Hello!
I have a strange problem with my Amstrad Sky+HD box which seems to have happened fairly recently. The box is about 8 years old and has the latest software.
Model number: R010.070.91.00P
Version number: 4F3006
Basically, I have the Sky+HD box in the lounge which is connected to the large TV via HDMI (through an amp) with no problems.
I also had the aerial plugged in to the Sky box with two RF outputs - one going to a TV in the bedroom (via the 'Return' socket on the wall) and the other going directly to a TV in the study, with infrared remote senders in both those rooms to control the Sky box in the lounge.
Until recently, this setup has worked fine but then I started to notice sound glitches on the audio going to the 2 smaller TVs via the RF/coaxial from the Sky box, which has got steadily worse, to the point that now there's either just a sort of wooshing sound, almost no audio at all, or Dalek-like distortions.
I have tried everything I can think of, including going in to the hidden Services-001 menu on the Sky box and changing the RF channel to variously different numbers, and retuning the TV's accordingly, but to no avail.
I also thought it must be a problem with the RF output from the Sky box, so I bought a Mercury SCART-to-RF modulator, connected to the Sky box by SCART and the two other TVs by the RF outputs on that.
That seemed to fix it, and all was working perfectly, I thought, but I got back from a week away last night and discovered the sound problem with this setup too!
Today, I've tried all sorts of other things too, such as trying to connect the SKY box to a TV via the composite audio ports, which yields the same results, as well as connecting the Sky box to a DVD player via SCART-to-SCART and then seeing what the audio is like through that on the main TV, but again, the sound is either virtually non-existent or heavily distorted!
So, I think I've ruled out a few things, ie, that it's nothing to do with the various TVs I'm connecting to, or the cables or any adapters etc, as it's the same result no matter how I connect anything up to it in an analogue way.
The optical audio and HDMI and everything to the main TV is fine - it's just the peripheral TVs through analogue connections which have the audio problems, although the picture is fine.
Freeview channels are also fine on the other TVs.
I don't want to call Sky because I know it will be an infuriating long conversation with a foreign call centre somewhere, where someone will relentlessly try to tell me how to tune my TV in and won't understand the problem at all!
I've looked at various forums, but cannot see anything about this.
Is it possible that the whole analogue-audio modulator in the Sky+ HD box is broken?
One other thing was that turning the Sky box off for a few mins, then on again, would restore the analogue sound, for a while, but then it would gradually deteriorate again and eventually settle on being inaudible as described above, so it does seem to be a fault with the Sky box itself.
Any thoughts on what this could be and whether it's fixable?
Many thanks in advance.
Matt
I have a strange problem with my Amstrad Sky+HD box which seems to have happened fairly recently. The box is about 8 years old and has the latest software.
Model number: R010.070.91.00P
Version number: 4F3006
Basically, I have the Sky+HD box in the lounge which is connected to the large TV via HDMI (through an amp) with no problems.
I also had the aerial plugged in to the Sky box with two RF outputs - one going to a TV in the bedroom (via the 'Return' socket on the wall) and the other going directly to a TV in the study, with infrared remote senders in both those rooms to control the Sky box in the lounge.
Until recently, this setup has worked fine but then I started to notice sound glitches on the audio going to the 2 smaller TVs via the RF/coaxial from the Sky box, which has got steadily worse, to the point that now there's either just a sort of wooshing sound, almost no audio at all, or Dalek-like distortions.
I have tried everything I can think of, including going in to the hidden Services-001 menu on the Sky box and changing the RF channel to variously different numbers, and retuning the TV's accordingly, but to no avail.
I also thought it must be a problem with the RF output from the Sky box, so I bought a Mercury SCART-to-RF modulator, connected to the Sky box by SCART and the two other TVs by the RF outputs on that.
That seemed to fix it, and all was working perfectly, I thought, but I got back from a week away last night and discovered the sound problem with this setup too!
Today, I've tried all sorts of other things too, such as trying to connect the SKY box to a TV via the composite audio ports, which yields the same results, as well as connecting the Sky box to a DVD player via SCART-to-SCART and then seeing what the audio is like through that on the main TV, but again, the sound is either virtually non-existent or heavily distorted!
So, I think I've ruled out a few things, ie, that it's nothing to do with the various TVs I'm connecting to, or the cables or any adapters etc, as it's the same result no matter how I connect anything up to it in an analogue way.
The optical audio and HDMI and everything to the main TV is fine - it's just the peripheral TVs through analogue connections which have the audio problems, although the picture is fine.
Freeview channels are also fine on the other TVs.
I don't want to call Sky because I know it will be an infuriating long conversation with a foreign call centre somewhere, where someone will relentlessly try to tell me how to tune my TV in and won't understand the problem at all!
I've looked at various forums, but cannot see anything about this.
Is it possible that the whole analogue-audio modulator in the Sky+ HD box is broken?
One other thing was that turning the Sky box off for a few mins, then on again, would restore the analogue sound, for a while, but then it would gradually deteriorate again and eventually settle on being inaudible as described above, so it does seem to be a fault with the Sky box itself.
Any thoughts on what this could be and whether it's fixable?
Many thanks in advance.
Matt
