Puzzle - Suddenly no Freesat signal with Panasonic DMR-BS850EBK Twin Freesat Tuners 500GB HDD Blu-ray Recorder

Mel_P

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Hello - my ancient but treasured device was working OK last week - 90% strength on signal - recording OK - BUT then suddenly the tuner says "no signal on either of the tuners. I know it's old kit - but it did what I wanted. Recorded to HDD, archived to bluray.

I thought - ah must be the LNB - been outside since 2010 or before! So ordered a new dual LNB. SAME PROBLEM. Tuner says satellite cannot be found.

Amazon product ASIN B08D6QFHM5

"SLx LNB Twin Output, 4K Satellite HD 2 Output KU Band Universal for SKY HD/Freesat HD with MK4 Bracket"​

Got up ladder to replace the LNB. Bit corroded but removed cables, swopped LNB. If I cover front of LNB with hand signal goes down of signal strength meter. Red LED is lit showing power supplied to LNB. Did a factory reset on Pansonic. No difference.

SO - is there some known failure mode of the Panasonic box "Freesat" section? I dont want to bin the Pansonic and spend £250 on a 1TB HDD replacement unless I an sure the new box will work?

Any advice / test procedure please? Thanks, Mel
 
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Maybe the dish has moved in the recent storms.

Try your ancient treasured device on someone else’s known working dish.

Randomly changing parts such as a not very old LNB is pointless and a waste of money. I have LNBs from the ‘90s still working fine.
 
In my experience it's luck of the draw when it comes to LNB quality, but a good one should last a long time, especially if it's sheltered from the weather. That said, I had a relatively new LNB that would intermittently give no signal.

I'd start by getting the dish alignment checked by a professional. He/she/they can test the LNB to see what's going on, check alignment, signal and so forth. I suspect that on this occasion, it's the Panasonic that's developed a fault, especially as it's fairly long in the tooth. If so, it might be reparable. A Panasonic service centre is your friend.
 
I've got the same problem worth my DMR-BS850. I checked the lnb and found that the white end cap was cracked and I wrongfully deduced that, due to all the rain that we'd had, had caused the problem. After replacing the lnb,I still had the problem. As I had a tv with a freesat tuner, I screwed the cables into place and had perfect reception. I now need to find someone to look at it to hopefully fix this much beloved accessory.

If you know someone with with Sky take your unit round there and try it using their dish.
 
I've got the same problem worth my DMR-BS850. I checked the lnb and found that the white end cap was cracked and I wrongfully deduced that, due to all the rain that we'd had, had caused the problem. After replacing the lnb,I still had the problem. As I had a tv with a freesat tuner, I screwed the cables into place and had perfect reception. I now need to find someone to look at it to hopefully fix this much beloved accessory.

If you know someone with with Sky take your unit round there and try it using their dish.
As I said in my original post, my tv has the a Freesat tuner and, after connecting my satellite cables to that, it works fine. No problem from the LNB right down to the F connectors.
 
Hello - my ancient but treasured device was working OK last week - 90% strength on signal - recording OK - BUT then suddenly the tuner says "no signal on either of the tuners. I know it's old kit - but it did what I wanted. Recorded to HDD, archived to bluray.

I thought - ah must be the LNB - been outside since 2010 or before! So ordered a new dual LNB. SAME PROBLEM. Tuner says satellite cannot be found.

Amazon product ASIN B08D6QFHM5

"SLx LNB Twin Output, 4K Satellite HD 2 Output KU Band Universal for SKY HD/Freesat HD with MK4 Bracket"​

Got up ladder to replace the LNB. Bit corroded but removed cables, swopped LNB. If I cover front of LNB with hand signal goes down of signal strength meter. Red LED is lit showing power supplied to LNB. Did a factory reset on Pansonic. No difference.

SO - is there some known failure mode of the Panasonic box "Freesat" section? I dont want to bin the Pansonic and spend £250 on a 1TB HDD replacement unless I an sure the new box will work?

Any advice / test procedure please? Thanks, Mel
Hi. I've had the exact same problem and it was found to be various capacitors that had failed. After much searching, I finally found a guy in Tattershall that diagnosed and repaired my unit for £30 (May 2023). As I live in Louth, it was only 23 miles away, but I'm sure that he'd fix any of these units for the extra p&p. His name is Chris Sivill and his business is called "Sivill Service". His email is [email protected]
There's no charge if he can't fix it and will recycle it, if you don't want it returned.
 

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