SKY Tv aerial cable too short; lose sky sport when I use DSE extension

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fundars

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#133618 28-Oct-2013 12:57

Hey guys

Had a look but couldn't see if this had been asked before. Apologies if it has, any help much appreciated!

Currently rearranging my lounge and have found my Sky aerial (F type) cable is too short. Went down to Dick Smith and grabbed a longer cable, along with one of their connection points (to accept male cable entry from both ends).

Plugged it all in, everything ran perfect, great picture etc. Until I decided I might watch the Kiwis game this morning... where upon I found I couldn't pick up my Sky Sport channels at all! Every other channel I'm subscribed to worked fine, just not Sky Sport. Plugged it back into my old cable with no extension and Sky Sport came back online.

Called Sky, they didnt want a bar of it (no surprises there). Said they wouldn't reset my connection and I would just have to live with it. Yet another time i've raged against their monopoly! The Sky box I have is a MySky HDI.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling, but has anyone else had this problem? Any fixes for it? And if a reset would work, how do I do this, and will I lose my recorded content?

As I said, any helpful tips will be more than appreciated!

Peter

RunningMan

8953 posts

Uber Geek

#923008 28-Oct-2013 13:11

Double check your connections, make sure everything is nice and tight and clean.

If that fails, the only likely problem is that your signal strength is very marginal, and the extra cable length is enough for the signal to drop below the cut off.

If that was the case, I also expect you to see a lot of rain fade and similar.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#923010 28-Oct-2013 13:15

It's not Sky's problem. Sounds to me like the new cable you got is poor quality and the adaptors are degrading the signal. It's probably not rg6 quad.
Try another cable with the proper connectors each end.

RunningMan

8953 posts

Uber Geek

#923013 28-Oct-2013 13:23

Hmm good point B1gglz.

Is this the type of cable you have?
http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/tv-video-cables/titanium-series-cable-tv-f-plug-f-plug-5m-dsnz-ca1411

If so, they don't list any specs for them, or even the type of cable used - they may not be rated to satellite frequencies, and the lower frequency transponders are OK, higher don't make it through.

Looks like a similar issue from several years ago here:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=30339

They do look nice though ;-)

fundars

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#923015 28-Oct-2013 13:32

Thanks for the quick replies.

Cable i bought was this one here: http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/antennas/tv-video-ld-1-5m-cbl-f-pal-plg-dsnz-l4264
Wary of going back, returning cable I bought and forking out for the one Runningman linked to; will it actually solve the problem or will nothing change?

RunningMan: havent had any problems with rain fade in the past. Signal strength usually pretty good.

B1GGLZ: I see your point, but wouldnt that affect every channel I subscribe to? It seems odd to me that the picture is perfect on every channel but I cant even pick up Sky Sports. As far as using the proper connectors at each end; I have done that, I just needed the adaptor (which is an F Type to F Type) in order to connect the satelite cable to the new cable.

I've got some mates who are electricians so I guess I could talk to them, was just hoping for a quick fix rather than spending days mucking around for another 0.5m of cable!

Cheers
Peter

Spyware

3761 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#923019 28-Oct-2013 13:37

Not the type of cable I would use in a DVB-S circuit. Its really just a terrestrial patch lead, cheap RG-59 at that.

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

fundars

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#923020 28-Oct-2013 13:38

Hi Spyware

Which cable would you recommend in this situation? Would the one linked by RunningMan be better?
Sorry i'm fairly illiterate in these areas...

RunningMan

8953 posts

Uber Geek

#923026 28-Oct-2013 13:48

Yeah, it's RG59, so not good for a satellite signal - I'd be dubious about the other DSE ones as well, because they don't list any specs or cable type, so no way of verifying it's fit for purpose before you buy.

If you've got a mate who's a sparky, grab a length of RG6 cable and get him to stick a couple of F connectors on it. You'll need a female-female coupler as well.

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sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#923056 28-Oct-2013 14:45

You need a F to F cable and a F joiner.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#923058 28-Oct-2013 14:51

Your Sports Channel signal loss may only be apparent on that mux as it has the weakest signal in your setup. Also possible your LNB is slowly failing i.e. would probably happen early afternoon on hot sunny days.
None of those TV extension leads are any good for satellite leads. You need rg6.
The Warehouse has them but probably too long for you.
http://search.thewarehouse.co.nz/red-shed/Rg6%20Cable
Best bet is go to Jaycar and buy the length of rg6 you need plus 2 screw on f connectors. You obviously have the f to f coupler which you also need.