# no signal on xm channels we used to get



## jdh8668 (Nov 7, 2007)

At work we have an old Delphi Skyfi unit. When tuning to the Christmas channels this year, the receiver would act like it was loading up the channel, then show no signal. We have signals on the other channels 73 and lower. XM says we should be able to get the xmas ones. They have reset our receiver several times, we have also tried unplugging, waiting several minutes, and plugging back in, checked to be sure the channels weren't manually deleted,all to no avail. XM is clueless what to do next. Any other ideas?


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Sounds like a poor signal.

With the SkyFi off, either on the remote or on the unit, press 2-0-7-XM Button. The receiver will turn on. Press Display until you see the first Diagnostic screen. What are your BER% numbers for the two satellites and terrestrial repeater?


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## jdh8668 (Nov 7, 2007)

Steve Mehs said:


> Sounds like a poor signal.
> 
> With the SkyFi off, either on the remote or on the unit, press 2-0-7-XM Button. The receiver will turn on. Press Display until you see the first Diagnostic screen. What are your BER% numbers for the two satellites and terrestrial repeater?


Was at 0% on Sat. 1, 100 % on the other two. Tried moving the unit around and could get sat. 1 to fluctuate to 100% but it wouldn't stabilize there, and mostly ended up at 0. This unit had been in the same place for at least 3 years, pointed the same direction, and always received all the channels. Now anything below 74 will get three bars, above that..nothing.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

You want it to be at 0% or as close to it as possible. BER = Bit Error Rate Percentage. 100% means 100% of the bits you’re attempting to receive are erroneous. Early on with XM I had some signal issues, and I found the signal is most reliable when it’s locked onto both satellites at 0.0.


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## jdh8668 (Nov 7, 2007)

Steve Mehs said:


> You want it to be at 0% or as close to it as possible. BER = Bit Error Rate Percentage. 100% means 100% of the bits you're attempting to receive are erroneous. Early on with XM I had some signal issues, and I found the signal is most reliable when it's locked onto both satellites at 0.0.


Any suggestions? Has the receiver seen it's better days, or is it something to still be worked out with XM?


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

In order what I would do

1) Make sure BER% is 0.0 on at least one satellite, if not 0.0 on the other, very close to it.

2) Refresh the radio at refresh.xmradio.com

3) Swap out the antenna and/or receiver with a known good one from a friend or relative

4) Upgrade. New In The Box SkyFi 2s can be found pretty cheap these days. You can use all your SkyFi accessories with it as well. If you want to go totally new, the Delphi Xpress RC is a very nice receiver with a full color screen and 60 minute buffer.


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