Pace Digibox Pace was the first manufacturer to supply Digiboxes. Their Service Department has, in my opinion, been second to none. Spare parts and service manuals are available for the Pace BskyB2200 Digibox and later versions. Dealers could get free training at the Pace factory and the Technical Helpline is almost free, with calls being charged at standard national rates. You can also get help by e-mail and the Pace web site has a password-controlled technical section for dealers. Few other companies provide such comprehensive support.
I don't, now, do any repairs myself but we can get the spares. Please state the model number from the label underneath the Digibox... "BskyB2x00". The most common fault at present is caused by the "Zero I.F." tuner module which can create a variety of symptoms from "some channels missing" through "no satellite signal.." to "stuck in standby". It's almost impossible to be sure that the tuner module is the cause (without using workshop test equipment) but it often is. (Please don't send me a list of symptoms and ask: "is this a tuner fault?" I can't guess. The only way to find out is to replace the tuner.) See picture of "Zero IF tuner" in our catalogue. Later Pace models are especially prone to CPU overheating. A small number of Pace power supplies fail. Some PSUs are an integral part of the mother board and some are separate. Separate PSUs are available on an exchange basis. Or we can supply a repair kit. Please look at our Digibox spares catalogue page for a list of kits. How can you be certain if the PSU is faulty? Four methods:- 1. Visual inspection. The Electrolytic capacitors should have perfectly flat tops with no bulging (and no bulging of the rubber plug underneath each one). By the time any bulging occurs, the capacitor is well gone. If there's no visible sign, this does NOT mean that the capacitors are OK. 2. Borrow another identical Pace and swap its PSU over into yours. If it now works, that proves that your PSU is not OK. 3. Use an oscilloscope to monitor the individual output voltages. If you can see high frequency ripply of more than 100 millivolts, the capacitors need to be replaced. 4. Measure each electrolytic capacitor with an ESR meter (not a capacitance meter - this will not usually show a faulty capacitor). In our experience only a very small number of Pace Sky Digibox PSUs fail. Oftem this is as a result of a voltage surge and it's impossible to tell whether the mother board is irrepairably damaged until the power supply is repaired or replaced. In the case of removable PSUs, you can remove the Power Supply Unit, pack it carefully in a cardboard box, and post it to Michael Dranfield for repair. Keep the screws in a safe place. Alternatively, you can order an exchange power supply from SatCure. Please look at our Digibox spares catalogue page. Click HERE for Michael's repairs page. Getting It Repaired Please read the NEXT PAGE for information about packing and contacts for this repair service (now offered by Michael Dranfield as Martin no longer accepts repairs).
Pace address for contacting Pace: Pace Microtechnology Ltd
Victoria Road
Saltaire
Shipley
West Yorks
BD18 3LF
(01274) 532000
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