damn trees

dave76

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moved house at xmas and hooked in the dish on the house next door (which they dont use now) - all was fine. Over the last couple of weeks the trees have come out with their leaves and the signal has gone altogether now :( (bbc went first, then fx and after the weekend I have no signal strength/quality/lock at all).

I *think* it is a coincidence that I have just upgraded my hard disk to 1GB - but the box was unplugged for a couple of days while I did the copying and I know this can sometimes affect power supplies. I am going with the tree theory for now though.

Cant relocate the dish on the neighbours so gonna have to think about getting myself a new dish put up, needs to go on a very long pole though (existing one must be 12') - I reckon if it goes up on the other side to the current one we might get past the offending tree with a similar size pole. Any idea how much it costs to do this kind of thing? No new cables needed, just a new dish on a pole.
 
Same thing happened to us last year, moved into a houe and couldnt get freeview and then the trees got pruned just before the winter and the reception got a lot better, summer is now back :D but now my freeview is going :hiya:
 
well I have freeview so not all that bad - the even more annoying thing is I cannot watch all the stuff I have recorded on the HD box because there is no live signal, whats that all about??
 
well I have freeview so not all that bad - the even more annoying thing is I cannot watch all the stuff I have recorded on the HD box because there is no live signal, whats that all about??

Yeah, you have to have a current valid subscription for a given channel even to watch an old recording of it. The box checks this by way of a satellite signal, so no signal, no recordings.

When I moved house I thought I'd be able to watch all my recorded stuff while waiting for the new install, but no, for this reason.
 
still looking into this but it looks like it will be expensive to remedy (in a conservation area so its a bit limited). I am thinking of just going without for the summer months (maybe give me an excuse to get blu-ray player :D) this year and wait for it to come back in the autumn when the leaves fall.

1. Can I reduce my subscription to a very low level for a few months, whats the lowest I can go while still being able to get everything back in the autumn?

2. All my recordings that I cant watch now as I have no signal - will they survive until my signal and sub come back in the autumn?
 
I *think* it is a coincidence that I have just upgraded my hard disk to 1GB

1GB - yikes. You might be able to fit ITVs coverage of the CL final on it, but not much else.

As for the issue - would seem odd that the location of the dish was not an issue for the previous user in the summer?

Could be that there is another issue that has co-incided with the upgrade - might be worth getting someone out (local sat installer) to check?
 
1GB - yikes. You might be able to fit ITVs coverage of the CL final on it, but not much else.

As for the issue - would seem odd that the location of the dish was not an issue for the previous user in the summer?

Could be that there is another issue that has co-incided with the upgrade - might be worth getting someone out (local sat installer) to check?

lol - 1TB I meant :D

I imagine the previous users did have the same problem but I dont know for sure.
 
1. Can I reduce my subscription to a very low level for a few months, whats the lowest I can go while still being able to get everything back in the autumn?

2. All my recordings that I cant watch now as I have no signal - will they survive until my signal and sub come back in the autumn?

The lowest is £16 a month.
The recordings should be fine.
 
Maybe replacing the dish would help, or the LNB. Old dishes and LNB do gradually lose the signal strength for some reason, and the HD box seems more sensitive to drop in signal, once it gets below 50% it basically loses the will to live. I regret not getting a new free dish when I had my HD installed, a slight breeze and the box falls over on input 2, input 1 is fine.
 
well I have a man coming to look at it on wednesday, see what he reckons
 
Maybe replacing the dish would help, or the LNB. Old dishes and LNB do gradually lose the signal strength for some reason, and the HD box seems more sensitive to drop in signal, once it gets below 50% it basically loses the will to live. I regret not getting a new free dish when I had my HD installed, a slight breeze and the box falls over on input 2, input 1 is fine.

it supposedly had a new lnb in january when I moved in as there was only a single output lnb up there and he changed it for a quad. The dish wasnt changed though.
 
I've encountered the same problem. A change of satellite direction might help, but I doubt if Sky will reposition it for me! Anyone with advice of alternative setups ( I can avoid the trees by pointing the dish slightly down the hill where I live), especially alternative satellites?
 
There is a simple solution to your problem

Its called a CHAINSAW!! :D

Sorry - couldn't resist - hope you get it sorted
 
i had huge trees blocking my signal years ago, then they cut them down to develop the site behind my house into cheap flats!! luckily this got changed and they built a focus diy store there, so i have great signal and privacy due to no flats
 
Get a good installer (ie not sky!) out to look at your dish and LNB. You may find a bigger, better positioned dish will help, with a more sensitive LNB. Even in a conservation area you can have dish up to 90cm. AND you may be able to do something with the tree remember the signal is not coming in the direction of the axis of the dish but at an angle pointing upwards.
 
Now that is a good idea - are sky installers normally not the best in the business then? When the guy came out to install from Sky, he was quite thorough (although I was not there to witness it). Thanks for the suggestion.
 
You can also have a steel pole attached to your wall and then the dish at the top of that (will give an extra few feet) or a pole in your garden - another thought is to get in the tree and tie some of the branches together - best done at night if not yours!!!!:devil:
 
If i pay for somethink, like most of us do, sky tv for one, no matter what tree, or who it belongs too, begins to, or shows signs of blocking my reception, id hack said tree down. I agree this isnt always possible , but im pretty sure i would find a way. Neighbours and council are a pain, avoid them , and their flippin trees. :D
 
Now that is a good idea - are sky installers normally not the best in the business then? When the guy came out to install from Sky, he was quite thorough (although I was not there to witness it). Thanks for the suggestion.

They get a standard installation fee so they will not come up with an expensive solution, they are not allowed in your roof space and are not allowed to attach a dish to your chimney. They use 45cm oval dishes when 60cm round ones produce better reception in bad weather.........................

Pick a good independant installer and you'll pay a bit more and may get a better service. Pick a bad one and you'll get a bodged installation and be ripped off. My mother had an installer that had been featured on "rogue traders"!

However the sky installers themselves as opposed to subcontractors can often be often helpful, honest and knowledgable -they just have their hands tied.
 

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