Satellite dish no signal issue

[mrvillicus]

Hello all, we moved into a rental recently and I'm having an issue with the aerial. The property has a sky dish installed and the landlord has told me he previously had Sky.

We purchased a Freesat box and although it'll find 108 channels, once we click on a channel all we see is "no signal", during the setup process it also said "Freesat transponder not found".

This leads me to believe there is an issue with the satellite dish, what I don't understand is why it'll pick satellite channels up but can't find a signal, would anyone have an idea what the issue may be?

There's also an issue with the normal TV antenna, it simply doesn't work, we can't get a signal at all from it which leads me to think this must of been disconnected at some point. I've attached some images of the wiring that's coming into the house in case it helps.

many thanks

 

[ChuckMountain]

Just to clarify the lab gear splitter isn’t connected to the two cables on the second picture? For the lab gear where do the cables run to and from?

The second picture looks like a relatively new sky install and I have the same connectors on the cables to my sky q box. With sky q they change the lnb to a wideband lnb which will not normally with a freesat box unless it also supports wideband lnb. If this is the case then you would either need to check if you freeesat box supports this and enable if appropriate. Or change the lnb on the satellite back to a “normal” one. Ask your landlord if they had sky q

 

[mrvillicus]

Just to clarify the lab gear splitter isn’t connected to the two cables on the second picture? For the lab gear where do the cables run to and from?

The second picture looks like a relatively new sky install and I have the same connectors on the cables to my sky q box. With sky q they change the lnb to a wideband lnb which will not normally with a freesat box unless it also supports wideband lnb. If this is the case then you would either need to check if you freeesat box supports this and enable if appropriate. Or change the lnb on the satellite back to a “normal” one. Ask your landlord if they had sky q

correct the labgear is not connected to the 2 wires, I've tried to trace the labgear wires and they seem to enter the house midway somewhere, I cant see where they come from.

I will message the landlord, what is LNB?

Thanks for your reply!

 

[ChuckMountain]

what is LNB?

It's an acronym for Low-Noise Block downconverter, and it is the device the satellite dish focuses the satellite signal and converts it to a wired signal. It's the bit on the end of the arm where the wires connect to. Before Sky Q came along, there was only one type Sky would use with the only option being the number of cables the LNB could support with it often being 4. Sky Q introduced a wideband LNB that works slightly differently, hence whatever is plugged into the cables needs to support it.

Often modern devices will use the Internet to get the channel frequencies for a given satellite, rather than tuning in manually. Did you connect your sat box to the Internet as well?

correct the labgear is not connected to the 2 wires, I've tried to trace the labgear wires and they seem to enter the house midway somewhere, I cant see where they come from.

That looks just like a passive aerial splitter and I would have expected an aerial feed to be coming into the centre input and then the other two cables going to two other TVs\rooms. Does the aerial outlet in the wall connect to any of the labgear cables? It could be the wall socket is not in use any more. (No need for it really if you have Sky)

Do any other rooms have TV outlets and do they work? If they do you could potentially get a triple splitter or use one of out connectors from the splitter into the lounge TV. Just need the right cable\adapter depending on what's already there.

 

[Rodders53]

What make and model of this freesat box? "Freesat (home) transponder not found" suggests dish is, perhaps, not pointing at Astra 2?

Most freesat boxes ask for a postcode input during a first time install, and that needs the home transponder to be receivable. It usually stalls any further progress. I know of none (freesat approved) that use the internet for tuning data.

NB The latest freesat 4k boxes are $ky Q lnb compatible.

UHF TV aerial: can you see it? where is it?
Approximate location (for transmitter signal prediction)? Postcode of a shop, pub, church, school nearby (ideally within 100 m or so).
Do try connecting a TV to those 'out's or even the 'in' cable to see if they work.

Possible there's a masthead amplifier needing 5V-12V DC supply and the previous tenant ('s movers) took the Power block?
Some TVs (and Freeview PVRs) have an 'antenna power' option that could be used for that? Worth a try: no damage can be done turning it on.

 

[mrvillicus]

Update. issue solved chaps, as above the Freesat box was incompatible with the installed sky dish. I've purchased a £10 indoor aerial which has allowed me to use the in built Freeview in the TV!