Sky help is less than useless

[nigea99]

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@JB409 wrote:

Why can we not ring Scotland these days. It used to be acceptable. Not any more. 
I am not a conspiracy theorist but why do I keep losing GB news and only Gb news signal!! Sunday it was the only channel I couldn't pause. How very strange. 
they sent me a new viewing card now saying cannot play this recording on Sky witness or Max. I will be cancelling Sky soon and sticking to Netflix etc. they don't deserve the business.  

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hi @JB409 

You are probably loosing CNN as well.

The reason is that GB News  switched to a European Wide beam transponder which is weaker in the UK than the more UK specific targetted transponders. This was GB News' decision and nothing to do with SKY

Any channels on the European widebeam transponders - as they are weaker in the UK - will be lost first when there is slight dish misalignment or anything (such as tree foilage)  blocking the signal 

[TimmyBGood]

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@JB409 wrote:

I am not a conspiracy theorist but why do I keep losing GB news and only Gb news signal!! Sunday it was the only channel I couldn't pause. How very strange. 

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Physics rather than sinister forces.  Somewhat ironically, the owners of that channel chose to prioritise reception in mainland Europe rather than the UK a couple of years ago: when a standard UK Sky dish is even fractionally out of alignment the GB News broadcast will now be one of the first signals to suffer while the vast majority of services continue uninterrupted.

" Now GB News broadcasts on the Astra 2G satellite. Its coverage area now encompasses most of the continent and beyond.

For example, UK migrants & retirees living in the south of Spain can now watch the channel via a normal domestic-sized 75cm dish.

The downside for UK viewers is if they use a smaller Sky zone 1 dish in parts of northern and western Britain. The GB News signal may be more prone to fade in heavy rain. Affected viewers may wish to consider an upgrade to a zone 2 dish (60cm). "

https://rxtvinfo.com/2023/gb-news-sat-switch-improves-european-reception/ 

[JB409]

Every day I lose channel 512!!! Why !! Only this channel and possible one either side. 
tried getting help from Sky which is near on impossible. Their foreign customer service centres have no idea. All they keep saying is 'upgrade to Sky Q' I DONT WANT Sky Q. I rang my tv customer service and the guy rang Sky while I was in the phone and even he was told that I should upgrade to Sky Q. They say 'don't  worry you won't lose your recordings' are they just lieing or are they not given the facts! What happened to the days when one could get help from Scotland! 
I was sent new viewing cards and the old ones were cancelled before they arrived. My tv upstairs does not work at all now! 
Come  on sky super person give me a sensible answer!! I'm a Sky VIP customer. Don't expect to get such a pathetic runaround! 

[Daniel0210]

@JB409 

Firstly I'm afraid Sky no longer support Sky+ and Sky+HD set ups (where you've posted).

You'll need to employ a local satellite engineer at your own expense to check / realign / repair / replace the dish, or perhaps the LNB if that's the problem. Also sometimes rain water can get into the wiring.

GB News that you mention and TNT Sport are sometimes the first channels to be affected. 

If you have Sky Protect cover through Domestic and General Insurance you can call them but a customer previous posted on here stated they wouldn't send an engineer - but they did offer the customer £65 towards arranging one themselves.

The alternative is contacting Sky to upgrade to Sky Q or change to Glass / Stream.

If you upgrade to Q you WILL lose all your recordings except purchased movies which you can download again.

[Daniel0210]

@JB409 

I've just spotted you raised this a couple of weeks ago so today's post has been moved into that one where you'd already received similar advice. 

It seems you haven't yet arranged a local satellite engineer so the situation isn't going to get any better. 

[Mark39]

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@JB409 wrote:

Every day I lose channel 512!!! Why !! Only this channel and possible one either side. 
tried getting help from Sky which is near on impossible. Their foreign customer service centres have no idea. All they keep saying is 'upgrade to Sky Q' I DONT WANT Sky Q.

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@JB409 perhaps you didn't understand the.previous replies.

You won't get help from Sky with this. They no longer provide engineer support for obsolete Sky+ systems.

Sky will only,suggest you upgrade to Sky Q.

If you want to stick with Sky+, you'll have to engage a local satellite engineer to sort out your dish setup.

[JB409]

It is pretty disgusting that Sky won't help. Also don't keep telling me Gb news use a European transponder. I have checked (as suggested by GB news, who actually try to help unlike Sky. . Not just negative like Sky) Bloomberg and CNN are out at the same time. You cannot tell me they use a European transponder. Is this a myth SKy  keep using. 
Reading  other posts it's the same old answer. Doesn't sound like a Sky customer. 

[nigea99]

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@JB409 wrote:

It is pretty disgusting that Sky won't help. Also don't keep telling me Gb news use a European transponder. I have checked (as suggested by GB news, who actually try to help unlike Sky. . Not just negative like Sky) Bloomberg and CNN are out at the same time. You cannot tell me they use a European transponder. Is this a myth SKy  keep using. 
Reading  other posts it's the same old answer. Doesn't sound like a Sky customer. 

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@JB409 

See this listing of Satellite detail information which is independently produced.

https://www.lyngsat.com/Astra-2E-2F-2G.html

As you will see the transponder used by GB News etc is a Europe Ku   beam (as we have advised)  whilst   SKY & most 'Freesat' channels (BBC/ITV etc) have UK targetted transponders  

See this link which has maps for the different beams:

28.2 Beam Footprints 

BTW SKY will help if you switch from their now unsuported platform SKY HD to SKY Q 

[nigea99]

BTW @JB409 

I just steered my multi-satellite dish over to 28.2

U& Drama as an example  shows a signal level of 61 & Quality of 9.6dB

BBC one NW shows a signal level of 65 and quality 10.7 dB

One of the ITV channels shows a signal level of 50 and quality 8.3dB

Whereas GB News shows a signal level of only  32 & Quality of 7.0db

(I live in Lancashire)

[JB409]

How many times to I have to say I don't want sky Q. I will lose all my recordings! 

[Daniel0210]

@JB409 

Then your only option is to contact a local satellite company and pay for a repair. 

[JB409]

Thank you that is good advise. really appreciate it. 
I fully intend to call an engineer when I can find one. Not to be told the  same old same old 'change to sky q'  !!

[nigea99]

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@JB409 wrote:

Thank you that is good advise. really appreciate it. 
I fully intend to call an engineer when I can find one. Not to be told the  same old same old 'change to sky q'  !!

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We did advise this was the way to help you get a signal on GB news (and any other weaker channels)

I was not saying you should switch to SKY Q, just pointing out that SKY would provide the support you don't get with SKY HD,  if you did.

[Daniel0210]

@JB409 

The time will eventually come when your box fails and then unfortunately your options will be Sky Q / Sky Glass / Stream or cancel. 

[JB409]

The time will come Daniel when I will cancel Sky all together. I don't want sports or the Sky movies are usually awful. I have Netflix and plenty of other stations. Sky is becoming unnecessary.