Sky Link "magic eye" problems, questions, and discussions

pody

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I have a magic eye used only as box is in a cupboard. It works well but sometimes I cannot turn the sky box on from Standby through the magic eye. I have to open the cupboard door and point it to the sky box.
Any ideas?
 
I have a magic eye used only as box is in a cupboard. It works well but sometimes I cannot turn the sky box on from Standby through the magic eye. I have to open the cupboard door and point it to the sky box.
Any ideas?

"It"??????
 
Sorry, point the Sky remote control to the Skybox inside the cupboard
 
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I am new to Sky and have to ask a dumb question. Just got a normal Sky +HD box installed. Obviously it has two tuners because it will need this for recording. But in the guide above it does not say if RF2 can show a different channel to the main TV? I only ask because I am used to a Multichoice (Africa) box that has this facility using a magic eye.
 
You only need the two tuners for recording one channel while watching another.
The RF Out sockets both carry whatever channel is selected on the machine for viewing.
"Magic eyes" are only for sending remote control back from another location to the Sky machine.
As your post is not about that but about getting the channel from the machine this isn't the right thread for it.
If you want further details ask and I can then move the posts to a new thread.
 
No need to move. I think you have answered the question. - RF1 and RF2 are always the same channel.

I posted here because the magic eye really comes into its own when there are two tuners and you can select a different channel in another room to the main one. I thought Sky used to do this in the past- but never having a Sky box before I'm not even 50% sure!
 
There's no way to select two programmes simultaneously and the Sky Digibox has no way to decode two programmes simultaneously, even if you could. It has only one decoder circuit. (A recording contains the raw (encrypted) transmission and has to be decoded when played back.)
 
There's no way to select two programmes simultaneously and the Sky Digibox has no way to decode two programmes simultaneously, even if you could. It has only one decoder circuit. (A recording contains the raw (encrypted) transmission and has to be decoded when played back.)

Actually that is not true in the technical sense. Sky may have made it that way so you have to buy another box.

I have a DsTV (Multichoice Africa)- dual decoder which has two tuners and one card. Using the second rf feed we can, with the magic eye for the remote, see a different program in the second room. That was what sparked my question- whether I can do the same in the UK with Sky.

As I say technically, you only need the one card and indeed I seem to remember some years ago a card sharer device was marketed (unauthorized by Sky)so you can run two decoders from one card.
 
Actually that is not true in the technical sense.

It is 100% true in all senses for the Sky Digibox (and you'll notice that the topic of this forum is Sky). Now we are straying way beyond the scope of this thread so I recommend this discussion be split off with a more appropriate title.
 
This should have been in the general forum, not this fixed specific thread so if there's any more to be said about it let's have that in a new standard thread.
 
Not an option for everyone but ive got Sky going in the bedroom by using the RF out and then just using the Sky app on my ipad to control it, so no need for a magic eye
 
Hi,

Just a quick question on this topic.

I am looking to purchase a splitter to have 2 magic eyes, one a each of two tv's, I have looked at a few splitters showing dc pass but they show only one way from the out connection on the splitter to the in connection.
Will the magic eyes work or will the splitter need to be bi-directional on dc pass?

Regards,

Magwhy
 
My Sky HD box failed and I self-installed a brand new Amstrad 2TB Sky HD DRX 895C on Saturday in the living room (Pioneer TV).
Since then the sound has been playing up on the kitchen TV which receives the signal via TV Link. Now, whenever I turn on the sky box from the kitchen we get the picture fine but no sound 75 % of the time; 25% of the switch-ons the sound comes through normally. Prior to the new box we had no sound problems. I have checked the settings on the new Sky box and they are the same as the previous one, and all the connections seem to be fine. I have force downloaded software and rebuilt the planner.
We have had one other sound problem on both TVs, we had no sound on either TV when viewing Sky Arts (SD or HD) the other evening, nor on any recordings made from Sky Arts at the time. However when I tried to watch the recorded programmes the next day, they did have sound (on both TVs)!
So I am not sure whether I may have a faulty box or whether there is a problem with the TV Link, although why it would suddenly stop working with the new box when it has been fine for years is a mystery.
I have spoken to Sky twice. The first man told me it was a problem with the remote control in the living room and made me take the batteries out, hold down select for 1 minute, then put batteries back in. This did not fix the kitchen sound so he then told me to speak to my kitchen TV manufacturer (Philips). I spoke to Sky again & they are sending an engineer tomorrow. I would really appreciate advice on what he should be looking at to troubleshoot this as I don't want to be fobbed off.
Very grateful, as always, for your help.
 
So I am not sure whether I may have a faulty box or whether there is a problem with the TV Link....

Have a read here http://www.avforums.com/forums/sky-sky-sky-hd-sky-3d/1765055-sky-other-rooms-playing-up-magic-eye.html and note the comments about the Eye.

It sounds as though you probably have a faulty Sky box although when faults are "intermittent" it is difficult to demonstrate to a Sky technician. Can you not reliably replicate the problem?

(PS that garbage about replacing the batteries in your remote is exactly that - garbage)

(PPS If you only installed the box last Saturday you will not have much recorded on it - you could try a complete system reset to see if that fixes the problem.)
 
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That you've had problems with both TVs makes it pretty certain that the problem is with the machine, though that would be very unusual.
It is connected to the main TV by HDMI, right?
 
:thumbsup:
And no further problems with that, but the problem is still there with the extension TV?
 
I have the Sky man coming tomorrow and have also booked the local engineer who set up the TVlinks in the first place booked to come on Thursday and check the system - it goes via a box in the loft.
Generally it's the kids who complain that there is no sound when they switch the sky box on from the kitchen at breakfast each day, then if I switch it on later in the day the kitchen sound will come on - or off - to no predictable pattern.
I haven't had sound problems on the main TV since the occasion with Sky Arts the other day. Sky assured me that they had no other complaints about the Sky Arts broadcast that night. Odd that it was only that channel (HD & SD) that had no sound! Of course I only checked a few other channels, which were all fine sound-wise...
 
No further problems with that but still the problem with the extension TV, yes.
 
OK, then it's much less likely that the problem is with the machine, and that means it's no longer Sky's responsibility.
Check that you've put the plug firmly into the machine's RF2 Out socket, then get the local man to fix the problem.

M P: Certainly the "magic eye" remote control isn't a problem, but the connections it uses probably are.
You're right though - this shouldn't be in the fixed thread and I've been considering setting it up separately.
 
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OK, then it's much less likely that the problem is with the machine, and that means it's no longer Sky's responsibility.
Check that you've put the plug firmly into the machine's RF2 Out socket, then get the local man to fix the problem.

MP: Please explain to Logi, (he is beginning to think I am getting at him), how analogue TV is transmitted - especially Intercarrier sound......

Logi: How do you explain the loss of sound on the main TV during a live broadcast but audible on the recording?
 
To put it simply, the audio and video signal of a UHF analogue TV transmission are virtually the same, (6Mhz in 700Mhz is the same to me).

If the transmitter, Sky box, VCR, TV station, is working correctly, and if the receiver is set to the correct PAL standard, then if you can receive video you can also receive audio. There is nothing in the transmission medium, be it cable or air, (other than a very highly tuned notch filter probably only avaliable to the military), that can affect this.

Ergo, if you can receive video but no sound then the transmitter or your receiver, (working faithfully for years), is at fault. Guess where my money is?
 
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