Satellite in Spain: Sky box, Sky+, HD, Repairs. Tooway High Speed Internet Installations,Granada.

Where are we?

2015-01-31T19:25:00.000+01:00

NoPalaver Satellite is based in the Granada province town of Alhama de Granada. As such we are ideally based to service clients in the Granada and Malaga provinces.

Whether you are in the town or the campo, we can advise and assist you with installtion, re-siting, system information and upgrades to Hi-Def systems.
We offer a complete repair service for most Skyboxes, Sky+ and HD. In addition to this any other receivers Humax, Echostar etc can be inspected for repair Free of charge.
Call Nick: 0034 608 470 418 email: njwspain@hotmail.com

No channel 5 in Spain, Astra 2F/2E, Freesat changes

2013-03-18T16:59:00.000+01:00

If you are living in southern Spain you will have noticed the loss of some channels since Christmas. This was due to the new satellite - Astra 2F - being put into service and the transfer of those missing channels being assigned to it. The launch of a second new satellite is expected - Astra 2E - in the second part of this year with most of the other free channels BBC/ITV/C4 etc.. being moved to it. The footprint of these satellites will be very similar and will result in you losing service.

As of yet solutions to the problem of getting the channels back are subject to much speculation and experimentation. My advice to you is not to go out and buy the biggest dish you can find and bolt it to your chimney! Reports on the internet are varied; from suggestions of using 2.4 /3 metre dishes, to one person going around installing 1.9 metre dishes at 1,000 euros a pop with no way of knowing if they will work.

My advice is to wait till all the changes have been made around June/July, and some test installations have been done. As soon as we know a of a reasonable solution at a reasonable price it will be posted here.

Tooway Installation Yegen, Alpujarras, Granada

2012-05-23T13:29:00.003+02:00

Installation was completed just before the clouds rolled in. We managed to achieve a good signal lock of 14.5db snr, which I was very pleased about as a return trip would have meant another 6 hour round trip; very happy clients (many thanks for the great lunch) and a very happy me.

Tooway (Rental Packages)

2012-04-03T20:03:00.000+02:00

NoPalaver are pleased to announce they are now official installers of tooway high speed broadband satellite internet and telephone. With a variety of monthly packages, download/upload speeds and monthly data usage there is a service to suit any needs, whether it's for family use, small or large business use, we'll have a solution for you. Tooway is now available throughout Europe and is suitable for any location, whether it's on top of mountain or in the countryside. Call or email Nick for free site survey.
Tel : 0034 608470418 Email : njwspain@hotmail.com

Tooway rental packages. (Min 24 month contract)

Tooway ( Purchase Prices)

2012-04-02T18:41:00.001+02:00

To arrange a free site survey and complete installation price, please call Nick.

Tel: 0034 618470418 Email: njwspain@hotmail.com

Tooway High Speed Internet and Telephone Installation Granada/Malaga

2012-03-29T17:37:00.002+02:00

The Tooway system consists of a small satellite dish which can be either floor or wall mounted, and a satellite modem.The position of the dish and cables can be agreed prior to install with the distance between modem and dish being ideally no more than 50 metres.

Multi-satellite fixed dish installations

2012-03-26T18:00:00.000+02:00

We can install systems to receive multiple satellites from one fixed dish.This installation is aligned for Astra 1, 2 and 3 receiving Dutch, German, Czech and UK television & radio channels. It is possible to configure multiple signals to received channels from many other countries: Russian, Italian, French, Arabic etc...

The system can be installed with a single multi-sat enabled receiver, though in this case separate receivers were used for Dutch TV and radio channels, and UK Freeview.

Sky box Sky+ box hacks cracks chipped pirate etc

2012-02-08T18:40:00.000+01:00

I have seen lots of requests and comments posted over the years about this topic. I hope the little knowledge I have on this subject will give you some idea of how complex it is and why it's pointless (as well as illegal) trying.
Sky and Sky + boxes made by all manufactures are based on similar chip sets and processors. It is in the best interests of manufacturers and suppliers not to provide access to schematics (circuit diagrams) and details of components so as not to give anyone the opportunity to hack Sky NDS encrypted systems.

The block diagram is of the ST Omega processor and shows the multiple functions it carries out. ST along with Conexant make the majority of chips for STB's and PVR's.

As the diagram shows there are a lot of devices running the processor which all play a part in decrypting the satellite data streams. Details on some of these devices and their function is pretty much non existent and seem only available to manufacturers and developers. Some data sheets on PIC.FLASH, and the SDRAM chips can be found on the Internet but without software, plus a good knowledge of coding and programming interfaces the hacking of them is next to impossible.

A surface mounted ball grid array processor from the Pace Sky+

Reverse side

Limited success in turning a Sky+ box into a subscription free pvr seems to have been achieved on the following site Sky+ pvr Hack

I've never tried or tested any of the processes involved on this website and they do seem a bit hit and miss.
In conclusion I think for the sake of saving yourself £10 a month you may as well save up and get a freesat HD pvr. As for hacking Sky decoders it's never going to happen. The moment they get a sniff of a problem they have too many software variables which would render a large scale hack harmless.

Sky card Hacks Cracks Pirate Cheats etc

2012-01-27T17:17:00.000+01:00

There has been lots published on the net about this subject, most of it, if not all of it is complete bull.

As far as card hacking goes, to the best of my knowledge it's never been achieved on any viable level. The encryption level used by NDS Media Guard even if cracked would only last a short period of time. The 'over the air' encryption key changes are frequent enough to make card programming a waste of time.
There are many websites out there with hack/crack codes for different encryption systems; seca, viaccess, nagravision, conex, powervu ...
Aside from the illegality of card hacking, it is also a waste of time and money: First you buy a programmer device and the cards, next you need a receiver with a CI (card interface) slot, then you need to buy a CAM (card access module). At this point you have invested a lot of time and money sourcing the kit. Then after hours of research and trawling through many forums and websites, fingers crossed you have bought the right stuff, you get to program a card. Now the fun begins searching for bin codes and keys for the system you wish to crack. On most websites you will find very little information on how to use all the nice new kit you bought let alone how to use it in conjunction with the little bits of code you have downloaded.
In my opinion this leaves you with a very time consuming hobby with no genuine benefit so makes it pretty pointless. My advice, save your money and invest it in something more satisfying and legal.

Typical RS232 card programmer and software.

As mentioned, a little reading is needed to get up to speed on card programming.

A nice video on the process of card hacking Reverse engineering satellite cards

WiFi Alhama de Granada

2011-08-15T14:33:00.000+02:00

WiFi options in Alhama are not extensive. You can opt for expensive broadband via Movistar, have a satellite phone link or use the Alhama municipal WiFi system. The subscription to the municipal service is currently 9€ a month and can be cancelled easily if you are not resident all year round. The service is by no means has the fastest connection but is certainly the cheapest. No subscriptions are available to those located outside the town hall billing area i.e Santa Cruz.

We can provide all equipment and installation for connection to the Alhama municipal WiFi system that operates in the town and campo.

Download speeds do go up and down depending what time of day you connect and can range from 50kbs to 300kbs. This is fine for email and reading the paper online, Skype calls are also good but can be a bit slow with video. We had our Movistar landline disconnected as the calls over Skype are clearer and definitely cheaper.

We provide custom installations using quality equipment which can operate at speeds up to 300mbps, if the existing sevice is upgraded the equipment can easily handle the higher data speeds.

We are independent installers and make no money from the town hall subscription, nor do we have anything to do with the service they provide.

If you would like a free survey please call or email

Tel:0034 608 470 418 email: njwspain@hotmail.com

Reset, Remove, Clear BIOS Password, solved (Acer Aspire 1500 series)

2011-08-11T18:39:00.000+02:00

Lots of online advice on getting past a BIOS password, I tried most of them but with very little success. Disconnecting the CMOS / Real time clock battery seems to be the favourite, this didn't work on the Acer even after many hours it would not reset the password.

I'm not familiar with any other models in this range, the model shown is the 1501LMi. I'll be the first to admit I'm no expert in computer maintenance but I do enjoy taking things apart and hate being beaten. After a lot of searching on the net I found a service manual on this model with intructions on how to dismantle it. To cut a long story short I ended up with the thing in a million pieces (then discovered this was not necessary). All you have to do is remove the screen hinge covers, and undo the 2 silver screws either side of the screen that hold the top panel in place.

Push the rear of the panel beneath the screen to release it.

Bend the screen back flat and lift the panel free.
There is no need to disconnect the operation panel.

Unclip and lift keyboard forward again, no need to disconnect.

Now we can see the blue CMOS / Real time clock battery. No need to disconnect, doing that doesn't work believe me!!

This is what we are after, component SW1 which has 4 dip switches marked 1 to 4. Take a fine screwdriver and move dip switch 1 to the ON position. At this stage you can reassemble the laptop which will leave the BIOS password off every time your computer boots or you can boot F2, set a new password and return dip switch 1 to the off position. Be careful when booting, take care to ensure no connectors can short.

There you go, not bad for a non geek. Don't know if this works with other laptops, never opened one up before. Let me know how you get on and good luck. Acer charge $100 for this repair.

Amstrad DRX200 DRX300 DRX400 DRX500 Repair

2011-04-02T16:48:00.000+02:00

For all Amstrad repairs the main cause of failure is the capacitors getting cooked, which can finally result in the complete destruction of most components on the PSU board.

                                              This example is a DRX 400 power supply.

The digibox would work perfectly for 20 minutes then the signal would drop out ( Not Locked ).

The only visible sign of component failure was capacitor C13 2200uf 6.3 volt

There are 2 solutions to this problem. You can send it to me for a guaranteed repair or you can have a go at repairing it yourself. If you fancy the DIY option some good soldering skills and a basic knowlage of electronic components should get you through without incident.

Repair kits are available from various sources, which differ in quality by some considerable degree. Many components can be found on the internet and sold on to you in the form of kits at bargin prices. The kits used by me and recommend, are sourced from www.satcure.co.uk

Pace TDS470N repair

2011-03-20T15:23:00.000+01:00

The pace 470 suffers like most receivers with capacitor failure in the PSU (Power supply unit).
This particular model is a little more fiddley to repair than some, as the PSU is part of the main circuit board and the box has to be completely dismantled.

Thru-hole soldering is used in the manufacture of the board, so a good quality solder station is a handy tool to remove the failed capacitors.

Some failing capacitors can be easily spotted by eye, either bulging or leaking in some cases. Replacing these may give you a short-term fix, but they will fail again pretty soon. If you have taken the time to dismantle it you may as well do the job properly. There are some 20 capacitors to replace that will guarantee you a long term repair. This might be a belt & braces approach but believe me it works.
Call Nick :0034 608 470 418 email:njwspain@hotmail.com

Pace 2600 repair

2011-03-18T18:01:00.000+01:00

The Pace 2600ci Skybox has been a very popular receiver here in Spain, but over the past year or so they have started showing signs of tuner failure (No satellite signal).
These boxes can be repaired by a chip replacement in the tuner can.

Replacing surface mounted devices does require specialist tools and some experience.

Call Nick :0034 608 470 418 email : njwspain@hotmail.com

Laptop Screen Replacement

2011-02-15T16:06:00.000+01:00

If, like my wife, you inadvertantly break your laptop screen, I can replace the screen for you, quickly and economically. Often, this type of problem isn't covered by your computer's warranty and your home insurance may either not cover the cost of a repair or your excess might be higher than the cost of repair.
For a free quote to replace your screen, email or phone Nick, with your laptop make and model number, screen serial number if you have it and he'll get back to you with a price.
Email: njwspain@hotmail.com
Phone: 0034 608 470 418

Reconditioning Sky & Sky+ HD Digiboxes

2011-02-15T14:53:00.000+01:00

As well as reconditioning any Sky and Sky+ HD digiboxes, we can now repair freesat systems.

This is a more economical solution to digibox issues than buying a new digibox. After reconditioning we've found the digibox works far better than before.
For a free inspection contact Nick: 0034 608 470 418.

Humax Remote Control Problem

2011-02-08T12:06:00.000+01:00

Lately we've had calls from people who have purchased a Humax digibox to replace their old digibox but discovered that the remote seems to not work correctly. The problem is not the remote but the digibox itself. There is a clear plastic strip covering the display and sensor, this needs to be removed to allow for perfect use of your Humax digibox. Simply press the front plate of the digibox to open it, peel off the strip, close the front and your digibox will work perfectly. If you're still unsure, call Nick for free step by step instructions.

Repairs: Sky & Sky+ HD. Pace, Thompson, Amstrad, Grundig, Sony.

2010-06-17T17:37:00.000+02:00

If you want to keep your current system and your digibox fails ( Stuck in standby, Losing channels, No satellite signal, Recording failed etc) then, instead of buying a new digibox we can repair it for you. This is usually a much more economical option than purchasing a new box. There are several models of Sky & Sky+ HD digibox and most of these can be repaired. After repair, these boxes can work to a higher standard than the original box.

Over the last 10 years we have repaired many boxes and in all cases these boxes have not only performed better than before but are continuing to perform without the need for a second repair.

Nick checks all boxes prior to attempting a repair and will advise you free of charge whether you box is repairable.

If you have any enquiries about digibox repairs please email Nick. For any satellite installation companies who would like a quote for bulk repairs of digiboxes please email Nick for a quote.
Call: 0034 608 470 418 email: njwspain@hotmail.com

Poor or No Reception: SKY digibox only

2010-02-05T17:58:00.000+01:00

If the poor reception is due to adverse weather conditions you may need to just wait until the weather improves.
However, if the weather has cleared up and your poor reception continues or you have the 'no satellite signal' message on your TV, try the following:

press the 'services' key on your SKY remote
scroll down to and select No. 4: Signal Setup
scroll down to and select No. 6: Signal Test

On this screen look at the list and check whether there is something showing in the 'signal strength and signal quality boxes. If no bars of signal appear by 'signal strength and quality' and a 'not locked' appears in the third line...

unplug the digibox from the mains power supply
wait 10-15seconds
plug the digibox into the mains power supply
allow the digibox to re-boot - up to 2 minutes

Is the problem resolved?

yes - watch TV
no - go to next section

Transponder Change: using the remote control, press the services key...

scroll down to and select No. 4 System Setup
using the keypad press '0' '1' 'select' in quick succession - you should now see a screen headed Installers Set Up
scroll down to and select No. 2 Default Transponder
use the keypad to scroll to and highlight 'Frequency'
use the keypad to change the number shown to: 11739
scroll down and select 'Save New Settings'
use 'Back Up' key to return to 'System Test' screen
scroll down to and select No. 6 Signal Test
this should now show both signal strength and quality

If no signal strength and quality are showing after completing the above steps and there is no signal lock then it's possible that your problem is due to digibox failure or dish failure. You may need a repair or realignment. In this case email me with your phone number to arrange a service call

About Us

2010-02-05T17:46:00.000+01:00

Not afraid of heights and at home on the roof, Nick our principal installer should be called The Cat! He has over 9yrs experience in all aspects of satellite intallation in Spain and has worked on houses, edificios, in the town and the campo.

If you need repairs to your satellite receiver Nick is the only guy we know of in Spain who does/can repair digiboxes and receivers. So, before you head out and buy a new box, send your old one to us for testing and we'll tell you free of charge if it can be fixed or not.

If you are experiencing problems with reception, check our Troubleshooting section. If that doesn't resolve your problem email with your problem and Nick will get in touch with some free advice.

Satellite Dish Info

2010-01-26T13:46:00.000+01:00

Over the past 10 years I have seen many sizes, types, and brands of dish in operation (or not operating as the case may be).
In my experience a dish with anything less than 1.2m diameter will cause you problems with lost signal and constant resetting of your receiver in poor weather conditions.
The very best brand of dish is, in my opinion, a Gibertini. This type has all the features you need to optimise reception and is the dish of choice for consciencious installers.

The LNB connected to the dish is also an important factor again there are many brands with different specifications.
If you have a simple installation you may only need a standard single LNB. If you want to connect many systems to the dish then you can upgrade to twin, quad and even six and eight point LNBs. In general the more systems you can attach to the LNB the more expensive the LNB. It's worth paying for a decent brand with the right spec for your needs.

Another important factor to consider when choosing installer or the system you need is siting. Where is your dish going to sit? Will it be on roof? A terrace? Attached to a wall? Each location can present individual problems and siting is an important part of getting a good signal. Using quality brackets, poles and fixings helps to prevent the dish moving in high winds. All our intallations come with a three month guarantee against dish movement.

If you need advice about your current installation or want a system installed or upgraded please email me.

Sky Sky+ HD Freesat Satellite in Spain

2010-01-25T22:19:00.000+01:00

When we talk about 'satellite' tv it should really be 'satellites' as the digital television and radio channels are broadcast from four satellites not just one: Astra 2A, Astra 2B, Astra 2D and Eurobird 1.
These satellites are in geo-stationary orbit above central Africa. Although it might appear we, here in Spain, are closer to the satellites, (though in terms of 35,000km, we are no closer at all!) the transmissions from these satellites is tightly focussed on the UK and therefore, here in Spain, we receive the edges of these transmissions. This is why during bad weather conditions the signal can break up and the picture pixalates or the signal disappears entirely and the digibox can lock up.
You can use a SKY, Freesat or a generic type digital satellite receiver to receive satellite transmissions in Spain. See our section Equipment and Installation Info for more information.
A Freeview box is only for terrestrial TV and won't receive satellite transmissions. Make sure you have the correct type of satellite receiver.