Sky HD Channels - Very poor signal?

[coolpot]

Hi, I tried calling Sky, but i just get put through to India, and get told to delete my recordings...!

Basically I upgraded to SkyHD, on my previous Sky+ Box, i never had problem.

When I watch HD channels, i get stutterings picture and audio, very bad, i can never record a program because a few mins in it always just says " your sky signal was intterupted"

Its especially bad when watching the F1 channel. which is why i got it !

Interestingly, its very very bad every time i receive a mobile phone call! ( but not just when receiving calls, however its not limited to this, signal can be lost at any time, even with phone switched off)
some kind of interference?

I bought new cables to connect to the box, as they didnt look great (coaxial to the sky plate but it did not make it better) ( i live in an apartment, and we have a shared dish between like 6 apartments, so its all prewired into wall plates)

ideaS? Thanks!

[dms05]

Did you do a 'self install' or was the HD box fitted by a Sky fitter? Is the box new or 2nd user - if it's used then what make is it?

You seem to have a poor signal input, this could be caused by a number of problems that should have remedied when installing. You could have a mis-aligned dish, or a faulty LNB or bad connections (on the coax) or even faulty coax.

If it was Sky installed simply get them back to fix it. If you installed yourself then start by checking the 'F' connectors on the end of the coax making sure they are screwed well onto the coax (turn clockwise) and that they are making firm secure contact with the Sky box - see http://www.satcure.com/tech/fconn.htm#fit. If that doesn't work them post back and we can suggest other possible solutions.

[Scubbie]

From your description you seem to be of the opinion that there is an issue with the Communal Dish or its feed to your apartment.

If this is the case, then you will need to speak with the management company to find out who is responsible for its maintenance and get them to resolve the issue.

To be sure that it isn't your SkyHD STB (or do you have a Sky+ HD STB?) I would suggest that you ask a friend if you can take it around to their home and test the STB there.

Out of interest though, could you confirm which firmware you have installed on the STB please? Navigate to <Settings> <System Details> and on the new firmware it is beside the title 'Model Number'. The number should start something like R005...

[dms05]

Quite right Scubbie - I missed the shared dish on a quick scan of the OP. Still interest to know if it's a new box or perhaps an old Thomson HD box.

[coolpot]

hello, I will check when i get home. I guess I should ask my neighbour too if he has problems.

With regards to the box, its a sky+HD box(i think? i can do all the sky+ features etc and its HD!), and its new, i only had it installed for F1 channel this year, so around march. and i installed it, i just swapped the box. but to rule out the coax connections causing my problem, i bought new pre terminated coax cable, and swapped the leads between the box and the wall, but its not better.

i will check the firmware when i get home. thanks.

[coolpot]

Hi all, sorry for the late reply, please find attached hopefully the details you asked for. Note: that i attached 2x signal shots, so that you can see, one of the inputs goes up and down alot, while the other is stable, ive tried swapping the leads around, and changing the cables for new ones.

[Scubbie]

It looks like the signal between the dish and the STB is pants.

Check out with a neighbour and see if you can try your STB in their apartment and also try theirs in yours.

If the results show that your connection requires some work, then you will have to contact the management company and find out who maintains the dish. Sadly Sky's engineers will not touch it for you.

If the fault is with the Sky+ HD STB, then contact Sky with the object to get it replaced.

I would also swap Coax leads if the fault appears to be with your connection first, just in case your leads are not correctly set up.