Sky+ No 2nd Input, No Record!!

[majestic2012]

Hello All!

I've scoured this forum and have the same issue as many others and ask your help in finding a definitive solution to the problem.

I upgraded to Sky+ 3 weeks ago and was given a new Pace Sky+ box.
Since the initial install I have not been able to record with the 2nd input.
As with many others I have a 2nd input lock with an almost 100% signal
quality but 0% signal strength.
The engineer noticed this and assured me that it will be my aeriel because
as has been advised to try on this forum, he swapped the 2 inputs around
this showed the 1st input as being dead and the 2nd input now having a
decent signal strength.

Yesterday for the first time I stripped down the wiring to the faceplate,
I put everything back together following a how to guide I had found.
I checked the signals to the inputs and found that input 1 was normal
but the 2nd had no lock at all and dead signal and quality strength.
Fearing the worst I checked the channels and found that for some
unknown reason I could now watch a programme and record another???
Everything was great and I thought that mistakenly I had lucked a solution
to my issue.

I set a load of programmes for record on my Sky+ last night in anticipation
of a fully working box, but you guessed it, after coming home from work
all the programmes either failed or part recorded and now the miraculous
record facility has disappeared completely & I am back to square 1,
Input 1 shows 3/4 signal strength but the 2nd input is back to showing as
locked with just about 100% signal quality and 0% signal strength!!

Please forgive me for going on but I would now ask your help to get my
system working!

Is it a faulty box??

Is it my faceplate???

Is it my aeriel (which is a shared communal one)????

Would contacting the factors, as I am in a rented property, be worth while
because if I contact them and they get people out to change the faceplate and inspect the aeriel it will cost me a pretty penny, this is not a issue if it will fix my problem but I am loath
to spend the money and then have the same continuing problem with no joy.
I ask your help and thank you for any advice you can offer.
Whatever I can do to fix my Sky+ I will do but I need a plan of attack
that will get things fixed for good.

Regards
James

[reddwarfcrew]

okay, firstly:

as the engineer was aware of the problem, get straight back onto sky and get them to come out and fix it for free!

It could be that there is a faulty lnb, but if you switch the cables areound and the problem remains, then it is doubtful.

signal problems on lnb2 are normally assocaited with a failed hard drive.

As i say, get onto sky and tell them that the engineer knew there was a problem, but didnt stay to ensure it was fixed. They will either swap the lnb or swap the box (or both).

[Smithy99]

Ok, first let me just clarify:-

Do you have two seperate leads from the dish?

The faceplate you have, does it have two seperate sockets one for each feed? (LNB1 + LNB2) and do they each have a seperate lead that screws into them and then the receiver (with an f-plug on each end)?

If the answer is yes:-

Plug one lead at a time into LNB1, then check the signal, I expect you will get one showing fine and the other one not working.

Once you have identified the faulty one, make it with some tape or something so you know which it is, also mark with a pen the faceplate connection that coresponds with it.

Now try the other patchlead (the good one) in the "faulty" faceplate connector (this will rule out a damaged patchlead).

Cross your fingers and hope the the patchlead has a fault, this would explain why it was working for a while then died again, sometimes the inner solid core can break inside and depending on how it is bent can sometimes open and close.

If so then it is a simple job of getting or making a new one.

[Smithy99]

okay, firstly:

as the engineer was aware of the problem, get straight back onto sky and get them to come out and fix it for free!

It could be that there is a faulty lnb, but if you switch the cables areound and the problem remains, then it is doubtful.

signal problems on lnb2 are normally assocaited with a failed hard drive.

As i say, get onto sky and tell them that the engineer knew there was a problem, but didnt stay to ensure it was fixed. They will either swap the lnb or swap the box (or both).

This is a good option if you are a little aprehensive about fiddling with thie cables. You should get what you have paid for.

Not sure what Sky will do with a shared dish though, unless it was them who installed it, just hope it's not the LNB

[majestic2012]

It wasn't Sky who installed my dish, I had an initial dish from them with permission from the people who I rent from, about 2 years ago the people I'm renting from put a communal dish in as I am attached to another house that they rent to.

As you can imagine I'm positive that Sky will not touch the dish, It will be up to the factors, that's why I want to be positive that it is in fact the dish or the feed that is
at fault because the premium I'll need to pay the factors will be astronomical.

[majestic2012]

Ok, first let me just clarify:-

Do you have two seperate leads from the dish?

The faceplate you have, does it have two seperate sockets one for each feed? (LNB1 + LNB2) and do they each have a seperate lead that screws into them and then the receiver (with an f-plug on each end)?

If the answer is yes:-

Plug one lead at a time into LNB1, then check the signal, I expect you will get one showing fine and the other one not working.

Once you have identified the faulty one, make it with some tape or something so you know which it is, also mark with a pen the faceplate connection that coresponds with it.

Now try the other patchlead (the good one) in the "faulty" faceplate connector (this will rule out a damaged patchlead).

Cross your fingers and hope the the patchlead has a fault, this would explain why it was working for a while then died again, sometimes the inner solid core can break inside and depending on how it is bent can sometimes open and close.

If so then it is a simple job of getting or making a new one.

When I opened up the faceplate it has one feed that runs from the roof,
this then goes into a seperator, on the left is an fm port and on the right hand side is the port that my 2nd input gets the cable from.
Input 1 comes from a screwed in cable output and screws straight into the box.
Input 2 is screwed into the box but from the faceplate it is an old style
aeriel that has an aeriel converter attachment coming from the faceplate.

[Ratcliffes]

@majestic
If the dish is a proper communal dish serving a number of properties it will have a number of splitters and amplifiers, any of which together with any of the cables in the system could be the cause. If the dish serves just two properties, then it is most likely to be a domestic setup with a quad or octo LNB to give 2 or four feeds to each property.

The problem could be with the LNB (The bit on the end of the arm which sticks out of the dish) or just as likely the connection between the LNB and the cable. There isn't any easy way of diagnosing the fault unless it is visually obvious. If you can identify which connection to the LNB is the faulty one, you could swap it at the LNB end with the known good cable. If the fault swaps over then the cable or connection is the problem. If the fault doesn't swap, the problem is the LNB.

If you are not confident in what you are doing - I would suggest this kind of diagnosis is best left to a dish installer because it is painfully easy to pull the dish out of alignment which will bugger up the signal for you and the neighbour sharing the same dish. Realigning the dish is very difficult without a proper sat meter.

[Smithy99]

When I opened up the faceplate it has one feed that runs from the roof,
this then goes into a seperator, on the left is an fm port and on the right hand side is the port that my 2nd input gets the cable from.
Input 1 comes from a screwed in cable output and screws straight into the box.
Input 2 is screwed into the box but from the faceplate it is an old style
aeriel that has an aeriel converter attachment coming from the faceplate.

Sounds as if you only have one feed from the satellite dish to me, can you take some pics?

Depending on the amplifier, I would imagine that you have a standard TV aerial and an FM aerial linked (in a loft or cupboard somewhere) this is then seperated at the faceplate. You then have a seperate satellite feed for Sky, the problem is that Sky+ requires two seperate feeds, you cannot just split them.

You either need to contact the installers who may have an option for fitting another feed or see if one of youe neighbours has a feed that they are not using and tap into it.

Other than that you are stuffed