Lost recording feature on Sky+

pantages

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My Sky+ stb has a fault in that it has lost its recording facility. I had an on screen message stating, "System fault. Sky+ playback and recording are unavailable" and I noted that all my stored programmes had disappeared. In the setup menu I found that the second LNB input was showing 'not locked' so I swapped the LNB leads to see if it made a difference. It didn't. I then rang Sky+ who talked me through a checking procedure, which did not change anything. I am now awaiting an engineer's visit on Wednesday. Is there anything I can do in the meantime to try to rectify the problem? I really don't fancy having a refurbished box when mine is only six months old.
 
Hi,

I had exactly this scenario including Input 2 not locked and the same result when I switched them.

I paid the £65 - the engineer checked the signal on the cable for my Input 2 and found it was "No Signal". He checked the connections at the dish to the LNB and found that they were loose and had water in them - my problems had started during heavy rain.

Box still wouldn't work though and he then discovered that the Terrestrial cable connecting into my DVD Recorder was badly fitted and was shorting the box (?) so he cut the cable, and fitted a new connector and all was well.

During the hour he was with me he replaced everything - box, LNB, Cable - and none of it proved responsible. I still have my old box but I don't have my old £65.

One thing though - I did not lose the ability to play existing recordings - just couldn't record. So perhaps my post is a bit of a red herring.

If you like clinging to the side of buidlings and you think you know what you are doing with Connections in the LNB then have a go at that. Otherwise - get your money ready and make them earn it.

Roger
 
Thanks Roger, I'll check out my LNB's later. However as I have swapped the inputs to the Sky+ box, and the result is just the same, it would seem the LNB and cables are okay. What is the £65 you refer to? As my system is only 6 months old surely it is covered by guarantee?
 
The £65 is what Sky charge if they have to come out - but....I got mine more than 2 years ago now so one would hope that you wouldn't get exposed to this. If you have already spoken to them then they should have mentioned it if they want to do it.

My Input 1 was okay. Input 2 Not Locked. I unscrewed the cabels in the back of the box and swapped them over and both Inputs were Not Locked.

Its a nice day for hanging off the side of the house anyway. Don't do it tomorrow mind....

Roger
 
Originally posted by pantages
What is the £65 you refer to? As my system is only 6 months old surely it is covered by guarantee?



SKY hardware has a 12 month warranty, any problems in that period you should make full use of the warranty since once it runs out they are not very co-operative:)
 
You're quite right Starburst. My experience of Sky is of two extremes, either they are genuinely very helpful or they can be absolutely non-cooperative! As nothing was mentioned about costs I will assume the guarantee is effective. My ladder is out now and I'll be inspecting the LNB shortly. Thanks again.
 
If you've swapped the cables over and still got the same fault - it can't be your LNB. Think about it - if you swapped the cables over and you got the same result - your LNB cannot possibly be at fault, can it?!

The Sky+ box has two tuners. Yours sounds as if one of them has gone down. If that's the case, the repair will be a d*mn sight more than £65.00!

If you are out of warranty you do not have to call Sky out and pay their £65.00 call out charge. There are many decent independents out there who charge a lot less and will (arguably) do a better job of repairing a Sky system.

However, in this case it may be the best course of action. Sure, you will get a recon box but you will be back up and running for £65.00 max.

Put your ladder away and dig deep!

Hope this helps.
 
LNB is fine and proven so. The box is still under warranty so there should be no charge. In any case Sky call centre should have told me if there was likely to be. Thanks anyway, I'll have to wait until Wednesday.
 
Sky's 'engineer' arrived on time today with a straight forward replacement box. Guess what? It was faulty!! Sound only, no picture from the scart. I use it with a plasma with no tuner, so no RF routing as an alternative. Now my old box is back in place which at least allows me to watch Sky although I can't record. The next call out to me is on Saturday when hopefully I will have a box that works. And the boxes are 'repaired - as new' and we have no choice other than to accept. I have asked Sky for credit which they will do when I am satisfied that everything is working as it should.
 
This is not strictly true.In the 10 months that I have had Sky+, I have had 3 replacement boxes 2 LNB's and another time where the engineer checked the cabling.The last engineer I had out was last Friday to replace my STB as input 2 had gone, come Sunday I had no picture at all(input 1 now gone), so I swapped over the leads and still only got input 2 working, so its not the fault of the cabling or the LNB.I then spoke to a extremely arguementative woman from Sky, who told me (you'll laugh at this) "The cabling must be affecting you're Sky+ boxes, so we will have an enginner to look at it", I told the woman repeatedly it wasn't the cabling or LNB.Wednesday comes and the 3rd party engineer comes along checkes the box, and checks both feeds(which checks cabling and LNB) and told me that the box had gone on input 1, which was no surprise to me.He then told me that he didn't have a replacement box for me because the comments on the work sheet said that the cabling and LNB needed looking at, so still no Sky+ for me.On the phone AGAIN to Sky+ and after 1 hour and 10 mins and being put on the next person in the chain of command I am now getting a BRAND NEW box on Sunday, with an engineer that won't be leaving until it's sorted, plus 2 months free subscription.
This leads me to these conclusions (partly provided by Wednesdays engineer).Firstly if you are having repeat problems with boxes, then you can demand a BRAND NEW replacement, as the refurb. ones are not fit for purpose (and Sky+ did back down on this, as it's sale of goods act), also all the crap they give you about an engineer not being able to give a specific time is also rubbish.The last engineer that came to me said the people that shout the most(within reason of course, and don't swear , as they can put the phone down on you if you do), will get what they want, as Sky and Sky+ do this on purpose to see what they can get away with(engineer is an ex Sky employee).
If you have any further questions or comments, please ask.

Andy
 
Interesting reading, Andy, and I understand exactly what you mean about attitude. I will wait and see what happens on Saturday and if I am not satisfied then I will make some forceful comments to Sky.
 
Replacement stb installed yesterday and working fine. It turns out that the stb brought to me on Wednesday was NOT faulty. Using an RGB input on plasma means the Sky+ box needed to be changed from composite to RGB and the only way you can do that is if you can see the picture menu! As the stb defaults to composite and the plasma to RGB, yesterday we counted the number of button presses required to switch to RGB and as soon as it did there was a picture! Of course, it could have been easier to change the setting before removing the old box. I hope this is clear and it is a useful tip for anyone else in future.
 

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