Magic Eye picture works but sssshing sound

[peter060]

My magic eye worked perfectly for some years. Now I can get a perfect picture but the sound is sssssshing. The rf connection works because the LED on the eye is illuminated. I have checked and re-checked the connections but still no sound. Its a + box

Any ideas please

[Mark39 · Accepted solution]

Ad a first step, try changing the RF Output Channel in your Sky box settings (let us know if you don't know how). Once you've done that, you'll need to re-tune the connected TV, to pick up the new channel.

[peter060]

Hi Mark39

The Channel has always been 68. Not sure how to change the channel. Obviously it is Analogue

Peter

[Annie+UK]

The RF Channel can be changed in the hidden menu (see my Sky Plus FAQ)

[Mark39]

As @Annie+UK posted, the RF Output Channel setting is in the Installer Menu accessed by keying Servoces,0,0.1.Select on your remote. When you've changed the setting press Green to save it.

See @Annie+UK's FAQ for more details.

It's a first,step, as I posted before, and may not resolve it, but it's easy, costs nothing and rules out one potential cause. Let us know if it doesn't help.

[peter060]

Thank you both for that. Unfortunately it did not work. I tried several different channels all to no avail.

Is there anything else I can do?

Peter

[Mark39]

Unfortunately it sounds like a failing component in your Sky box - the RF modulator - a fault which has been reported before. 

The modulator drifts slightly off the assigned channel over time leading to white noise over the audio and eventually swamping it. As the fault develops video also drifts and the picture disappears too.

You might find that if you turn off your Sky box at the plug and leave it for say an hour, the audio will come back for a while before gradually disappearing again.

Unless you can find someone locally to replace the RF modulator, the only solution is a replacement box. There's no shortage of used boxes available cheaply on ebay  - pick a DRX890 or DRX895 as they're the most recent. Beware though that later boxes don't have RF outputs, and you would need a plug-in adaptor (an IO Link) which provides a single RF2 port. The adaptor might not now be easy to come by. 

[peter060]

Thanks Mark39. As our Sky contract ends in February next year we have ordered Sky Q and a mini box to be fitted early December. It means a lot less wires!

Peter