All Sky + Queries Answered here

[Deleted User] · 09/10/05 - 23:42

Hi

I'm Gary and I work for Sky TV as an engineer, I previously worked for several years for ntl, but now I am with Sky. I have years of experience and also with home computers as in my spare time I repair and build them. If anyone has any problems with their Sky Digital or Sky + boxes ect please let me know and I will do my best to help you out.

:cool:

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 00:25

Is it true that sky wont change any ticking amstrad boxes jst on the ticking problem alone? if so why not?

Alex_kingsley · 10/10/05 - 00:37

Right...got Sky+ installed in the bedroom today. If i put Video Output onto RGB, instead of PAL (Installer put it on RGB) the "Search and Scan Banner" is very strange on the left hand side...it's curvy..I think this happened with my old minibox, too.

Its only the banner that looks strange. Any ideas what it is?
Problem with the TV?

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 09:11

Answer to Peter1982 – In normal circumstances they wont change the box, if the box is operating correctly just on a sound issue, they say it is a normal operational noise for that hard drive. If you go as far as to get an engineer to call, the engineer WILL change the box if he thinks the ticking noise is excessive. Personally I have changed boxes for this particular fault.

Answer to Alex_Kingsley – Yes…certain TV’s are not compatible with the RGB output of the sky box. All you can do is convert back to pal or upgrade your tv.

Anymore questions?

Cheers

Sat_Man :cool:

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 09:28

Hi Sat_Man - good to have an expert on here!

Just wondered if you could shed any light on the function of the USB ports on the PVR3 boxes and what the extra 80gig of space is being reserved for too...?

Thanks!

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 09:29

Sat_Man,

I've got an Engineer visit on Wed - I've got problems with my refurb box, recordings keep failing due to power cuts, no signal etc. also keeps going on standby for no apparent reason.

do you think I'll get a new/replacement box??

cheers

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 09:36

The Maestro wrote:

also keeps going on standby for no apparent reason.

I can answer this one. Any momentary drop in mains voltage will cause the receiver to go to standby. A neighbour had this problem. We traced it to a loose red wire at the back of his 13 Amp wall socket! But it can equally be caused by a loose fuse or loose wire in the plug, or a bad solder joint inside the receiver (those "figure of 8 sockets" come loose) or "normal" mains power "brown-outs". This sort of momentary power failure can also wreak havoc with normal operation as the CPU loses track. Absolutely anything can happen.

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 09:43

Answer to Fizzgig – Right..the USB ports are for future development, so you can connect the Sky Box to other equipment ..ie – computer, sony psp, ect .. the other 80gig is reserved for the futer software updates, to enable the future developments to work.

Answer to The_Maestro – YES….if I called at a house, I would change the box on the fault of the box switching to standby on its own, but yes you can get a replacement box

Off to work now I’ll be back tonight to answer more questions

For now thanks for your queries so far

Cheers

Sat_Man :cool:

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 09:44

Since having Sky+ installed, when we switch it off, we get a very loud bleep noise through the Tv speakers, just for a second. It doesn't happen if the VCR is switched on though.

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 09:53

Answer to tuna-fish.....the bleep noise is due to the loss of the nicam signal when you have switched off your sky, you vcr still provides the signal that is why it does not happen when the vcr is switched on.

ok I really have to go to work now

see you all later tonight

Cheers

Sat_Man :cool:

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 10:17

Sat_Man wrote:

Answer to Fizzgig – Right..the USB ports are for future development, so you can connect the Sky Box to other equipment ..ie – computer, sony psp, ect .. the other 80gig is reserved for the futer software updates, to enable the future developments to work.

Answer to The_Maestro – YES….if I called at a house, I would change the box on the fault of the box switching to standby on its own, but yes you can get a replacement box

Off to work now I’ll be back tonight to answer more questions

For now thanks for your queries so far

Cheers

Sat_Man :cool:

thanks Sat_Man & Sam Radford.

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 10:25

Sat_Man

Sky are more than aware of certain individuals upgrading their hard drives in Sky+ boxes. What is their stance on this, have you been issued "orders" as to what to do if you know someone has upgraded their box, on a charged call-out for example?

Are Sky working on a fix presently for those suffering loss of Live Pause and rewind on standard boxes?

Do you have an opinion on the best/worst Sky+ boxes?

Cheers...and thanks for sticking your hand up!

MM

Beckys_Mom · 10/10/05 - 10:35

The best sky box to have is a pace box

Sat_Man is my partner and he is off to work now but he will be back anytime after 6pm.

He tells me the worst boxes are the Amstrad boxes, and I do recall them playing up all the time...if I where you I would ask if it where possible to get your hands on a pace model...but gee I will leave it up to Sat_Man when he gets home..

:eek: Yikes I really shouldnt be here...*makes a quick exit*

lamby · 10/10/05 - 10:38

Sat_Man I had sky installed sunday and i questioned the installer about Amstrad. He said that they are not as bad as people make out. Is this true?

Beckys_Mom · 10/10/05 - 10:41

Lamby they are crap and thats just my opinion...but Sat_Man will fill you in when he gets back later tonight as his answers are much different than mine, after all he knows all about them and he may tell you that there are some good Amstrad boxes...!!

ok im off before Sat_Man see's this

lamby · 10/10/05 - 10:42

Beckys_Mom wrote:

Lamby they are crap and thats just my opinion...but Sat_Man will fill you in when he gets back later tonight

ok im off before Sat_Man see's this

The only critisium i have is the ticking noise, at least the box plays well (have i just jinxed myself?) *touch wood!*

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 10:49

Sat_man

I have a pace v2 and want to increase the hard drive from the standard 40Gb.what do you recomend bearing in mind that the maxtor 160GB and the maxtor 250GB 5400rpm are so difficult to get hold of.

Thanks
Kenny

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 10:52

Sat_Man

I have a Sky+ Amstrad V2.

Ever since the upgrade I keep getting the message 'insert viewing card', when turning on from standby.

This only happens if we put the box into standby for any significant length of time i.e. all afternoon, or overnight. If the box is left turned on then it works fine. The box also appears to work OK if it's put into standby for 5-10mins, and then turned on.

As I said, this has only occured since the upgrade, before then the box was working perfectly.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Nigel

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 13:17

Sat_Man wrote:

Answer to tuna-fish.....the bleep noise is due to the loss of the nicam signal when you have switched off your sky, you vcr still provides the signal that is why it does not happen when the vcr is switched on.

ok I really have to go to work now

see you all later tonight

Cheers

Sat_Man :cool:

Thanks for the answer Sat_Man . Is there any explanation though why it has only been the Sky+ box, neither the digibox nor analogue had this problem. Also is there a fix for it?
Thanks
Tina

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 16:36

I saw another post with the same heading, so I'm obviously not alone! But no-one had replied to that post so I'm hoping someone might see this & shed some light...
I bought a 2nd hand box on Ebay but didn't test it within the warranty period specified (7 days). When I did get round to trying it, it didn't come out of standby. I tried updating the software but it made no difference. I'm going to try to system reset tonight (press left & right whilst powering up), and if that doesn't work I'll swap out the HD as I've seen a few posts suggesting that it's a HD failure.

Can anyone suggest anything else to do, or am I already following the best fault-finding path?

What is the bootup procedure after installing a new HD?

Many thanks,
Jon

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 17:31

hi sat man, i have a pace PVR3 i have had it for a couple of weeks now (after havinG 4 faulty amstrads in an 18 month period) i am having probs with my remote, its the sky+ control but sometimes it just doesnt work, it will control the telly but not the sky, you get the red flash on the control but nowt on the box, box isnt frozen as it can be controlled by the buttons on the box, do i need a remote do i need to buy that myslf?

Can you please also tell me when a list of the technical faults for failed recordings will be available (i had 2 this weekend technical fault 9 AND 10)

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 18:32

Hi Sat_man

Why when you get a swop on a faulty brand new box (2 week old amstrad) do sky send out a grade 'A' refurb?

Other high streets shops couldn't get away with this, how can sky?

Cheers

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 18:42

Answer to Lamby – To a certain extent what the installer said was true BUT…in my own personal opinion and experience with these boxes, I don’t like them, and I wouldn’t have one in my house just in case!! That’s all I can say on the matter!!

Answer to kpf1965 – Kenny, leave it with me for a day or 2, I have to speak to a guy who is sourcing the best hard drive, I will CERTAINLY let you know the price and where to get it from the sec I find out, as I have several customers waiting on the same deal

Answer to Nigel B – All you can try is to do a forced download of the new upgrade…if this does not work, then all you can do is call Sky to have the box replaced. To start the forced download, turn the power off at the mains, press and hold the back-up button on the box until all of the lights come on the front of the box, then you should get a message on your screen saying – updating system software.
This download shouldn’t take any more than 10 mins, if it does, then you may have a weak signal, that is why the box could be playing up..ok so try this 1st and please let me know what happened!

Answer to tuna-fish – Unfortunately I have never been able to get a straight answer to this question myself, I suppose the best answer I got was from, an engineer at Pace, he said unfortunately it was one of those lil things that happen when a certain type of box is matched with a certain type of tv, trying it with a different tv might not get this sound problem, in other wards the manufacture really has no clue to what is causing it or how to fix it & having only ever heard it a handful of times, it is not causing a major problem, so I don’t think they can be bothered trying to sort it out!!!

Answer to jonrayworth – Yes the advice you have been given is the right one, there is really nothing else you can do, other than what you have suggested

Answer to amanda138a – Before you go buying a new remote, see if you can borrow one off a friend or neighbour just to try out, if you are having the same problem with a remote that you KNOW is working, then it could be a fault with the IR pickup on the box. One other thing do you have any video or remote senders plugged into the box? Please let me know if you have or not, as these can sometimes cause interference with the Sky + remote communicating with the box..

Thanks again for all your queries so far, I will do my best to help out at all times

Cheers

Sat_Man :cool:

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 18:45

Answer to bazfoster – In my opinion you SHOULD have got a brand new box, my only advice is, phone Sky and unleash hell!!!! :mad:

Sat_Man :cool:

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 18:47

Answer to tuna-fish – Unfortunately I have never been able to get a straight answer to this question myself, I suppose the best answer I got was from, an engineer at Pace, he said unfortunately it was one of those lil things that happen when a certain type of box is matched with a certain type of tv, trying it with a different tv might not get this sound problem, in other wards the manufacture really has no clue to what is causing it or how to fix it & having only ever heard it a handful of times, it is not causing a major problem, so I don’t think they can be bothered trying to sort it out!!!

Thanks for answering, even if there is nothing that can be done.

It's not a major problem just irritating, so I can live with it.

[Deleted User] · 10/10/05 - 18:48

In the end i did, because the engineer brought me another faulty amstrad as replacement (refurb grade 'A') and told me that sky always send out refurbs as replacements.
The amstrad was exactly the same as original and thank god he gave me another customers box (on his van for later that day) that was a brand new thomson.

Hey there!

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