ASTRA-2F

Today, again, the cloud cover has reduced the already weak Sky News transponder signal to the point where many receivers are reporting no signal or the picture is breaking up. This transponder also carries the data for the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG).

For many people, the only symptom they will see is that Sky News and other programmes from this transponder (Pick TV, Pick TV +1, Community channel) are not receivable. However, if you have a working EPG, you will still be able to receive other programmes.

IF, however, you unplug your Digibox or do anything to force it to rescan, it will lose the existing EPG from its memory and it will be unable to update it. This means complete loss of all channels. The ONLY remedy is to wait until the sky clears and the signal improves.

A possible long-term solution is to get the dish alignment optimised (no guarantee of success) or install a larger dish (again, no guarantee).

However, please bear in mind that Sky News might follow the "local channels" (BBC, ITV etc.) onto Astra 2F or 2E in summer and this will cause permanent loss of all channels on a Sky Digibox, because it won’t receive the EPG data. Nobody knows whether Sky will make this move. (Those who say that it has already moved are mistaken. It’s still on the 12207 MHz transponder number 26 of the Astra-1N satellite’s pan-European beam 1.)**
http://www.lyngsat.com/Eutelsat-28A-and-Astra-1N-2A-2B-2F.html

For those with "unlimited" Internet broadband, there are ways of watching all "local" channels (including Sky News, BBC, ITV, CH4, five etc.) with good quality picture on your TV set. Any such system uses a lot of "bandwidth" so you need a minimum of 1Mbps download speed (preferably 2mbps) and a monthly "cap" that allows you to watch as many programmes as you are likely to want (probably in excess of 60GB). So it’s really only suitable for a "landline" connection.

For others, a partial solution is to use a non-Sky receiver to get a few Free To Air (FTA) programmes. Another possibility might be to use a Freesat receiver. I think the EPG will still work but the choice of channels will be limited to those which can still be received, which are not encrypted.

**Sorry, that’s not clear. I HAS moved to Astra-1N (from, I think, Astra-1A), which is why the signal is weaker here. It has NOT moved to Astra-2F (yet).

Just had a friend call. 11973 works. :)