sky+ stations jumping and general weirdness

[guapagirl]

Hello, sorry if it's rude to make a first post as a request for help, but I'm going up the wall to work out if it's the TV or the Sky+ box.

Basically what happens is when I'm watching, the programme will suddenly just jump to either another station or more often a radio station. Sometimes I can manage to turn the Sky+ box off but this seems to make absolutely no difference at all. The TV is still running all the way through all the stations and then landing on one for a few minutes before again jumping.

Sometimes the TV stays on a station for an hour or so, some times we get 20 seconds of one thing, then 40 secs of another and maybe a minute or two of something else and so on. It's like watching TV with a poltergeist with ADHD. Most of the time the controls either on the remote or the actual buttons on the box are unresponsive.

I've done a re-boot which wiped the HD and that didn't work. unplugging all the cables and replugging them in helped for a day but it's now back to its usual tricks. Given that we get the channel jumping when the Sky box is turned onto standby, I thought maybe it's the TV. Because of where we live, there is no signal coming to the TV when we disconnect it from the Sky+ box.

I'm really really not terribly technically literate, so any advice, please imagine I'm your 90 year old granny!

Many thanks for the hopefully forthcoming help!

[jasonmark38]

This might be a symptom of failing batteries or a sticking button on the remote control. Have you checked this? To eliminate the remote, turn it 180° so it isn't pointing at the sky box, so the sky box can't receive the signal from it. If the fault still occurs, it is the box. If it doesn't it is the remote.
If you need a new remote and your box is out of the 12 months warranty, you can pick a new one up for less than a tenner on ebay/amazon.
Make sure it is the right one for your box. Do you have a Sky+ box (silver), or a Sky HD box (black)?

[guapagirl]

Hi Jason, thanks for the reply.

I think the other half tried that but I'll test it to be sure. The problem is, is sometimes it works fine for a couple of hours or so and because we don't watch it that much except for recording stuff. I've stuck it on mute (we've rediscovered the joy of the record player since it went dippy; technology you can trust!) and it has been fine for the last 5 minutes.

I have the sky+ white box. I think it's about 18 months old.

Coincidentally, we got scammed into satellite insurance by some really dodgy company which I went and cancelled three days before it started going funny. the OH thinks that it's some kind of revenge attack :eyeroll:

will report back

[guapagirl]

OK, well hiding the remote worked for a bit. Or it stopped doing it for a while anyway. It did it once watching a recording but we turned to standby and back on again and it was ok for another half hour. Then it went running through radio channels and then went to saying 'no signal' and then back to jumping constantly.

the screen is black with a white lined square in the top right which runs through from 800 to whatever channel it lands on. which is never the one we want. it's almost as if the TV is searching for a signal.

So TV or sky+ box ?

Yours in frustration, Guapagirl.

[jasonmark38]

Have you tried different batteries or a different remote control? Check the channel buttons on the remote and sky box are not stuck down. I think it is worth trying another remote control, because the buttons/contacts may have worn inside causing it to change channel randomly. If this doesn't fix the problem, then it must be an internal fault with the sky box. It can't be a fault with the tv as this wouldn't make your sky box change channel.

For out of warranty faults I would ring the normal Sky number 08442 414141 and select the TV faults option. Speak to them first and explain the problem, When they say "it's £65 for a call out", ask to be put through to the Cancellations department. That usually does the trick, i.e. they may offer you a free call out and replace the box with a refurb with 3 months warranty. Either department may offer a free call out, but it is more likely to be Cancellations as they don't want to lose the business.

[guapagirl]

ahhh a sneaky but very creative solution! will do so in the morning. Thank you so much!

[guapagirl]

OK, well I think it's actually the TV. I had the skybox unplugged from the mains and it is coming on and off on its own and running through all the channels like before.

[jasonmark38]

Have you checked your TV remote for the same issues? Could be the batteries or a stuck button. You can make sure by turning the remote away from the TV and see if you still have the issue. If not, you may need a new remote. You can get a "copy", "clone" or "universal" remote much cheaper than an original one.

[guapagirl]

yeah, we tried that because of what you said about the sky remote. Looks like the TV is bust 3 months out of the warranty. Time to go waving the sale of goods act in currys.

Thanks so much for the help and information, though.