0% Signal Strength, but 80% Signal Quality!

Garry73

Standard Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2012
Messages
12
Reaction score
3
Points
3
Hi All, I'm helping my dad connect his Freesat enabled TV to an old Skydish which hasn't been used by him previously but which we think was used by the previous house owners ~3 years ago.
After connecting up and doing an auto tune the TV finds 145 satellite channels but all of them show Zero Strength, but 70 - 80% for Signal Quality.
No signal when trying to view and when you put in your postcode to localise the content we get a pop up saying that localised content is unavailable

Most threads talk about problems which are the opposite way round, i.e. high(er) strength, low quality, so I'm trying to understand if Zero strength but high quality is indicative of a particular issue?

I've attached some shots of what I see when I'm auto tuning...

1643554931310.jpeg

1643554982307.jpeg


Do folks think that alignment is possibly off? I've checked the dish brackets for signs of movement and its seized up nicely with no signs of having moved, but obviously not impossible.
LNB appears visually okay, I'm going to take the connectors off and clean them up. Feels like it's ALMOST there!
 
Picture of dish LNB may be useful to ensure it is a Universal/Legacy LNB and not a $ky Q job which doesn't understand the mode signalling (Volts and 22kHz tone).
Two connections only = likely to be Q and will need a new LNB.

Which model of Panny TV is it? (Menus look like Panny).

Note the searching menu shows a full 10 (100%) bar in grey rather than blue. On the signal condition menu 0 = black bars. I've no idea what that light grey means, though.
 
Thanks Rodders 53,
You're right, TV Model is Panasonic TX-L37D25BA.

Picture of LNB follows:-
Sky EL020

1643558759684.jpeg


Forgive my ignorance but the two coax cables from the LNB terminate at a two coax type socket behind the TV (is new, fitted during refurb) and we're only connecting to one of them (have tried both with no joy either way) as this then connects straight into the satellite connector on the TV. I'm assuming that the two connectors would allow a Freesat twin tuner/ recorder to be connected or the Sky equivalent.
Sky EL020

1643558759684.jpeg



Forgive my ignorance but the two coax cables from the LNB terminate at a two coax type socket behind the TV (is new, fitted during refurb) and we're only connecting to one of them (have tried both with no joy either way) as this then connects straight into the satellite connector on the TV. I'm assuming that the two connectors would allow a Freesat twin tuner/ recorder to be connected or the Sky equivalent?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It clearly says wideband LNB on it above the CE mark.

Sorry but that is a non standard LNB that sky use for Q. You will need to change it (or get it changed) for a standard LNB.
 
Thanks Winston2010, are you able to send me a link to what you think we need?
 
Put standard sky LNB into a search engine and you’ll get plenty of options.
 
Thanks Winston2010, are you able to send me a link to what you think we need?
Visiblewave 4-Output Universal Quad LNB is an example (Other sellers and brands of compatible LNB are available).

As long as you can safely access the dish it's an easy swap... You Tube may well have videos of how.

Alternatively if you are buying a new PVR the freesat 4k box will work with the existing LNB and cables (it needs both). But the TV will just be a monitor connected via hdmi. Recordable 4K TV Box
 
Visiblewave 4-Output Universal Quad LNB is an example (Other sellers and brands of compatible LNB are available).

As long as you can safely access the dish it's an easy swap... You Tube may well have videos of how.

Alternatively if you are buying a new PVR the freesat 4k box will work with the existing LNB and cables (it needs both). But the TV will just be a monitor connected via hdmi. Recordable 4K TV Box
Thanks Rodders53, bought a Quad LNB online and it worked straight out of the box. Cheers! :)
 
Visiblewave 4-Output Universal Quad LNB is an example (Other sellers and brands of compatible LNB are available).

As long as you can safely access the dish it's an easy swap... You Tube may well have videos of how.

Alternatively if you are buying a new PVR the freesat 4k box will work with the existing LNB and cables (it needs both). But the TV will just be a monitor connected via hdmi. Recordable 4K TV Box
I have easy access to my dish. I have just ended my contract with Sky Q and bought the Screwfix LNB which is meant to be a straight swap.
I get 100% signal and flicking between 0% and 10% quality.
When I put the Sky LNB back I get 90% signal and 70% quality.
Any idea what is going on as I’m stumped.
 
Last edited:
Insufficient data to compute.

What (freesat) receiver are you using?

LNBs need to match dish / arm precisely. The new Mk4 lnb may not accurately fit an older dish/arm, so the beam is nit accurately focused on the important bit.

Perhaps start from scratch with dish fine alignment, including skew, and the LNB to peak the quality especially.
 
Thanks. It was using my Sony 65x89j and the sky dish I used for sky Q. In the last hour I have just renewed with Sky with a good price so it’s academic now, although it would still be nice to know why it didn’t work.
 
Thanks. It was using my Sony 65x89j and the sky dish I used for sky Q. In the last hour I have just renewed with Sky with a good price so it’s academic now, although it would still be nice to know why it didn’t work.

Don't know how 'accurate' $ky Q metering is and if pre- or post- error corrections and any auto gain control.... But, to me your 90S looks adequate but 70Q probably means lots of errors... dish / lnb alignment being the prime suspect. See post#8 of its showing satellite signal looks good but it keeps cutting off

A quad lnb may be heavier than the twin Q lnb and made the arm droop (dish would need arm supported by fishing line or tilting down a fraction to compensate) and if the dish alignment was sub-optimal in the first place...

The Sony metering will be "different" due to the designers being different - there's no standard or calibration involved usually in TV maker land.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom