damm sky tv rainfade!!!!

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › damm sky tv rainfade!!!!

no1possumhunter

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#13399 8-May-2007 15:23

yeh so i get up look out my window and see its a great day. i go to turn on my sky and whatdoes it tell me? rain fade. there aint a blood cloud in the sky. is there any way to stop this crap or do i have to ring up and talk to one of there dipstick staff?

cyril7

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#69933 8-May-2007 15:33

There is either a LNB fault or misalignment, or cable fault. The box could also have gone deaf. Have you check the cable going into the back of the STB from the LNB/Dish is tight. Does the dish look to be damaged, obstructed by trees, it may just need realignment.

The STB just knows that the signal has disappeared. The only reason this will happen in a healthy working system is rain fade, although this is not likely since D1 went into use, and if it sunny then definetly not the problem. But anything that causes the dish to reduce performance (ie alignment, cable damage, LNB failure) will give this signal.

Cyril

Glazza

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#69950 8-May-2007 18:02

no point ringing.... cant get thru, get a message telling you that due to heavey customer demand etc....

Mine has been like this since 10ish this morning, havent been able to get hold of them all day...

cyril7

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#69952 8-May-2007 18:17

As a result of your posts I have just checked my Sky boxs and see that the firmware has been updated to version 350 (from 340) so it is likely that there has been a move to Hpol. Therefore a rainfade message means that the LNB skew (the orientation of the part at the end of the dish arm) is not correct, it may only be out by a few degs but thats all it takes. You will need to get it adjusted.

Just done a scan of the muxs and cannot see that the polarities have changed, but the firmware has updated, so something is on the move.

Cyril

Glazza

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#69956 8-May-2007 18:38

Cheers Cyril.... Pity Sky didnt handle this a bit better.... Still not able to get hold of them.... grrrrr

cyril7

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#69957 8-May-2007 18:46

Just a point, does it happen with all channels or just the following, Skymovies1, CartoonNetowrk, SkyNews, J2 PromoCh. Of course you may never get to acces these if it never finds the home mux which was 12.519GHz Vpol, but the new firmware may be directing it to 12.519GHz Hpol.

One of the key things here is the above channels are all on the 12.519GHz mux, which is also the mux that the box looks for when it cold boots, and is also the only mux that currently is transmitted on both Vpol and Hpol.

With the new firmware it may be that when it boots the new 350 firmware is looking for the Hpol mux rather than the Vpol mux, from there it is can be directed to any pol. If the LNB skew is wrong then it will never find the Hpol 12519 mux so all is lost, ie "Rain Fade".

End result is, I suspect that the skew of your LNB is out, so it cannot see the Hpol muxs, so all is lost, get a man in to twiddle with your LNB..

Cyril

Shankly

26 posts

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#69959 8-May-2007 18:52

Same problem here. Sky must have a big problem because I have only just got through on the phone to hear a message saying they have higher than usual demand. Might hold for a bit, will let you know if I get anywhere.

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sbiddle

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#69962 8-May-2007 19:05

Can anybody confirm yet that Sky have changed pol which is potentially causing these issues?

Shankly

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#69963 8-May-2007 19:06

Just got through to Sky. I had to go in to advanced settings and change the satallite to Optus D1-T5L (was D1-T6L). Now everything works fine.

cyril7

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#69964 8-May-2007 19:09

I have just done a scan and there are only the same two test Hpol muxs that have been there for sometime. One of those muxs that exist on both pol is the 12.519GHz mux, which is the home mux that the STB searches for on boot. Once there I guess it gets PAT/NIT tables to tell it what frequencies and pol to find everything else.

What is known is the firmware has been updated, so my guess is that the new firmware has been told to look for the 12.519Hpol mux rather than the Vpol as previous, so if your skew is out your skrewed.

Cyril

cyril7

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#69966 8-May-2007 19:14

Yep that setting sets the home mux, and seems to have increased in entries. Guess some boxs picked the wrong ones.

Cyril

Glazza

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#69967 8-May-2007 19:26

Cheer Shankly.... wonder why Sky dont give instructions on there website, and provide reference to them when you call... must make life easier for them overly.

Cheers

David

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ArfurDaley

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#70169 10-May-2007 15:12

Shankly: Just got through to Sky. I had to go in to advanced settings and change the satallite to Optus D1-T5L (was D1-T6L). Now everything works fine.

Should I be worried that the Optus D1-T5L is NOT an option in the Select Satellite screen? I have a long list of B1 options and some D2 ones, but no D1.

cyril7

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#70173 10-May-2007 15:30

Dont worry, not all STB's have been updated yet, if the STB firmware version is still reported as 0340 in the diagnostics menu then what you see is correct. Regardless select B1-TP5L.

Cyril