What you'll notice
Signal cuts out when the cable is touched or moved, returns when it is jiggled, and fails intermittently for no apparent reason.
Why it happens
An F-connector that is finger-loose, twist-on rather than compression-fitted, sized for the wrong cable, or fitted with stray braid strands shorting the centre conductor.
Badly fitted connectors are, in our experience, the largest single source of intermittent satellite faults — and the least glamorous to talk about.
What goes wrong
- Twist-on connectors. Quick to fit, and they work loose and admit water. They have no place on an outdoor satellite installation.
- Wrong size for the cable. An RG59 connector on RG6 will grip, sort of, and fail within a year.
- Stray braid strands. A single wire of the braid touching the centre conductor shorts the feed and can also stop the LNB receiving its supply voltage.
- Not tightened. Finger-tight is not tight enough; over-tight crushes the dielectric. There is a correct feel and a correct tool.
The diagnostic tap
If wiggling the cable at the back of the decoder changes the picture, you have found the fault without any test equipment at all. Do not leave it there — a marginal connection arcs, and arcing accelerates the corrosion that finishes it off.
Why compression fitting matters
A compression connector is crimped with a tool that forms a uniform, weather-resistant, mechanically sound joint. It costs a few rand more per connector and takes fifteen seconds longer. Every connector we fit is a compression connector, and every outdoor one gets sealed on top of that.
How we fix it
We cut back and compression-fit correctly sized connectors, torque them properly, and seal any that live outdoors. It is a small job that permanently eliminates a whole category of intermittent faults.
Still not working?
If the checks above haven't restored your coaxial cable & connectors, this usually needs a technician. Our Cabling & Point Repairs service covers exactly this fault — from R480, quoted upfront.