Tips for Common Issues with Sky Decoders
Troubleshooting Common Sky Issues
This page has been put together to help troubleshoot those people who have issues with Sky/ mySky in a home theater / multi-room set up. After years of solving these problems we thought it would be wise to share some of that experience to help others with similar issues.
Get in touch if you think we can help: Contact Us
We also have an article describing how to get Sky to multiple rooms and many other helpful tips: Get the best out of Sky
Most issues can be solved easily with a hard reset of the unit. So before proceeding any further make sure you unplug the unit from power for a couple of minutes and then plug it back in.
Issues Covered:
Lip Syncing Issues
HDCP Issues
Rain Fade / No Signal
Infrared / Remote Control Issues
Sky Decoder Not Responding
New Sky Decoder Issues
The Listening Post Christchurch’s Install Team
Lip Syncing Issues:
The mySky boxes do not time the digital and analogue outputs perfectly. If the sky box is connected to a multi-room audio system, it commonly uses one of the analogue audio outputs for sound in other areas. This can result in sound through a multi room system being slightly behind the pictures on screen. There are three ways to solve this issue:
If your multi room system has an optical digital input, use this connection instead. It is perfectly in time with the sky boxes HDMI video output.
If not, the next easiest way is to use a DAC to take mySky’s optical output to convert it to an analogue signal. Compact DAC’s are available from around $169.00. Blustream’s DAC12AU is ideal for this job.
The third option is to use the component video and analogue audio outputs of the sky decoder. Again these are in perfect time, so should work perfectly.
HDCP Issues
HDCP is the name for the copyright protection associated with HDMI. It can cause a number of issues where it wont allow playback to your TV.
If your TV is displaying: “This display does not support HDCP” there are a number of possible causes. The handshaking could have failed, your HDMI cable may not be up to standard or your TV / Home Theater amplifier does not support HDCP.
To “reset” HDCP on the sky box, follow this procedure:
First follow the “Hard Reset procedure”
Restart your TV and Home Theater Amplifier
Press “TV” on your sky remote
Tune to channel 105. If you see a message on your TV screen saying “Insert your Sky viewing card”:
Remove and re-insert the viewing card into the slot marked Sky viewing card. Make sure that the arrow on the viewing card is facing into the machine and the gold chip is facing downwards.
Tune to a channel to see if this has resolved the issue
If this hasn’t worked, try a different HDMI cable. You should use a reasonable quality cable, that at the very least is rated for “HDMI 1.4a”.
If that does not work, try updating your home theater amplifier and TV’s firmware. If it’s still not working either your television or home theater may not support the relevant HDCP standards. You may need to upgrade. Call us and we can help
Rain Fade / No Signal
This error appears because somewhere in the chain, the decoder has lost contact with the Satellite. There are a number of possible causes for this.
The easiest to check is that no cables have come unplugged and that the feed is plugged into “Tuner 1”
Once you have checked that, there may be snow or leaves in the satellite dish. Make sure it is clear. It is also possible the dish has come out of alignment. If these steps don’t solve your problem, it is probably best to call your local qualified sky installer.
Infrared / Remote Control Issues
The first step might seem obvious, double check the batteries in the remote. Especially after a while these batteries may be flat, eroded or not connected properly.
If you use an “X-ray remote” system, try replacing the tiny battery inside the battery. Replacement batteries are available here.
If you use an “IR repeating system” Check the emitter and sensor are still in place. Some Sky decoders have extremely sensitive IR inputs and are not compatible with all IR systems.
IR Emitter for Sky
If you have recently replaced your sky box and your control system no longer works, check out our range of IR Kits here.
Sky’s brand new sky decoder
New Sky Decoder Issues
If you have recently replaced your Sky decoder with the new Kaon Box, there are a number of issues to be aware of.
Firstly, the IR sensor is even more sensitive than older models, so be aware most IR repeating systems will not play nicely.
There are no analogue video outputs, which mean your RF backfeed (Modulating sky around the house) will not work. Contact us for ideas on how to solve this, depending on the quality you are after.
