Strange TATA SKY case!!!
I have managed to treat myself to a COLORED version of all Tata Sky channels. But something which beats my immediate sense of logic happened. Here goes...
1. I have a 29" AKIRA Color TV. Great Performance without any problem for over 3 years. With 3 AV inputs and stuff.
2. I got a Thomsun decoder for Tata Sky which was tried and tested in India for a week.
After successful installation, i started getting all channels in b/w after 5-8 minutes in fantastic color.
After I showed the decoder to 2-3 'technicians', 2 suggested I send the decoder back to India. 1 took my permission to OPEN THE DAMN box (warranty etc is involved). After touching a few parts, the decoder started giving color output for over 3 hours at his home/workshop.
When he brought it home, the same phenomenon. 5 minutes of color and eternity of b/w.
I exchanged Tata Sky decoders with fellow tata sky smugglers. The other decoders (3 of them) worked fine in my house. And mine worked fine in theirs.
I brought mine back home. Opened the decoder, determined to solve the mystery. I noticed that as 5 minutes passed one of the small chips got really hot and the screen turned b/w. I blew on to the chip,trying to cool it down...And lo! Color returned to the screen and to the faces of my family members! After 2 minutes- B/W...I blew again. Immediately color!
I m not an Electronics and Communication Engineer or an Electrical Enggineer. Being an Industrial Engineer, I felt like using a Universal Testing MAchine to find the mechanical load bearing capacity of the decoder and smashing it to bits. But then years of adjusting to advserse situations in the Middle East made me look into 'please adjust' arrangements. I found a friend who matched the following criteria:-
a) is a friend
b) has TATA SKY
c) has the same package as mine
d) my decoder works with his TV
e) his decoder works with my TV.
f) he is ready to exchange decoders
and now I am a happy man!
Can anyone advise or comment on this puzzling electro-magnetic phenomenon?
