DStv Signal Repairs in Van Riebeeck Park

The same no-signal message appears whether the dish has shifted, the LNB is failing, a connector has taken in water or the cable has been damaged. Swapping parts one at a time until the picture returns is slow and expensive, so we work through the chain in order instead.

The measurement is what settles it. A meter at the dish shows both signal strength and quality far more precisely than the bar on the decoder's own menu. A good reading at the dish and a poor one at the TV puts the fault in between — cable, connector or splitter. A poor reading at the dish points at the alignment, the LNB or something now standing in the line of sight.

Water in an outdoor F-connector is near the top of the list, and it is easy to miss because the picture only suffers once the moisture has worked its way in. Next is an ageing LNB, which tends to fail gradually rather than all at once — dropouts that come and go, often worse in heat or rain. Then there is a dish that has slipped a degree or two on a bracket that was never quite tight enough.

Cable is the quiet one. Years of sun make the outer sheath brittle, and a cracked sheath lets water into the braid. From the ground it all looks exactly the same as the day it went up.

Two things are worth trying. Make sure the cable is screwed firmly into the back of the decoder, and switch the decoder off at the wall for ten seconds before switching it on again. If the picture drops during heavy rain and comes back when the sky clears, that is rain fade rather than a fault — it is only a problem if it does not come back.

Please do not climb onto a roof to look at the dish. If you can safely see it from the ground and it is visibly skew, or there is a cable hanging loose, tell us when you call and we will bring the parts most likely to be needed.