Direct TV and Rain

[Desperado]

Do not believe their hype
No matter what Direct TV says they still loose their signal when it raiins.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Well yeah....Microwave and rain....they don't mix.
Having said that, you're dish may need to be realigned if it happens in light rain or you still have the outdated small dishes.

 

[Pogo]

When I had DreckTV I wasn't bothered much by rain, more by ice. When I went to knock the ice off is when I found out how soft the metal is on them thar dishes.

The rain is doing you a favor. TV is a drug. Kick the habit.

 

[Rambunctious]

plus their internet is as slow as molasses....

 

[flewism]

Dish network is no better either, and I'm about to switch back to dish network again just be cause of price. I've switched back and forth every 2-3 years for the last 20 years.
Where we live there is no cable is available, to rural. Anybody that says satellite is better that cable in any way is full of it. When I lived in suburbia we had cable and it was way better. Plus my DSL through the phone company sucks too only 6 mbps on a good day, but better than satellite internet.

 

[HenryBHough]

Signal deterioration is worse when you're further North. A dish pointing straight up is looking through very little atmosphere (where weather lives). A dish approaching horizontal is looking through hundreds of miles. If rain fades are a big problem then just move South. Hey, if you're paying for satellite TV you can afford a new house and a move.

 

[Desperado]

Light rains are not a problem, South Florida thunder storms or even approaching thunderstorms cause signal loss

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Light rains are not a problem, South Florida thunder storms or even approaching thunderstorms cause signal loss

Do you have one of those 18" small dishes?....have them switch it out if so...other than that, you might have them realign it/ test the signal strength.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Dish network is no better either, and I'm about to switch back to dish network again just be cause of price. I've switched back and forth every 2-3 years for the last 20 years.
Where we live there is no cable is available, to rural. Anybody that says satellite is better that cable in any way is full of it. When I lived in suburbia we had cable and it was way better. Plus my DSL through the phone company sucks too only 6 mbps on a good day, but better than satellite internet.

cable sucks....their customer service is shitty at least with my experience,and they went down a lot....and i have had 2 different companies,no difference...the dish and directv are slightly better....

 

[HenryBHough]

It is true that a greater diameter dish will help with rain-fades but precise aim is essential. Also the extent of the fading is deeply connected to the size of the raindrops. Of course things like homeowners associations can get in the way of a proper installation so improvement may be possible but now allowable.

 

[blastoff]

Snow/ice in Michigan killed the signal often in winter. Fortunately due to lots of oaks and maples on our lot they couldn't locate the dish on the roof or attached up on the side of the house so had to sink a pole in the ground for it where it had a line of sight opening between tree limbs, thank God. When the signal was lost I could clean the dish off with a car window brush/scraper and be back in business in two minutes because it was only less than 6 feet off the ground. Had it been too high up to reach I'd have been at the mercy of waiting for Mother Nature to warm up and melt the problem. One winter only with a dish.

 

[HenryBHough]

Snow/ice in Michigan killed the signal often in winter. Fortunately due to lots of oaks and maples on our lot they couldn't locate the dish on the roof or attached up on the side of the house so had to sink a pole in the ground for it where it had a line of sight opening between tree limbs, thank God. When the signal was lost I could clean the dish off with a car window brush/scraper and be back in business in two minutes because it was only less than 6 feet off the ground. Had it been too high up to reach I'd have been at the mercy of waiting for Mother Nature to warm up and melt the problem. One winter only with a dish.

For the seriously TV addicted there are relatively inexpensive radomes available that will shed snow most of the time. They don't have much impact on wind resistance. But when the addiction reaches Stage 4, one can consider electrically radomes. Of course neither will do much with falling snow, particularly large flakes that act little mirrors to the signal. But once the snowfall stops they're magic.

 

[blastoff]

Snow/ice in Michigan killed the signal often in winter. Fortunately due to lots of oaks and maples on our lot they couldn't locate the dish on the roof or attached up on the side of the house so had to sink a pole in the ground for it where it had a line of sight opening between tree limbs, thank God. When the signal was lost I could clean the dish off with a car window brush/scraper and be back in business in two minutes because it was only less than 6 feet off the ground. Had it been too high up to reach I'd have been at the mercy of waiting for Mother Nature to warm up and melt the problem. One winter only with a dish.

For the seriously TV addicted there are relatively inexpensive radomes available that will shed snow most of the time. They don't have much impact on wind resistance. But when the addiction reaches Stage 4, one can consider electrically radomes. Of course neither will do much with falling snow, particularly large flakes that act little mirrors to the signal. But once the snowfall stops they're magic.

Thank you. I’ll find someone to interpret for me.

 

[OldLady]

Do not believe their hype
No matter what Direct TV says they still loose their signal when it raiins.

So does Dish.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Do not believe their hype
No matter what Direct TV says they still loose their signal when it raiins.

One of the many reasons I got rid of it.

 

[Pogo]

Do not believe their hype
No matter what Direct TV says they still loose their signal when it raiins.

One of the many reasons I got rid of it.

Actually I found the content during signal outages way more worthwhile than anything while the signal was on.

I think to this day what I got the most out of DreckTV was tuning to the satellite monitors and watching the signal strengths. Way less insulting than anything actually programmed.

 

[Care4all]

Do not believe their hype
No matter what Direct TV says they still loose their signal when it raiins.

agree! and when it snows! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[Care4all]

Dish network is no better either, and I'm about to switch back to dish network again just be cause of price. I've switched back and forth every 2-3 years for the last 20 years.
Where we live there is no cable is available, to rural. Anybody that says satellite is better that cable in any way is full of it. When I lived in suburbia we had cable and it was way better. Plus my DSL through the phone company sucks too only 6 mbps on a good day, but better than satellite internet.

same here!!!

 

[Care4all]

Signal deterioration is worse when you're further North. A dish pointing straight up is looking through very little atmosphere (where weather lives). A dish approaching horizontal is looking through hundreds of miles. If rain fades are a big problem then just move South. Hey, if you're paying for satellite TV you can afford a new house and a move.

and Maine, so so far north and east, Satellite TV and internet is worse than ever!!! My hubby's cell doesn't get good service either! It's all darn depressing, moving here from Massachusetts which is basically the silicone valley of the East.... every thing Rocked and Rolled....internet with fiber optics, cable, cells!!!!

 

[Pogo]

Snow/ice in Michigan killed the signal often in winter. Fortunately due to lots of oaks and maples on our lot they couldn't locate the dish on the roof or attached up on the side of the house so had to sink a pole in the ground for it where it had a line of sight opening between tree limbs, thank God. When the signal was lost I could clean the dish off with a car window brush/scraper and be back in business in two minutes because it was only less than 6 feet off the ground. Had it been too high up to reach I'd have been at the mercy of waiting for Mother Nature to warm up and melt the problem. One winter only with a dish.

For the seriously TV addicted there are relatively inexpensive radomes available that will shed snow most of the time. They don't have much impact on wind resistance. But when the addiction reaches Stage 4, one can consider electrically radomes. Of course neither will do much with falling snow, particularly large flakes that act little mirrors to the signal. But once the snowfall stops they're magic.

Thank you. I’ll find someone to interpret for me.

A radome is a cover that fits over a parabolic dish for the purpose of keeping off that ice and snow and rain that may affect it. It's supposed to be transparent to the signal. You've seen them out in the world, they look like this:

--- you'd put it on like a cap:

​

The idea of a parabolic dish is that it's perfectly shaped to reflect any signal that hits any part of the dish, into that center element, and thus concentrate the signal strength.

Consequently any change to the shape of that dish --- especially snow or ice -- disrupts that angle and you get less signal. That's why your signal will crap out in the snow or, especially, during icing. Icing is the mortal enemy of an antenna.

Rain has less of an effect directly on the shape of the dish but will disrupt the smooth surface by virtue of water running on it. The radome protects it from those elements. The signal goes through the radome, to the dish (theoretically, though it can't be completely transparent).

Theoretically you could put heating element de-icers on it to keep ice off (like broadcast antennas have) but it wouldn't help with the rain. Though the radome is convex-shaped which should discourage snow accumulation, maybe the most efficient approach would be a radome with a heating element.

Look around your world when you see a tower and you'll notice these peculiar looking caps on microwave antennas and you'll recognize them and know why they're there. Then you can say to your date, "see that? That's a radome" and explain all of this. She will then give you sex on the spot. It works, believe me. And yes, I get a commission for that.