Losing your satellite signal (the dreaded “No Satellite Signal” message) is a common frustration, but it’s often something you can diagnose—and sometimes fix—without a professional call-out.
In the UK, Sky signals generally operate via a dish pointed at the Astra 28.2°E satellite cluster. If that connection is broken, your box can’t “see” the data.No Satellite Signal Error Message can normally be linked to one of the following.
Bad Weather Affecting Sky TV – No Satellite Signal Error Message
As a British resident you’ll be used to the weather by now, but perhaps don’t realise quite the effect it can have on your SKY viewing. During periods of heavy rain and/or wind you might notice that your signal drops. All we can advise here is to wait and see if it returns when the weather improves.
However, if you are still seeing the ‘No Satellite Signal Being Received’ message at this stage (particularly if there has been heavy winds) you may need to Call Us for an engineer visit to re-align the dish.
Sky Dish Problems – No Satellite Signal Error Message
Again possibly caused by bad weather, the LNB (Low Noise Block Downconverter) is an arm like device that sits facing the dish and can sometimes become loose.
Many problems can be solved over the phone by our technical team, but unfortunately a damaged LNB is not one of them. If your LNB has become loose or fallen off, you will require an engineer to reconnect the cables or fit a new LNB.
Sky Dish Cable Problems – No Satellite Signal Error Message
The cables that run from your Sky dish into the box are called the coaxial cables. Damage to these cables is likely to disrupt your viewing and cause problems with your signal. For example, in strong winds the cables can become loose and fall away from the dish, or heavy rains could allow water to get into the cabling. This will usually result intermittent signal loss or even a total loss of signal.
In cases where the external cabling has been damaged, professional help is usually required. Sometimes it’s as simple as reconnecting a loose connection, but in some cases a whole new cable run may be required. For example if water has breached the cable sheathing and caused them to rust.
F-Connector Problems – No Satellite Signal Error Message
The F Connectors connect your coaxial cable to your Sky or Freesat box and LNB. These connectors can sometimes come loose or even fall away from the box or LNB, causing intermittent signal loss or even total loss of signal. On Sky Plus and Sky Plus HD boxes, there are two connectors and a loose F Connector on input 2 may result in failed or poor quality recordings.
To check your F Connector at the box end isn’t loose, simply turn the bolt clockwise with your hand until it feels secure. Then check your signal using the settings on your Sky box. If you don’t notice any improvement, there may be a more complicated problem with your equipment and you may require an engineer.
Software Update
If only a selected few SKY channels are showing the ‘No Satellite Signal Being Received’ message then it may be that your SKY box requires a Software Update. Follow the steps below to complete the update.
- Turn Sky box off at the mains.
- Check front of box to make sure all lights are off.
- Hold down the ‘back-up’ button.
- Switch box back on (Still holding the back-up button).
- Keep holding button until message on screen shows a software update in progress.
- Wait 10 minutes until it is complete, turn your Sky box back on and finally check the channels.
For more information on this error, check out Sky’s website
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