Troubleshooting an Enigma 2, VU+Duo2 with VIX set up?

[Narmak]

Dear all, I've had a successful set up for 2 years now, initially with an Octagon SF8 with an N line (thanks to the forum - I started off as a total newbie), and recently purchased a Vu+ Duo 2 - great piece of kit. But all of a sudden I've run into a problem and can't work out where the fault is!

After a month success, all of a sudden one night most channels disappeared. I think maybe I could initially scan 900+, but now it was down to approx 200. Channels like BBC1 disappeared, and many others also showed "failed to tune". Currently I only use one input (tuner A - satellite). When I start to record things etc I'll look into getting a second LNB coax cable to my box.

A. Initially I thought it was a line problem - but I tested my line on a friend's octagon SF8 and it worked fine for the $ channels.
B. I then thought it was the (relatively) newly purchased Vu+ Duo 2, but I took it to a friend's house and connected it to his SLY dish and internet, worked a treat. Scanned 900+ channels as I was used to, with $ channels working great. Therefore can't be the box.
C. I connected the box back to my set up and all of a sudden loads of channels fail to tune again, as before. No change. So I assume it's a problem either with my SLY dish, or the cable running into the back of the box?

Is there a way for me to know for sure where the problem lies? I did the following:

Menu>set up>Service searching>Sat Finder and here are some pics:

When i go to a working channel:


When I go to a channel that doesn't work:


And this is what my tuner set up is - remember that at my friend's house in the same city, this set up worked perfectly:


Any ideas what the problem could be?
- I inspected the cable that runs from my dish to the entry point in the house wall, and it looks fine (as before).
- Could it be that the SLY dish has mis-aligned due to bad weather or winds (neither of which have been pretty bad in my area last few weeks) - especially since the dish has been solid for many years without a hitch.
- What could be the relevance of the numbers shown in the "sat finder" pics above?

Thanks in advance for any advice and support you can give!

 

[mike123]

1. you only have one tuner configured I presume that is the way you want it set up.
2.could be the lnb
3. could be sat dish not aligned
4. could be the coax cable damaged (most unlikely)

Re-connect your old box see if their is still a problem or borrow a mates.

 

[Narmak]

1. you only have one tuner configured I presume that is the way you want it set up.
2.could be the lnb
3. could be sat dish not aligned
4. could be the coax cable damaged (most unlikely)

Re-connect your old box see if their is still a problem or borrow a mates.

1. Yep - for now I just have one tuner. The house I moved to had an existing SLY dish with one LNB and one cable coming through the wall. At some stage I'll upgrade.
2. After so many years of solid use, how would the LNB have suddenly caused this problem?
3. As above, the dish has been working perfectly for years and we haven't had any bad weather recently - is this a common problem?
4. Co-ax looks like it's fine on visual inspection, but also if it was damaged would only SOME channels come and most others not?

---------- Post Merged at 03:51 PM ----------

1. you only have one tuner configured I presume that is the way you want it set up.
2.could be the lnb

- as you can see from the pics above, some channels (not many) work fine. and most others don't tune. Doesn't this mean that the LNB and co-ax cable are working fine?

 

[mike123]

I suppose the only true way of testing it is

1. setup on tuner B only to eliminate the box tuner
2. get a mates box and connect it up to see if it works

 

[Narmak]

- ah ok, so if I move the coax cable from tuner A to B, that would detect whether its specifically a tuner A problem? Are tuners A and B fully separate?
- In the probable scenario that tuner B also demonstrates the same problem, and that my mate's box also has the same problem, what do you recommend is the next step? Pay a local satellite engineer to come out and perform some tests? How much would the typical charge be, do you think?

Thanks!

 

[scoob197]

so why change tuner to B as I assume it was tuner A that was working fine round a mates?

process of elimination, get your mates box hooked up and see if you still have a problem

you then have the issue of finding out if its the lnb (perfect time to upgrade?) cable or connections, personally if it doesnt work I would run new lnb with fresh cables and connections as this will upgrade you at the same time as eleiminating all the stuff that could be wrong

 

[Narmak]

so why change tuner to B as I assume it was tuner A that was working fine round a mates?

process of elimination, get your mates box hooked up and see if you still have a problem

you then have the issue of finding out if its the lnb (perfect time to upgrade?) cable or connections, personally if it doesnt work I would run new lnb with fresh cables and connections as this will upgrade you at the same time as eleiminating all the stuff that could be wrong

Thanks mate, you're absolutely right. Tuner A was working fine at my mate's place. Nonetheless I did the tuner B test and unsurprisingly it also had the same problem.
- Will try my mate's box today, if that also demonstrates an issue, then it's definitely the dish/cable and not the box.

BUT - given that I haven't got a clue about how to run cables etc, how much would it cost to pay someone to have a look at the dish set up, troubleshoot the problem, repair it (or run new cables etc)? Is it possible that calling sky and getting their absolute basic subscription (that comes with dish + cables set up) could work out cheaper? That way, like you say, I could also get a refresh

 

[scoob197]

I wouldn't involve slk and there subscriptions. Ask a local TV/sat man to pop round and have a look for you.

 

[Narmak]

I wouldn't involve slk and there subscriptions. Ask a local TV/sat man to pop round and have a look for you.

Yeah I'll give someone a ring. Interestingly though, SLY have an offer of their basic package of £10 per month, and for that price they include a new dish, line and SLY+HD box. So for £120 you get a new dish and line installed. Will see how much the engineer charges to come and take a look

 

[scoob197]

Well I will leave that with you lol

I have just had my twin lnb replaced with a quad and an extra 2 cables run into my loft for £80, dunno if that helps you gauge the cost

 

[Forcefire]

Sorry but just wondering why the need for an engineer?

Do you actually need a new dish or would a LNB replacement be enough?, LNB's are cheap enough on fleabay and they are so easy to install, just remove the locking screw and unclip off the arm of the dish then reversal for fitting and unless you see actual damage to the cable then chaces are its fine, having installed VM and sly for years before changing jobs there are 20 yr cables going into poeple houses that are fine. As for the dish, a signal metre is a fiver off fleabay too you could make your own adjustments to get better signal.

I don't want to see someone spend loads of money when cheaper fixes can be made if your willing to just spend abit of time doing it yourself.

 

[Narmak]

FYI the dish was the issue. The whole thing had stopped working and I was told it was over 10 years old.