Sky - no satellite signal being received 29

movilogo

Suddenly my Sky box stopped working and showing me this message

I had Sky 3 years before. After my initial contract expiry I continued to receive free to air channels.

This happened before and rectified itself after few hours in the past. This time it always the same.

Does it mean that my Sky box has broken down?

Is there any way to watch free channels without taking a new Sky subscription?

I shall try Freeview but I don't know whether the aerial in my home works at all!

macman

If it is the box, just buy one for next to nothing on eBay (or nothing on freegle) and carry on watching the FTA channels.
It could also be the dish, LNB or cabling.
Can you swap the box out with a friends?

movilogo

You mean all Sky boxes are same?

I'll see if I can borrow a box from my friend.

Also, when I checked thru the menus, it says no viewing card. Is that a problem? My viewing card is inserted though. I never went to that menu before so don't know if it was always the case!

macman

No they're not, but they'll all work for FTA viewing. Have you tried pulling the card and reinserting, rebooting the box, etc?
You should still get most of the channels even without the card inserted anyway.

movilogo

Yes, tried those standard bits - didn't work Let's see if I can get Freeview. Just ordered a coaxial cable. Will try for a replacement box as well.

macman

Sky will not give you a replacement box as a non-subscriber!

Stinkyfeet

What is the make of your Sky Box?

Stinkyfeet

Can have something to do with the box not seeing the default transponder on the satellite.

Therefore, do the following:

Push 'Services' button
Then '4'
Then '01 select'

Push 'Red' button to reset default settings then save new settings.

Push Sky button and see how that goes.

movilogo

Stinkyfeet wrote: »

What is the make of your Sky Box?

It is made by Amstrad.

john10001

Go to Services, then I believe 4 for system setup, then 6 for signal test. In there it should show strength of signal and also signal quality. Those two bars should be around 2/3's to 3/4's full if you have a minidish and wish to get a good picture. If they're not or they're missing altogether then your satellite dish may have been knocked or have something blocking the path to the satellite. Spider cobwebs can cause interference and problems with receiving a signal especially with mini dishes. Really bad weather can also effect it but as this seems more permanent for you, then it rules that out.

movilogo

When I checked that option, it is just showing blank! Looks like dish is faulty then?