Help me get my Sky TV working again.

November 28, 2009 8:16 AM

My Sky+ box only receives some channels, others now display a error 25 'No satellite signal is being received'. Sky want to send an engineer at a cost of £65. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Some channels (like Sky 1) show perfectly; others, such as channel 4 are intermittent; some I can't get at all (all flavours of BBC).

What can I do to try and fix this?

posted by Nufkin to technology (5 comments total)

I have had an issue like this in the past and it was simply a loose cable/connection of the satellite cables going into the sky+ box.

Remove the cables and re-seat see if it solves the problem.
posted by moochoo at 8:29 AM on November 28, 2009

Are there trees in the way of your dish? Does weather affect the picture? A lot of the channels are very weak signal wise and will die if anything gets in the way of the dish, even heavy rain. The engineer told us that trees are not always a problem but raindrops hanging in fir trees are notorious for interference... apparently. Check all your cables and turn the machine on and off, and make sure the card is in properly also.

They will try and fob you off by "resending the signal" or some other cock and bull solution involving the phone line, tell them not to bother and to send an engineer. I'd pay the initial £65 and request a Sky engineer (they often use local cowboys) but if you have any further problems do not pay a penny more.

Sky are very malleable when it comes to telling them to stick their charges. We had a problem receiving channels and eventually had to get an extension to lift the dish clear of a nearby treeline. Sky wanted to charge a fee for three seperate visits from an engineer, it was eventually done for nothing when we threatened to cancel all our subscriptions.

If there is nothing obvious obstructing the dish and nothing obvious around the box or cables then get an engineer, just don't pay them more than once.
posted by fire&wings at 8:31 AM on November 28, 2009

I have been having exactly the same problem for a few months (except that sometimes I don't get any channels). BBC HD is particularly uncooperative for me. I live in a block of flats, and so can't move the dish or get a new one.

Because I had upgraded to HD less than a year ago, they sent someone out for free to look at it in October. The person (actually two people) spent about 10 minutes here, testing the line and then installing a new box. I still have the same problem (with error 25), though less frequently.

What has (sometimes) worked for me: (1) going to a nearby channel and then clicking up or down to the one that doesn't work and (2) unplugging the Sky box and plugging it in again to make it reset (which is what the tech support people told me over the phone; it has fixed the problem at times but has also made things worse at other times, and I went for a couple of weeks in October with no reception at all).

I will be watching this thread closely, in the hope that someone has a more effective solution.
posted by sueinnyc at 9:17 AM on November 28, 2009

Unplug power, leave for 5 mins to "discharge" and then re-attach and power up. Works for me
posted by A189Nut at 12:41 PM on November 28, 2009

So, I phoned back Sky saying that I had some money put aside for HD, which is true. Was going to upgrade in the new year. When they heard this they agreed to fix my box for free. Woo.

Thanks for all your suggestions, guys.
posted by Nufkin at 1:59 AM on December 15, 2009