - the latest is S4C.

There is a common message "no signal is being received - switch off Skybox at mains, remove the plug- wait 5 mins then switch back on"

This action does not change anything at all - I have also forced a download without any result.

All other no subscription channels are OK. Does anybody have an idea?

[Annie+UK]

"No Signal" is an error generated by your TV indicating that it cannot find a device on the current input, check the correct input for your Sky box is selected

"No Satellite Signal" is an error generated by your Sky box, it has nothing to do with broadband (Internet connectivity) and usually indicates an issue with one or more of the following:

• The Dish is misaligned (not all transponders are getting through, thus some channels may be affected and others not)
• The Tuners in the sky box
• The input sockets on the Sky box
• The plugs on the cables
• The cables themselves
• The Sockets on the dishes LNB
• The dishes LNB has gone faulty for the connections the box is using
• You have plugged your Sky+ box into a dish that is only compatible with Sky Q

[Captain54]

Hi Annie - Thank you for your prompor response - I will comment on your points in order below

1    There does not appear to be any movement of the dish, and the box signal test indicates 90% on both the strength and quality - the in line signal test meter also indcates optimum signal reception

2 /, 3/, 4/       The box has not been moved at all recently but the connections have been checked

5    The installation is only 4 years old - a new single feed LNB cable was installed as the previous owners twin cable/disk did not work at all. I would hope a cables would last longer than that. 

6   I will check replace the LNB and connections as the next step.

7   I have only ever had a Sky + box since the new dish was installed 4 years ago, the combination has worked OK until now and nothing has been changed.

As there have been no pro-active user changes it appears, I am left consider a faulty box, a faulty LNB   

I will report any progress

Captain54

[xenon81]

Just to check, is it a Sky+ box or Sky+HD? The old non-HD boxes are gradually losing channels as broadcasters are switching to the newer DVB-S2 transmission standard which the non-HD boxes can't receive.

[Mark39]

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@Captain54 wrote:

Hi Annie - Thank you for your prompor response - I will comment on your points in order below

1    There does not appear to be any movement of the dish, and the box signal test indicates 90% on both the strength and quality - the in line signal test meter also indcates optimum signal reception

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Are you checking your signal strength after tuning to one of the missing channels?

[Captain54]

I think Xenon81 has hit the nail on the head - it is a sky+ SD box we did lose the BBC channels a year ago but the other channels started disappearing over the past couple of months with S4C just last week - the message on the channel response is different so I never connected that possibility.

It looks like the box is obsolete - I investgated the possibility of upgrading to HD but apparently the the one of payment "Free to View" card is no longer available from Sky and I don't know if the SD card will work in an HD box. 

As a pensioner in my 70s I cannot afford a monthly package. We are being hit in all directions by this goverment and have no means to increase our income at our age.  

Thank you to everybody who took ther time to help.

[Mark39]

@Captain54 yes, you would need to replace the box with a Sky+HD box. That will enable you to receive all the free to air channels, both those in HD and those in SD without an HD subscription and without a Viewing Card. You won't be able to record, though,

 There are no new Sky+HD boxes, but a used replacement is available cheaply enough (no more than £30) via ebay etc,

[Captain54]

Thank you Mark 39, that is very helpful, partuclarly the card issue. I am looking on Ebay for an HD box now.

I will post update when I get one.

Captain54