On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 10:45 AM, David Hillman
<hillman at planet-torque.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Mar 2011, Tim wrote:
>>
>> I have a spot for the dish on my house that is protected from the elements
>> pretty well so I don't think I will have to worry about heavy rain or snow
>> affecting the dish surface as much.
>
> B I believe you will. B I had DirecTV for about 8 years, and virtually all
> electrical storms will negatively effect your signal, to the point of being
> unable to watch TV. B Heavy snow and rain, likewise. B If you like to watch
TV
> on beautiful sunny days, though, it's great. B My dish was also protected.
> B It's not the collection of anything on the dish that causes the signal
> problems, it's the interference in the air. B I also had DirecTV ( now
Hughes
> ) internet service for a while, on a separate, unprotected, dish. B That
was
> actually a little better than the TV, but thunderstorms still knocked it
out
> reliably.
>
Rain fade is a real problem, but a properly mounted, and properly aimed dish
shouldn't lose signal that easily. I've looked at installations where
the dish moved in
anything over a light breeze, which meant it lost signal. It's also
pretty common to not
aim right, just aiming until the signal is good enough when the
installer is there. It's a perfectly fine signal, but there's less
margin for loss due to interference, weather, etc. Installers tend to
be paid flat rate, so spending time to get an installation perfect
isn't high on their list. They don't have to watch the 'searching'
screens.
The other thing that can cause interference is something, like a tree,
that moves into the line of sight when the wind blows.
--
David Scheidt
dmscheidt at gmail.com
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