Skipping, dipping and freezing with Sky+...

[Worf55]

Hello!

I moved around 5 months ago, and had Sky+ installed at the old place for over a year with hardly any issues. But that might just be coincidental.

A few weeks after moving I encountered a problem - the sound dips, the image skips and occasionally freezes on recorded programmes and live programmes whilst recording.

The frustrating thing is - It is inconsistent. I can watch a perfectly good recorded programme one week, and the next week when the show is on again - it may be all skippy and sound jumpy.

Although, recently, the issue has become more frequent - thus why I am here!

I have an Amstrad Sky+ box.

I have done a signal test, the Input 1 reads S:75% and Q:60%. Input 2 reads S:60% and Q:60%. However, these readings themselves can be quite inconsistent.

Is there a solution to this problem?

[FRANTIC FRANC]

Better to book a service call as it will be under the moving home warranty. A number of issues can be relevent. The line of sight may be an issue, the cable used and or run of the cable (length and number of bends). Even the LNB may be faulty compared to the last one. Sometimes even the fact that the box has been unplugged for some time and transported can kill boxes (I've seen this happen about 50 times in the last 2 years). Try swapping the 2 dish cables on the back of the stb and see if it makes any differnce.
Cheers, Franc

[Cupart]

It could be the LNB. Do you have any means of testing the LNB by replacing it with a known working one?

[Worf55]

Thanks for the help so far! ...

I just did a little test.

Was watching UKTV Food, and recorded a programme on UKTV Style+1. Two randomly selected channels.

The live view (UKTV Food) was fine. However, the recorded programme (UKTV Style+1) was really bad.

I then swapped the input cables on the back of the Sky+ box around. So presumably Input 1 was now Input 2 etc.

Then I done the test using the same channels, with the exact same result. Live view UKTV Food was fine, and recorded UKTV Style+1 was really bad.

Does this mean that it is the box which is at fault?

Can anyone suggest anything I can do before having to go through the irritating hell of Sky customer service?

[SamRadford]

Well, you've eliminated the cables. So it could be caused by the Digibox, the LNB, the dish alignment/LNB skew, local interference, or something partially blocking the signal (tree?) So keep going. One down, five to eliminate.

[Worf55]

Originally Posted by SamRadford

Well, you've eliminated the cables. So it could be caused by the Digibox, the LNB, the dish alignment/LNB skew, local interference, or something partially blocking the signal (tree?) So keep going. One down, five to eliminate.

Surely if it was the LNB then the problem would have been reversed from Live-to-Recorded when I changed over the cables, or does it not work like that? In fact, that is something I have always wondered - how does Sky+ handle the inputs?

What resets, reboots and general things can I do to the Digibox?

I do have a few tiny weeping willow tree branches in the general direction of the dish, but it really doesn't seem enough to cause any issues. I have lived in a property that had 3 really huge and dense trees screening the entire sight of the dish, with only problems in heavy rain.

Thanks for the help thus far! :D