Sky dish/cabling issue, what's the best plan?

Diapason

Established Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2003
Messages
281
Reaction score
8
Points
74
Location
Dublin
Apparently some inclement weather has had an effect on our Sky dish, and it looks like the cables (which used to be taped to the mountings for security) have come loose. Signal quality had been dropping over the last week and becoming more intermittent in the breeze, but now it's gone completely on both lines. This happened before, but back then everything was still under warranty so Sky sorted it. This time they want €100 to send an "engineer" out, but here's the kicker: our dish is mounted on our chimney stack (2-storey house) and everything I've read and heard suggests that Sky's installers are no longer allowed to go up there.

I'm trying to figure out the best plan of attack. I'm 99% sure that all that's required is a reseating of the cables into the LNB on the dish, and then taping them up again to stop them jiggling free. I don't think the dish itself has blown out of alignment, as it looks pretty stable. If I had any kind of balls I'd just get on the roof and do it myself, but I don't so I won't.

Should I just suck it up and pay Sky whatever they want, safe in the knowledge that they're going to insist on installing a new dish elsewhere? If so, can I expect this to cost more? Should I do the "I'm cancelling" thing with Sky and see what they offer me? When I spoke to them last night they tried to put me through to cancellations but I was holding too long so hung up. Before I talk to them I want to know what I can realistically expect. FWIW I've been with Sky for 7ish years, HD for most of that time, 160gig Pace box that's never been replaced, and have never got any offers or reductions off the monthly Sky bill. Paying for movies, no sports, no multiroom.

Anyone any thoughts? I don't want to pay through the nose due to lack of knowledge of what options might be available. I'll be taking the polite persistence approach for now at least, but I don't want to be without TV for too long either.
 
Last edited:
Yes, P P is the right approach, and do it the P P way, first giving them all the details, quite briefly, in a message on the form at MySky.
One thing's for sure, you should have had a new machine long ago.;)
 
Last edited:
Thanks Logi.

I agree about the machine. I was kind of waiting for it to die (which is a bit foolish really) but I think I'll go looking now. At least on that score I'm not in a hurry.
 
So, turned out not to be cabling after all...

985BEAB7-orig.jpg
 
Oh dear.:eek:
 
Dish is (was!) about 6 or 7 years old, and we live close to the sea so I suppose there's a bit of salty air around, but even still. The real mystery is how we were seeing any signal at all!

In the end I bypassed Sky and called a local installer on Friday to get the job done asap, and it worked out very well financially speaking (compared to Sky's call out charge). Hard to say what Sky might have offered if I'd gone through the usual process, but I just didn't want to wait. I will shortly be contacting Sky to look for a new box and a discount anyway. I also want to add Sports to my package (have Movies already) but don't want to pay for it, so we'll hope that Sky are receptive.
 
This is why I recommend painting the dish and bracket. :)
Alternatively, install a fibreglass "Seaside dish" and protect metal parts with Denso tape.
 
It's just as well I can't get onto the roof easily. I'd be forever tinkering!
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom