What can I do when my Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'?
How to Reset a Sky Digibox when 'No Signal' appears.
Reset method 1 - Delete and Rescan
- Turn the power off at the mains socket. Either do this by pulling the plug from the socket, or using a power switch if there is one.
- Remove the viewing card from the machine. Using a dry cloth or kitchen roll, clean the gold connector on the reverse of the card. Do not use any cleaning products.
- Check cables and connectors are in good order.
- Wait for at least 30 seconds.
- With the card still out of the machine, plug the Digibox back into the mains.
- Ignore all the messages, and wait for around a minute.
- Try 101 for BBC One, 102 for BBC Two and 103 for ITV-1.
- Insert viewing card, wait a few seconds.
- Check 104 for Channel 4 and 105 for five.
Reset Method 2 - Reset the LNB
If the above method does not work, the LNB may have a fault.
- Press the [SERVICES] button and then press [4] [0] [1] then [SELECT]
On Sky HD, press the [SERVICES] button and then press [0] [0] [1] then [SELECT]
Press the buttons in the sequence above exactly - do not atttempt to use [UP] or [DOWN]. Note that when you press the second 0 and 1 nothing happens on the screen until you press the final [SELECT]. This is a "hidden menu".
- Then press [1] to go to the RF output menu.
- Press [DOWN] three times to highlight the line 22Khz Command and then press [RIGHT] to change the value to [OFF].
- Press [DOWN] and [SELECT] to select Save New Settings.
- Press [SKY].
- Again press [SERVICES], [4], [0], [1], [SELECT]; then [1] again for the LNB Menu. (SERVICES 0 0 1 SELECT for Sky HD).
- Now press the [RED] button (reset all settings), then [DOWN] until you can select Save New Settings again.
- Press [SKY].
Reset Method 3 - Upgrade the system software
If there are still problems:
- Turn the Digibox off at the mains again and remove the viewing card.
- Whilst holding down the BACKUP key on the Digibox - NOT ON THE REMOTE - turn the mains power on.
- Keep hold of BACKUP until the screen displays a "UPGRADING SYSTEM SOFTWARE" message – this will be white text on a black screen. On some boxes this can appear as a half screen.
- Wait 10 to 20 minutes for the software to download and install. The box will restart when the process is complete.
- Ignore all the messages, and wait for around a minute.
- Try 101 for BBC One, 102 for BBC Two and 103 for ITV-1.
- Insert viewing card, wait a few seconds.
- Check 104 for Channel 4 and 105 for five.
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jb38Tuesday 28 February 2012 8:32PM
Eddie: When you ran the extra cable from the quad LNB on the dish are you sure that you didn't accidentally nudge the dish very slightly in the process? as your problem could suggest that happened.
What to do is this, using only the normal Sky box for a test try connecting it to each of the dish feeds one at a time and check what the signal level / quality is indicating (services-4-6) these should be level pegging about 75% or so, if the quality is lagging then the dish is slightly out.
By the way, don't expect to see exactly the same indications on the new box to that of the old one, as the circuitry is different likewise the readings will be too.
MazbarTuesday 28 February 2012 8:33PM
Eddie is the kitchen further away from the dish than the living room, if it is it could be the dish alignment or the dish or even the lnb. Some receivers react differently to weak signal you have done everything you can do the dish could do with being checked on a good meter to check signal strength but most importantly signal quality. Hope this helpsEddieWednesday 29 February 2012 1:43PM
Thanks for the advice, I have run tests, in the kitchen I have used the standard box on cable 1 signal strength 90% quality 50%
Then swaped to cable 2 signal strength 90% quality 50%
In the lounge the hd box gives readings of input 1
Signal strength 75% quality 25%
Input 2 signal strength 60%
So all seems fine? jb38Wednesday 29 February 2012 7:42PM
Eddie: No! that's the opposite of fine, as the "quality" shown on a normal Sky box connected to a perfectly aligned dish should be at least the same as or, even slightly exceed the actual signal strength shown, so what you have mentioned in my book suggests that the dish is slightly out of alignment, something which is likely to give problems dependant on channels selected, although the quality / strength seen is that of the default transponders frequency this being why it always indicates the same no matter what channel you might be on.
Your new Sky+ box could have a less sensitive tuner than that in the old Sky box and that will make the situation worse, so its really the case of having the alignment checked.
By the way, what I am referring to only involves the merest nudge one way or the other in the horizontal plane, or its that the "skew" is out by the complete block having been turned slightly either clock or anti-clockwise, something which might have occurred when you were screwing the "F" plug into the blocks spare outlet.
Steve BakerMonday 5 March 2012 5:59PM
Hi I have been away a few days when I got back the SKY channels were a bit jumpy (majority on 400 sports channels)and some stuck then resumed, came down yesterday morning and the dreaded fault 29 was showing, Changed the LNB and have off the scale with my sat finder, really strong signal, but looking at the signal strength and quality it is nothing not even registering. Tried the first two options above -no change, 3rd one I cant seem to get to work. My box is a thomson and about 6 years old, any ideas next?jb38Monday 5 March 2012 11:45PM
Steve Baker: Your sat meter may well have been off the scale but are you absolutely positive that it wasn't actually on an adjacent satellite? as its extremely easy to make this mistake as there is only the slightest of positional differences between the two.
The dish being slightly out might even have been the real reason for your boxes initial failure, as blustery conditions could have moved it slightly. That said though it does have to be admitted that this type of fault can also be caused by the boxes power unit having developed a fault which reduces the voltage that's fed to its tuner, although unfortunately only way of knowing if this applies or not is by carrying out a test using another box.
Steve - what kind of meter are you using to check the signal , if you are using the kind with a needle on or a beep that gets higher pitched as you find a satellite then you cannot guarentee which satellite you are pointing at it only takes a few degrees of error to be pointing at the wrong satellite - try again but dont give up a day or a weekend doing it as many of my customers have done in the past, if you are struggling then call in someone like my self - I charge £45 for a standard sat dish re alignment - obviously prices will vary from area to area
Keith KB Aerials
aerialsinsheffield.co.uk
07946481125 MarkSaturday 10 March 2012 7:56PM
Hi, Any ideas on why a number of my sky channles are showing no signal or are breaking up. I have changed the LNB and re-aligned the dish to the best of my ability but still no difference. Both the Sig Strength and Sig Quality reading for both feeds are showing almost full scale on the services pages. The typical sympton is that I get the BBC chanbels but cant get a Sky news signal.Is this likly to be a box related issue rather than signal? hoping you cna help with some advise - many thanks in advance. MarkHi - if you are sure the dish is lined up properly then it does sound like a box related issue - one way to test this is to either take your box to a friends and connect up there and see if the box springs to life - or to bring a spare or friends box to your dish to see if the problem remanes on the other box - we as satellite installers can test the signal a whole lot more reliably on our test equipment we can see if one of the polarities is down - you could have border line signal and your box will show good
Another thing to try first is a software update - find the back up button on your box - (not the remote ) reach round find the power cable un plug it - wait a few seconds for the box to power down press and hold the back up button and insert the power cable keep the back up button held down untill all the lights come on - then give it half an hour to update (says 10 mins on screen but some boxes take way longer) - do it before you go to bed and try it in the morning !
Hope you get it sorted
Keith kb aerials sheffield
07946481125
Aerialsinsheffield .co.uk Hi. Recently I upgraded to HD and had a new box and cables installed from an existing dish. Over the past few months I have started experiences problems, namely that I lose signal from only one of the inputs.
I've tried all of the suggested fixes (reset lnb, software updates etc) but nothing seems to reliably fix it. I have fiddled with the cables that go into the back of the sky box, and when I've switched them over in the past the signal has picked up and worked. But today, no matter what I do, I can't get the 2nd input to receive a signal. Is this a dish or lnb problem? Can anyone help because I'm going out of my mind! Steven check the cable - a single strand of braid touches the inner copper core then it will short out causing loss of single - also sometimes the inner copper core bends and doesn't get inserted into the connector properly - check the cable
Keith kb aerials
Aerialsinsheffield.co.uk
07946481125 Thanks Keith. I have already disconnected and re-fitted the f-connectors and I'm pretty sure there was no loose braid touching the copper core. I'll re-check and maybe even cut it back to make a fresh connection. Would an old LNB or dish cause this type of problem too? I was looking at he dish earlier and it does look old and slightly rusted.
Steve DavidMonday 12 March 2012 12:08AM
I have lost Meridian South East on Sky although other people still have it, and other's I know have lost it, any reasons. Yet I can add Meridian South as an extra channel. PeteTuesday 13 March 2012 6:34PM
Have lost Sky 1 HD ONLY! - everything else works fine including normal Sky 1. Have tried the normal resets etc - even the menu works for SKY 1 HD BUT when I go on to it I get a "no signal" error....Why would only one channel disapear?Christina HarrisonWednesday 14 March 2012 8:09AM
We no longer subscribe to Sky but use the boxes for freesat programmes, however I can longer get ITV1 Meridean, and I believe I will lose other channels too soon, do I need to get a freesat card to replace the sky viewing card, and can I get it from any other place apart from sky.Nitin TejuraWednesday 14 March 2012 4:38PM
I have a quad LNB that had 1 spare connection, the other 3 were used for the sky+ box and freesat for the TV which are all in the main room and work fine. I want to put in a sky box in the bedroom so have run a cable from the spare connection on the lnb into the bedroom, fitted f plugs and tested with the sky box from the main room, I keep getting no satellite signal, thinking I might have moved dish I took the sky box back to the main room and it works fine. Any pointers to what the problem could be.jb38Wednesday 14 March 2012 5:49PM
Nitin Tejura: This problem can only really be caused by two possible reasons, being either a strand of wire has accidentally wrapped itself around the middle core when you were fitting the "F" plugs, or that the spare port used on the LNB is defective, as if the cable was new its extremely unlikely that it would be defective, so take each of the "F" plugs off in turn and carefully inspect that the aforementioned possibility hasn't happened.
Before you do this though, you should try one of the other boxes on the newly run feed, which of course should not work.
By the way, you wont have accidentally moved the dish if any of the other boxes still work, although when carrying out tests like that you should always use the same channel, as if the dish was a fraction out its sometimes possible for one channel to work whereas another wont.
rogerSaturday 17 March 2012 6:03PM
Hi
Just bought Sony Bravia tv with only 1 scart socket ( my previous Sony had an integral freeview that couldnt cope with the now required re-tune). I have 2 sources previously both connected by scart that I wish to connect. A DVD player and home cinema/surround sound ( a Sony compact av dav-S550). Neither have HDMI. DVD player has optical socket and scart. The surround sound has scart, optical digital in,and various video component sockets in/out. TV has component in and optical out sockets
Any advice on how to connect up the system would be appreciated
Many thanks
alex Thursday 22 March 2012 10:13PM
hi i live in a block of flats with a shared dish i have a sky plus hd box in the living room can i use my old sky plus box in an other room for multi room or do i need a basic sky box
thanks
alexAlex
Depends if you have a twin feed back to the distribution switch if yes then yes if you have a single feed then you can watch and record but not 2 channels at same time if you don't have a feed to the distribution switch then no - and usually a bedroom isn't wired back to the switch its wired so you can view the lounge box in the bedroom using rf2
Keith
Kb aerials sheffield
Aerialsinsheffield.co.uk
07946481125 DavidFriday 23 March 2012 11:15AM
Pleased to say that on Thursday 22nd March 2012 my Meridian S E just returned to my SKY box. At least one thing I learned from this was how to install other ITV stations!lee townendSunday 25 March 2012 4:30PM
had a power cut before power cut sky fine,power back on,no signal,iv reset an unplugged everything plugged back in,no joyjb38Sunday 25 March 2012 5:08PM
lee townend: A fault of that nature can only be caused by something concerning your installation, are you sure that nothing has happened with your dish? although another aspect could also apply, being that if your box has been running for a lengthy period of time (weeks) before being unpowered then sometimes they can develop a fault on cooling down whereby something will blow on switch on.
Can you see the menu screen? and if you can press services - 4 - 6 and see if the signal indicators are completely blank or are showing a very low level of signal.
DannySunday 25 March 2012 10:41PM
Hi we have a communal dish with no analogue service. No grey bars for signal strength or quality.
Have carried out all the usual checks by ourselves and with the sky help desk.
Spoke to the management company for the building on the two occasions(neighbours have also complained), the attitude we are getting is 'not our problem'
Thank you for any assistance could either be a private repair or DIY.
DannySunday 25 March 2012 10:44PM
The no signal strength happened suddenly five days ago, with no problem with weather, scaffolding or any new build.
Thanks again for the assistanceamanda friedlandMonday 2 April 2012 10:00AM
Please can anyone help. I have sky + on my front room TV. Then I have 3 tv's in other parts of the house.
Suddenly, I can't get a terrestial/ dvb signal on any of the TV's, including the one in the front room.
I can watch sky on the tv in the front room. But the other tv's can't get any signal
I am wondering if I have connected everything up properly.
It worked fine until my son took his playsation (which is connected to the front room TV) to his dads.jb38Monday 2 April 2012 4:02PM
amanda friedland: The TV in the front room should not have been affected unless at times you use it to view something other than Sky, the latter being connected into the TV via a scart or HDMI lead.
But the problem as described would suggest that the coax lead from the aerial in the roof or wherever has not been re-connected into the Sky boxes normal aerial socket, nor has the coax lead that feeds the TV's in other rooms (incl lounge) have been re-connected into the Sky boxes RF output socket again, this being either RF1 or RF2, the latter used if you use a magic eye control in any of the rooms.jb38Monday 2 April 2012 4:32PM
amanda friedland: Just as an afterthought to what I mentioned, this was based on the assumption that you actually view Sky in the other rooms via the Sky boxes RF output as well as normal Freeview, as if you do not and its only Freeview you use then the lead from the normal aerial has not been re-connected into the coax link to the other rooms, or into a splitter that feeds same.
SadSkyBoxThursday 5 April 2012 7:06PM
Here's a weird one-
-Old Pace Sky+ says Error 29 no signal.
-Lidl receiver says both input signals are good (so I can see BBC etc. no problem on this receiver)
-Back to Sky+ which refuses to see signals (apart from one brief moment)
-Sky+ box works fine in a friends house, no problems.
-Tried resetting LNB, no joy.
Had bad rain the other day, and very cold. Does it sound like my LNB is toast? I think moisture might have got in and while the Lidl receiver can work with it, the Sky box can't use the 22Khz Command or power supply?
Any recommendations? Thanks!Roy PackhamSaturday 7 April 2012 2:32PM
I was watching BBC One (Panasonic digibox) and suddenly the signal went and a message no signal being received. Checked the setup menu showed no signal strength. I have a foxsat HD receiver connected to the same dish (twin LNB) and this is working okay. I switched the satellite cables and have the same problem, so it is not the dish or the LMB (?). Does this mean the box is a fault? Many thanks for any advice or help.kevinSaturday 7 April 2012 9:16PM
For the last 6 weeks i have been having an intermittent '29 No satellite sign being received' message. I have tried all of the usual resetting LNB and default responder but in the end i just leave it a few days and generally the TV works again for a few days. Any idea's???
I should mention that i live next to a CB enthusiast who moved into his house about 6 months ago. There was a huge ariel in the back garden but he was told by the council that he had to take it down because he didn't have planning permission. The previous tenant had used this ariel for last 4 years and it had not caused any problems with my tv signal. He did say that the new ariel he was told he had to put on his roof would interfere with my TV signal. Could this be the problem? RoboSunday 8 April 2012 5:24PM
I have sky HD and keep losing signal on HD channels. Now I have BBC1,2,Itv, C4 and channel 5 but sky sports and all the HD channels has disappeared. I have tried the LNB, reboot, turn off/on, remove card etc solutions but any ideas why this may happen bar I live in a block of flats but am on the top floor?
Frustrating the hell out of me over this bank holiday.jb38Sunday 8 April 2012 6:48PM
Robo: Go into the boxes signal check screen and have a look at the levels being indicated as the strength / quality should be level pegging at about 75% or so, if the quality is significantly under the strength then the dish is slightly out of alignment.jb38Sunday 8 April 2012 9:47PM
Roy Packham: If you have tested the Panasonic box on the feeds from the dish that works perfectly OK on the Foxsat, then it would certainly appear the the Panasonic has failed.
Try leaving it disconnected from the mains power supply for an hour to let it completely cool down before powering it up again, although what you have said strongly suggests that its power supply has failed.JonathanMonday 9 April 2012 3:01PM
Have error 36 on some channels in the back room, the sat in the front room is working fine on all channels, I have a quad LNb with sky + HD in the front room, and a standard sky box in the back room. I can get BBC cHannels + ITV channels, but no RTE, TV3, Discovery Shed Etc...I Have changed the F type connector and connected another Sky box I have but to no avail.
Any Idea's ??????samSaturday 14 April 2012 10:48PM
Hello my sky box has been playing up for the last 6 weeks. It goes funny and then says no signal. If i turn it ofem at the plug it works for about 30 mins and then does it again. I have done all the tests so now i need help pleasejb38Sunday 15 April 2012 7:26AM
sam: If your box "always" works again for a limited period of time after having been temporarily disconnected from the mains supply then that generally points to a defect in the boxes internal power unit, not exactly an uncommon thing to happen.
LarryTuesday 17 April 2012 10:41AM
Hi
I hope to receive some advice from ye. Up to very recently I was getting perfect free to air reception on a sky pace box with the sky card upside down and this was over the last 3-4 years after I stopped having sky subscription tv.
I watched the tv one night last week and reception was perfect. The following night a error 29 message appeared, 'No signal received etc'. I am handy enough at TV tuning and checking leads etc.I dont believe its the dish that suddednly moved overnight and anyway had far worse weather over the years and I dont believe its the leads and rf cables as checked them too and look ok. I have checked the box and even updated it with the updated software and still to no avail so I am at a loss to know what it could be!
Could it be that the sky viewing card has expired?
Could it be that Sky have deactivated the signal given that I no longer pay for subscription TV or is that my imagination getting carried away?
Unlike the free to air non sky boxes the sky box requires a viewing card to view even the free to air channels?
If its the card that has expired or Sky has deactivated anyone know where I could get a cheap card or a way around this?
Regards
Larryjb38Tuesday 17 April 2012 5:31PM
Larry: All Sky boxes no matter of what type can receive "free to view" programmes without a card inserted.
You should carry out a signal check by pressing "services" then 4-6, but if nothing is seen indicated on the strength / quality bar then its either the box itself has failed (usually the power unit) or that the dish has moved a fraction, other possibles being that the "F" connector plug might be internally waterlogged, or the LNB has developed a fault.
The only way you can verify one way or the other where the fault might be is by either trying another box on your dish, or alternatively your box on another dish. RichardTuesday 17 April 2012 8:31PM
hello. i've got a very old sky box and it works fine. im thinking of getting a amstrad sky hd + box. but i only really want to splash the cash if im able to get hd channels n be able to record channels via a community aerial the council installed. would this work. thanks in advance its really doing my head in
Richardjb38Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:11PM
Richard: When you say "community aerial" are you meaning dish? as a community (or communal) aerial is used for Freeview reception and not satellite, so if you are "not" meaning dish then that aerial connection is of no use for Sky.
Another point to note is that you cannot record or playback anything on a Sky+ box unless you pay a subscription to Sky, as only then will Sky unlock access to the recording side of the box, as otherwise the box will just operate like any other Sky box.
The other thing to keep in mind being that you really require to have two feeds from the dish for satisfactory operation of a Sky+ box.
On the plus side you should be able to receive non-subscription HD channels such as BBC / ITV etc.RichardWednesday 18 April 2012 6:45PM
ah thank you. yeah its a dish n aerial. i got two sky ports, a radio port n a tv port. think i'll save up for them a humax box then. thanks for the info.sheldonThursday 19 April 2012 8:33AM
Now that we have gone digital I am unable to get the sky channel and if I reload the analogue channel I get a picture but no soundPeter WaltersThursday 19 April 2012 8:49AM
I have a splitter which distributes Sky and Freeview. Since 18th April Freeview has a good signal 70% but Sky picture has deteriorated.I can no longer use reset method 2 or 3. could it be that my sky digibox is out of date? I have all the channels except ITV 1. I am using an indoor aerial which onbviously works for all the BBC channels etc. What is wrong? margaret price: Look for ITV1 in the 800s (i.e. from programme number 800). If you have Channel 4 and Channel 5 then you would be expected to have ITV1 as well because they are in the same group. margaret price: My apologies, I was thinking of Freeview rather than Sky. I can't help with getting your Sky box to show ITV1. Hopefully someone who can will be along soon. Pat SlatteryMonday 23 April 2012 6:05PM
I brought my Sky box to Lithuania and fitted a 1.2mtr dish, the signal strength is 80-100% and I recieve many Sky channels perfectly,( e.g.CBS reallity etc, all News Ch. except BBC, free film Cha. radio stations etc. but If I select any BBC CH.,(1-2-3-4 Parl.etc). ITV 1-2-3-4, CH4, CH5,it shows "No Satallite signal being received", can anyone please help?, thank you. Julie BurfordTuesday 24 April 2012 1:34PM
Hi wonder if you can please help
We currently have sky plus downstairs and 2 freesat boxes in the kids bedrooms upstairs, always had a really good signal with no problems.
However today both rooms with the freesat boxes tvs are saying no signal but main telly with skyplus is fine
Any ideas pleaseGuyMonday 30 April 2012 5:47PM
I Have a quite old probably at least 8 to 10 year old grundig digibox i have the no satelite signal is being received have tried the various things to do on here with no luck in the signal test is blank,signal quality is blank and lock indicator not locked any ideas as it was ok earlierjb38Monday 30 April 2012 7:40PM
Guy: Considering the age of the box its a wonder that its power unit is still working, or of course maybe its not! as the symptom you report is usually displayed when power supply to the tuner drops under a certain level.
That said, have you tried resetting the box? this achieved by removing the mains plug and leaving it about 30 seconds or so before reconnecting it to the mains supply again, then once it starts responding to the remote control letting it go through its lengthy "searching for listings" procedure.
If this procedure fails to resolve the issue then another thing it could also be is that your dish has been moved a fraction out of line by recent high wind, and with no-one no matter how experienced they may be being able to detect this without the aid of a meter as it only takes the slightest of movements to knock out the signal.
If you can access the dish try giving it a slight nudge (tap) one way or the other in its horizontal plane.Graham RichardsonWednesday 2 May 2012 10:36PM
For the past week I am unable to get BBC radio channels.
The first staion I can get is 350 and only up to 378. When I key in 0102 for radio 2 instead of 0 appearing I get a speaker icon.
Have called Sky but they say they have never heard of this one, they offered to send someone out but as I am in Europe I had to bluff them off.
any ideas please?
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