Sky Eye broken/intermittent

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Jan 2009 10:44:02 -0800 (PST), Ed
wrote:

On Jan 6, 4:46 pm, wrote:
On Tue, 6 Jan 2009 07:33:25 -0800 (PST), Ed





wrote:
On Jan 6, 3:15 pm, wrote:
On Tue, 6 Jan 2009 03:11:07 -0800 (PST), Ed

wrote:

My Sky eyes in the playroom and bedroom stopped working on New Years
Eve, came back to life on New Years Day, broke again last night and
are working again now.

The red light remains on, do you suppose there is any chance the
cold
is affecting it? The cable runs outside from lounge to playroom and
then out again to the bedroom.

I preume you have checked all the connections .Was the red light on
even when it wasn't working .What is the length of the cable run as
there apparently is a max length where it will work ,preumably due to
a voltage drop cos you can get things made by Global to plug in to
boost the 9v
Are the batteries in the remote OK.

Red light on even when not working. Has worked without incident for
about 4 years. Batteries in remote are fine, the remote works the box
downstairs if you take it down there. I changed the batteries just in
case but it had no effect. The cable run is about 20m, but as I said
it has worked without issue for several years. I'll double check
connections, but I'm surprised the light is on if there is a duff
connection, and nothing has changed in the setup in all that time.

Could you run a temp cable indoors just to check it that way ?- Hide
quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I think the fault may lie with the sky box

i went into the installer menu and the RF power was set to OFF,
despite lights showing on the global eye units. I turned it on and now
its working again, but how long that'll last I have no idea

Aah.....don't suppose a software update could have caused it .Have you
had the Auto Stand-By thing yet .?

I was thinking the same thing, the fact that it's showing off when the 9v
is present sounds like a memory bit-allocation issue that needed toggling.

Is the auto standby going to be deployed to the standard dodgyboxes
then? Total waste of time if true,they haven't really got a standby, more
of a display inhibit plus a red LED.

My Grundig GDS200 got an update in the last few weeks,
from 1.2S4FH - 3.5.2 to 1.2S4FI - 3.6.4.18
but I can't see any difference to the menus etc.
Where does the standby setting reside, in the picture settings?


--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

One very common cause of this problem is when the system has a
seperately powered two (or more) way amp to split out the feeds to the
extra rooms. ie one which is not just powered from the Sky box.
In this case the red light power is supplied by the distribution amp.
If there is a poor connection between the Sky box and the distribution
amp, the remotes will stop working but the lights will stay on. Often
the connection is good enough for a decent pic but not enough for
remote control to pass.

Some Sky boxes need the RF2 power on even if there is a seperately
powered amp, otherwise the remotes dont work.
This seems to be the case more with Sky plusses although I haven't
really checked exactly which models etc. Again, in this case, if there
is a seperately powered amp, the lights will be on but the the remotes
may not work if the RF2 power has dropped out.

On a similar note, it seems that almost none of Skys own installers
are capable of tightening up F plugs with a spanner, especially at the
LNB. I just wonder how many thousands of pounds are made from service
visits, just to fix this "fault" or how many boxes and LNBs are
changed unnecessarily due to loose plugs.

On Jan 7, 1:39*am, widgitt wrote:
One very common cause of this problem is when the system has a
seperately powered two (or more) way amp to split out the feeds to the
extra rooms. ie one which is not just powered from the Sky box.
In this case the red light power is supplied by the distribution amp.
If there is a poor connection between the Sky box and the distribution
amp, the remotes will stop working but the lights will stay on. Often
the connection is good enough for a decent pic but not enough for
remote control to pass.

Some Sky boxes need the RF2 power on even if there is a seperately
powered amp, otherwise the remotes dont work.
This seems to be the case more with Sky plusses although I haven't
really checked exactly which models etc. Again, in this case, if there
is a seperately powered amp, the lights will be on but the the remotes
may not work if the RF2 power has dropped out.

Thanks Widgitt, I think perhaps that's what happened.

I do have an amp before the first eye, so that must be where the red
lights were getting their power from.

I certainly powered on the RF2 outlet when I set up the eyes
originally, so perhaps I have had a software update that reset it to
OFF.

Anyway, it's still working at the moment, so fingers crossed!