Sky+ problems

Try turning the box of and on again.

Works for PCs apparently ;-)

Although to be fair when I have issues with sky that usually fixes it.

I'm rapidly coming to the point of sacking Sky. Our Sky+ system has been playing up since November, and in February we finally got it successfully fixed. Now, it's freezing up again and losing signal.
It's time to sack them and buy a Panasonic Freeview & hard drive recorder for £170, but the kids are going to scream that they won't get Nickelodeon, and I'm not sure I can live without Spongebob Squarepants to be honest.

I've had SKY+ now for a couple of years and when it works I think it's terrific. Trouble is, I've been through 6 boxes in that time because the actual units (made by Amstrad or Pace) are complete bollox.

Trouble is there's no competition to use their service is there? It's not like I can buy a better, more reliable box to use SKY+. I too am now getting a weak signal at just 10%! (Maybe a conspiracy?) But when I call them, they tell me they'll charge me a £60 call out charge just for starters and if I want a Saturday that's a 3 week wait. To fix their own bloody kit which keeps going wrong. T*ssers. That's after waiting 45 mins to get through to their helpline of course.

(NB as a tip, I then discovered that if I call their SALES line I'm answered straight away. I then apologise profusely saying I called the wrong number and Hey Presto, they put me through to Service just like that. Doncha just love em, the darlings...)

That said, the moment we can get Freeview in tbis backwater, definately moving to that with integrated recorder. Sod Nickelodean, she can watch News24. And I'll just have to start watching MOTD again for the footie.

You're right Jamie. That Nickelodeon channel is probably costing £480 a year!!!

Chaps,

Do your Sky+ remotes change the balance & source on your pre-amps?

Hacks me off no end!

Yep they do.Keep mute on to at least stop Late Night XXX waking the missus up through the 180...

The Sky service charge can be good value, I have used it once - the system was fully checked, the 4way LNB and Satbox were found to be faulty and were replaced as part of the service fee with refurbished items. This was with a box that was for Freesat - ie no monthly subscription.

As for Sky+ last week for the first time it screwed up the recordings of most of the recordings (a bit of an upset to our pampered existence as we were away) at most previous clock changes the manually recorded items would be recorded at the wrong time however the series linked programs would be recorded correctly so I am assuming that Sky have issued a bug in the firmware.

Sky+ have answered(?) my query about programme overruns it's the other channels fault.

By the way. Try some form of isolation under your SKY box. I put some Vibrapods and picture (less digital and more 3D somehow) and sound both improved.

I had a result today. Sky engineer came round to see to the latest signal failure, and decided immediately that the Sky+ box was at fault. He said "I'm going to have to replace it, so I'll just get the wrong box from the van".
?
He came in and unpacked the box and Said "I've got the wrong box from the van - this is the new one that everyone wants - double the hard drive capacity - 40 hours recording time".
He said my coffee was really good. I'm glad he liked my coffee. Nice guy.

Well, that was premature. This evening it's freezing again and there is once again signal failure. That's it. I phoned them, had a right old rant and sacked them. I now have to explain to the children tomorrow that their programmes have gone - during the Easter holiday too. I'll get a freeview and hard-drive Panasonic doobry tomorrow, but I'm not going to be popular for a while. Right at the start of the Moto GP season too - I can't bear the Steve Parrish commentary.