Problems with Sky TVLINK - can't change channels

I recently purchased a TV to go in the bedroom. We have Sky so I
thought it'd be a good idea to link the bedroom TV to the Sky box
downstairs.

With regards to cabling already in place, behind the tv in the lounge
is a wall plate which the Sky box's RF OUT 2 is connected to via a
coax cable.

This goes into the loft where it connects via a male/femle coax
connection to the coax cable going from the bedroom's wall plate (the
upstairs and downstairs cables were separate until i joined them with
the connector)

With this infrastructure in place I get a great picture on the second
tv from my sky box downstairs.

I realised I'd need something to be able to change the channel on the
sky box from upstairs. This is where the problems started.

I picked up a Sky TVLINK from Argos, plugged it into the back of the
second TV and made sure that the 9v was switched on via the installer
menu. All was ok at this point and the LED was lit on the back of the
TVLINK.

Straight away I was able to change the sky channel from the second TV
in the bedroom. Perfect!

I then went to use it yesterday and whilst the picture was still great
I could not change channels on the Sky box.

The TVLINK led was still on. The cabling hadn't changed at all.

After about 20 minutes it mysteriously started working and I could
again change channels no problem.

I tried it this morning but alas it had stopped working again.

As far as I know there isnt a physical cable problem - I havent had
chance yet to see if the wall plates are isolated or not.

if they aren't (the house is a year old), is there anything else I can
try? The TVLINK works perfectly if plugged directly into the sky box
downstairs.

thanks in advance

On Oct 8, 12:34 pm, eggedd2k wrote:

As far as I know there isnt a physical cable problem - I havent had
chance yet to see if the wall plates are isolated or not.

if they aren't (the house is a year old), is there anything else I can
try? The TVLINK works perfectly if plugged directly into the sky box
downstairs.


Well, if it works in the back of the Sky box, but not at the end of
the cable, then it must be the cable.
Or, rather not the cable itself, but this sort of thing is almost
always cause by a bad connection somewhere.
Best check all the joints and connectors, especially the ones behind
plates and stuff.

Good luck!,
Ian.

eggedd2k wrote:

Straight away I was able to change the sky channel from the second TV
in the bedroom. Perfect!

I then went to use it yesterday and whilst the picture was still great
I could not change channels on the Sky box.

The TVLINK led was still on. The cabling hadn't changed at all.

After about 20 minutes it mysteriously started working and I could
again change channels no problem.


Out of interest, does your bedroom have a energy saving
light bulbs? Seen an IR remote extender via a radio link,
(which never worked very well anyway) but was sensitive
to the IR light that the energy saving bulbs seemed to
chuck out for the first few (20?) minutes after they were
switched on. Made the indicator led on this particular IR
receiver/RF sender flicker and was enough to stop it working.

dom.

"eggedd2k" wrote in message
ps.com...
I recently purchased a TV to go in the bedroom. We have Sky so I
thought it'd be a good idea to link the bedroom TV to the Sky box
downstairs.

With regards to cabling already in place, behind the tv in the lounge
is a wall plate which the Sky box's RF OUT 2 is connected to via a
coax cable.

This goes into the loft where it connects via a male/femle coax
connection to the coax cable going from the bedroom's wall plate (the
upstairs and downstairs cables were separate until i joined them with
the connector)

With this infrastructure in place I get a great picture on the second
tv from my sky box downstairs.

I realised I'd need something to be able to change the channel on the
sky box from upstairs. This is where the problems started.

I picked up a Sky TVLINK from Argos, plugged it into the back of the
second TV and made sure that the 9v was switched on via the installer
menu. All was ok at this point and the LED was lit on the back of the
TVLINK.

Straight away I was able to change the sky channel from the second TV
in the bedroom. Perfect!

I then went to use it yesterday and whilst the picture was still great
I could not change channels on the Sky box.

The TVLINK led was still on. The cabling hadn't changed at all.

After about 20 minutes it mysteriously started working and I could
again change channels no problem.

I tried it this morning but alas it had stopped working again.

As far as I know there isnt a physical cable problem - I havent had
chance yet to see if the wall plates are isolated or not.

if they aren't (the house is a year old), is there anything else I can
try? The TVLINK works perfectly if plugged directly into the sky box
downstairs.

thanks in advance

If either of the outlet plates were isolated the LED would not light, so
this is not your problem.

I suppose you could have an intermittent fault with the flexible cable
that links to the IR reciever in the "mouse"

--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

We spend a considerable amount of our time dealing with this problem
(even if we have done the job ourselves!!). Sometimes the eye can be
faulty but not often.

Almost always the connections are poor. It is quite possible for the
light to be on and for the remote still not to work due to poor
connections. (Although you would think this was not possible)
Frequently there is a single strand of screening braid partially
shorted somewhere but the light still manages to work!

We never use anything but F plugs and F barrel connectors and F to
CoAx adaptors for this job now. F to coax female adaptor to fit the
RF2 on the back of the Sky box etc. If you HAVE to use CoAx plugs
anywhere, make sure you "kink" the centre wire so that it makes good
contact with the centre pin of the plug and solder it if possible.

Keep the eye away from the TV screen if it is a flat TV. Even more
important with plasmas.

ok i figured out where the problem lies.

i switched on the second tv last night and the tvlink wasnt allowing
me to change channels.

i unplugged the tvlink from the second TV and i WAS then able to
change channels on sky (obviously no picture or sound).

i then plugged the tvlink back into the second TV and it worked
perfectly - for the remainder of the viewing session.

incidentally, i get the same 8.88v reading on each connection -
starting from the back of the sky box right up to the coax cable in
the bedroom.

obviously i dont want to be unplugging the tvlink each time - wont do
the connection any good..


i read somewhere that if it's the tv it may need decoupling. anyone
know what that means?