# How often do you loose Satellite TV reception?



## mini1 (Jan 25, 2004)

Please vote honestly in this poll! I thank you in advance for your vote! As always, please post anything related to the topic below, such as a more *specific city or state* of were you lose satellite reception, or the *size of your dish * and *what your satellite provider(s) are* that bring you programming. don't see your option on the list? please post your choice below. Do dish covers and heaters really work, or do they do more damage than good to the signal?


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## DarrellP (Apr 24, 2002)

I live in the Pacific Northwest just south of rainy Portland and have, to my knowledge, never lost my signal from 110/119 due to rain. I do lose it on 61.5 but that's a different story.


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

I live in Michigan. In a heavy downpour, I've lost signal for 5-10 minutes at a time -- maybe 2-3 times in the past 18 months.

I've never lost signal due to snow -- even in a blizzard. Surprises me, but that's the way it is.

- John...


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## MikeW (May 16, 2002)

Monsoon rains will knock out the signal during the peak of the storm in Vegas.


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## lifterguy (Dec 22, 2003)

Only in heavy rain or thunderstorms, and usually only for about 5-to-20 minutes depending on how long the worst part of the storm lasts. Storms bad enough to cause this only happen about 5-to-8 times a year. A few odd times I have lost signal when it's lightning, but barely raining at my house. I assume it's because there is a downpour somewhere between my dish and the satellite.


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

i saw north and south, but no toto land. i've had small dish since 95. more than 5 minutes none. not sure about times electricity was out. more than 5 seconds less than ten do to weather. ice removal 3 times 5 seconds to remove.


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## nuts4scuba (Jan 11, 2003)

In the past year I remember losing signal 3 times. Once was during an ice storm last winter and power went out for 5 minutes. It was down only the 5 minutes and the time for my 721 to reboot(neighbors with cable a week and a half). It was down during the summer in a big storm. It was raining so hard you couldn't see outside. The last time there was a storm in the fall while I was at work, but was recording Oprah for my wife and the signal faded out for a couple of minutes.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

No snowstorm has knocked out my signal yet here in NJ. In the last year, I've only lost signal I was watching (or during a recording) three times, all during severe storms.

I peg pretty strong signals though on 110 and 119 (close to maxed out) and a good signal (about 85-90) on 61.5.


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## TonyM (Aug 14, 2003)

first off, its LOSE, not loose

I have lost signal three times in a year and a half...
once during a major downpour..lost everything except for locals (Dish)..was back up in a couple of minutes
Lost signal on ExpressVu when we had a wet snow and it was sticking to the dish...signal went down to 40..but lost signal no less. was up an running in a couple minutes (went out and wiped off dish)
Lost signal on ExpressVu when there was during whatever hurricane hit Canada...lost signal because the uplink facility in Toronto had the bad weather, not me.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

I live in a rural suburb of Buffalo NY, about 20 miles outside the city and have had excellent luck with Dish Network reception and hope to continue the trend with DirecTV. In 4 1/2 winters with Dish, using the standard 18" dish for the first couple years, then upgrading to the Dish 500 when ever it first came out, we maybe lost the signal due to snow 2-3 per winter on average. Just had to get the latter out from the garage and a broom and dust it off. And so far this winter *knock on wood* between two services and three satellite dishes, not one occurrence of snow fade. Didn’t experience much rain fade in the past year either. Maybe 2 or 3 occurrences that I noticed with Dish, which only occured when the storm was at it's peak. All dish sizes are the standards, For E*, 18” Dish 300, 20” Dish 500 and 18x20” Phase 3 for D* Maybe it has to do with the location of the dishes and being on the low side of my roof, but I noticed the dishes generally shield the LNBs from blowing snow and snow build up. No dish heaters or covers are used.


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## Timco (Jun 7, 2002)

I live in Southern California, what's rain? Never heard of it.


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## Jim Parker (Aug 12, 2003)

I have a 36" dish looking at 119 and a 48" dish looking at 110. I've lost 119 maybe 6 times in 2 years and 110 twice in 6 months. It has been down due to both snow and rain. Both satellites are low on my horizon, just above the mountains. Of course the heaviest clouds are always above the mountains.


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## CoriBright (May 30, 2002)

I'm in Southern Nevada and didn't have Dish last time we had snow on the ground about seven years ago now.

But we certainly lose the signal in heavy rain conditions which can occur in almost any month... and of course the twice a year equinox thing.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

I lose it less than cable.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

DirecTV.... not yet (have a phase 3 dish).

Dish Network... the closest I got to losing signal was when high winds knocked the dish out of alignment. While I got a good signal from E*7 and E*8, I couldn't get a signal lock on E*6, and thus wasn't able to retrieve the nine day guide. 

Rain fade... I haven't seen it here in Sacramento... but we usually don't get much rain or snow. Rainfall for this area is measured from July 1st to June 30th.


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## catman (Jun 27, 2002)

Wisconsin checking in . loose the signal in the summer . Not in the winter .


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## jwwahly (Dec 21, 2003)

Timco said:


> I live in Southern California, what's rain? Never heard of it.


better yet what is snow. :lol: :lol:


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## Karl Foster (Mar 23, 2002)

Here in Utah, I have lost signal maybe once a year for four years, and only for a half hour each time. Of course, the last time I lost signal, we had fifteen inches of snow in a few hours (on Christmas day).


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## RJS1111111 (Mar 23, 2002)

Denver, CO area, DISH 500 for 119/110, 18" dish for 61.5, another DISH 500 for 148 (seldom connected to switch). DISH Network AT180+Locals+Supers, Sky Angel.

We lose signal when there is occasionally a heavy snowfall, until I go out and brush off the dish with a broom. Okay, I generally whack the dish with the broom until the snow slides off, since I can't really reach up far enough to brush it much. I would like to someday have a balcony where I can put the dish out of the weather and easily reach it if necessary.

We lose signal for only a few minutes at a time, but on an almost daily basis, usually in the afternoon or evening, during peak thunderstorm season.

For about a year, I watched the ExpressVu FTA channel (199?) with news shows on all day weekdays. I don't remember ever losing the signal while watching it. I especially enjoyed the "Big Breakfast" morning show from Edmonton, Alberta.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

I lost my cable signal for 2 hours on Monday. Actually, I don't know if I still had a cable signal, but the power went out, and so did my TV.  :lol:


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## Mike Richardson (Jun 12, 2003)

My cable modem goes out more than my DISH Network


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## shy007 (Apr 11, 2003)

We have some big Thunderstorms in the summer time..... We had alot of thunderstorms last summer and I lost it at least once a week..... One storm knocked me out for a hour..... But my cable modem has been off more than my satellite......


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Timco said:


> I live in Southern California, what's rain? Never heard of it.


Yeah, yeah, don't gloat. We here in NJ don't get the smog or wildfires either so every area has its "challenges".


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

There was a heavy rainfall last night, but I didn't hear any complaints from mom, and I was watching some DVDs.


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## ramcm7 (Aug 1, 2002)

I don't have the clearest line of sight. I lose signal in rain and heavy snow. I think I get tree branches sagging down into my line of sight. Also, I have an older multi-switch mounted outside, which likely does not help the situation.

Big project in planning: Albany NY locals coming with 7S launch. Itching for HD. I see a new triple LNB oval sat mounting in a clearer line of sight feeding a new (5x8?) multi-switch and new pairs of RG6 to four rooms. Anybody want to help me fish wire through my walls?


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## munsel6 (Oct 26, 2003)

my system has gone down 2 or 3 times in the past year.when this happens it has always been during the peak of an intense monsoon storm here in AZ. since i nrmally shut my equipment off at this time anyway, it's not a big deal. recently tweaked angles on dish 500 and got additional signal strength, so we'll see what happens this year


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## 88fan (Jan 22, 2004)

Central PA here, only lost about once lastyear for 5 mins due to heavy downpour.(2 1/2" per hour rainfall) Never lost in snow yet. Lets see cable compete with that!


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## cdru (Dec 4, 2003)

jgoggan said:


> I live in Michigan. In a heavy downpour, I've lost signal for 5-10 minutes at a time -- maybe 2-3 times in the past 18 months.
> 
> I've never lost signal due to snow -- even in a blizzard. Surprises me, but that's the way it is.
> 
> - John...


I'm with jgoggan, but I have lost signal twice this winter due to ice accumulation for less then a day total. Both times were late in the evening so I'm not exactly sure when they came back on. I also loose signal very occasionally during very heavy downpours. I'm in NE Indiana, so I really didn't under the heavy rain/ice in the NE or NW categories, so I voted None of the Above.


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## Littlebit92 (Aug 18, 2003)

Like Steve, I am in a suburb of Buffalo,NY. I have only lost my signal during very very heavy rain storms a couple of times for maybe 5 minutes. If we get a heavy, wet snowfall and it accumulates on the dish I just go brush it off and we are in business but that doesnt happen very often.


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## TV Director (Feb 14, 2004)

Here in Northeast Ohio, I've only lost the signal in a very heavy summer thunderstorm...usually for 5 - 10 minutes in length. Interestingly, since the Dish 500 points to the southwest, I can usually tell when a nasty storm is about to hit 5 minutes in advance because that's when I lose the signal. Conversely, I can tell when the storm is almost over because the signal comes back. This doesn't happen very often though...it's gotta be a bad one to lose the signal (and even then you've got to be asking yourself; Why are you running electronics in this mess?). I've never had any problem with snow or ice.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Live in the northern Chicagoland area. Had a Dish 500 and Dish 300 for 61.5 and now a DirecTV Phase 3. Only loose the signal when there are heavy storms in the area. Usually not while there's heavy rain at my location but when those big thunder head's are between me and the sats. It's kind of a nice feature, if my signal goes away I know I'm in for a good storm.


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## junki (Feb 19, 2004)

I live in Oklahoma. I have lost my signal once on Dish Network in two years. When a wall cloud came through, if you do not know what a wall cloud is it is the first sign of a Tornado.
Granted I am an installer but i hope all my customer have had the same luck. I guess they do because they have never called with a signal problem.


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## ARKDTVfan (May 19, 2003)

only during heavy rain/ snow, it went out last Saturday night/Sunday morning when snow collected on the dish, yeah it does snow here in Arkansas (but it's fairly rare)


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## lee120 (Dec 2, 2002)

I live in san antonio,tx have lost reception about 1 time every year I have been with directv 2years going on 3years in june the 3.


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## mini1 (Jan 25, 2004)

This pole is still open! if you have not cast your vote, please do so today!   Does anyone have any info to answer the last question: Do dish covers and heaters work or do they cause more harm to the signal than good?  :coolglass


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## kev jr (May 14, 2002)

Seems to me We in South Florida during the summer months lose reception at least once a day for several min to an hour in the late afternoon when we get our thunder storms i can tell when we are getting thunderstorms when it is still sunny outside and look south with thick black clouds rolling in and the sat says acquiring signal ..otherwise i switch over to my cable during those times or just wait it out ..Most of the time cable is on while sat is out but there have been several times that cable was out for many hours and sat was up ..Just my observation .. I have my sat peeked out on signal around 98 on both 110 and 119

Kev Jr


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## Pete K. (Apr 23, 2002)

I lose the signal from E* a few times a year but only during toad stranglers and
only for a few minutes each time.


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## bfennema (Jul 21, 2002)

I loose signal for a couple of seconds daily when a plane flies over my house. I call it planefade =] (I only live a couple of miles from the airport, as the plane flies).


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## dfergie (Feb 28, 2003)

lost it this evening turned it to cbs-hd east to watch ncis... no signal, went outside and I guess the dogs got a little rough and pulled the coax out of the connector at the switch... missed the first couple of minutes needless to say


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## DJSix (Jan 19, 2004)

I'm SO glad someone posted this poll/thread. I was curious how often people lost their signal after our local newpaper ran a story about the battle between cable and satellite (which Chris was nice enough to post). Cable used to say that they're better because you didn't have to buy equipment or they had locals. Of course that's bs now, so now our local cable company (Cable One) says: #1 Dishes are hard to install (I still can't keep from laughing about that one) and #2 satellite performs poorly in bad weather. That's even more of a laugh, especially here in the metro Boise, Idaho area. In the 6 years I was with E*(standard round dish), I seem to recall losing reception once because of a heavy rainstorm and was only out for a few minutes. Now that I'm with D*(3lnb oval), I'm coming up on my first year and only have lost reception once, and I went outside, knocked the snow off my dish, and the "Searching for Sat" was gone. Hmmm...I'm lost reception twice in 7 years, damn, that's a bad track record .

Cable One is going to be in a world of hurt once locals are added here through D*. I know of at least 5 people that will make the jump so they can dump the cable, and upgrade to the wonderful world of a dual tuner tivo dvr. And of course some can't wait for the hd tivo <shiver>.


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## Redster (Jan 14, 2004)

In middle Indiana,, dont see any Midwest option in poll, does that mean we arent special ? Anyhoo,, since I installed DSN in December, with a signal strength of 127. In those 3 months I have lost signal 3 times. Once when we were having a heavy rain, the other 2 , it was raining heavily to the southwest of us. The outage can range from 5 mins to an hour, depends on severity of storm. Normally its not a complete outage just very bad pixelation / freezing of picture with 1 or 2 aquiring signal messages. The one time I lost it because of local storm,, it was out completely for 40mins. I am hoping now though with the 921 and an attic antenna that I will never go without tv again. :hurah:


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## mini1 (Jan 25, 2004)

A big thank you goes out to DJSix for thanking me for posting this thread! *Does anyone have a Dish cover or heater that they use or know someone that does?????? how well do they work??????*


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## peters (Jun 7, 2002)

SF Bay Area in California.
Lost only once when it rained so hard, sounded like the sky was falling.
Was only out for a min or two.


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## NoMoRumours (Jan 27, 2004)

Oddly enough I lost my signal MORE before I had DISH 500 ( when it was the DISH whatever ). After the DISH 500, I have lost signal about 3 times in 2 years. And nver during heavy rain, but right before the storm comes.


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## crkeehn (Apr 23, 2002)

In the Baltimore Washington area, I lose my signal in heavy rain and thunderstorms, which are frequent during the Summer. Most outages last for only a few minutes although some storms might knock the signals out for a half hour or more. Those are rare. We have had no problem with snow, either with D* or E*. Last year when we still had E*, we had some very heavy snows and never lost the signal at all.


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## jasonjpw (Mar 6, 2004)

Only in Spring time when there is heavy rainstorms in Chicago . During heavy snowstorms the only time, I lost the singal was when the snow covered the LNB, but this has only happended three times in the last seven years I had DISH Network.

Singal ranges from 92 - 122

I still have the model 4000 and 2700-2800 (previously model 2000) and they both still work. They are the best out of all of them. I dont care for the 301 which ended up playing out.

I just hope that Dish does not use TV GUIDE ads on the display. They are awfull and it takes forever to scroll through digital cable at my neighbors house as it is. This was the worst software ever was created by TV GUIDE Channel. Dish and Direct TV scrolling guides are much better.


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## mini1 (Jan 25, 2004)

Do Dish covers or heater work?


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## mini1 (Jan 25, 2004)

If you have not voted yet, this pole is still open! vote today!


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## freakmonkey (Sep 11, 2003)

Only during the spring showers. and never lasts more that a min or 2. Wonder how people in Seattle fare.


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## sbelew (Mar 16, 2004)

I am currently without a satellite signal. A rain storm went through here tonight, signal was fine prior to, but rain has stopped signal has not returned. I was doing some research, looking for ideas, and a new dish. I found the replacement 18" dishes, and alot of 24" 30" and 36" dishes.
I currently have the original Sony 18" dual LNB dish. Has worked fine for 3 years. I recently have been having signal problems. Now I have not realigned the dish, as it hasn't seemed to have needed it. Signal has always been in the low 90's. I am currently getting signal on only 2 transponders, in the low 40's. 
I will need to check it of course, but i was looking to upgrade to a larger dish. I live in Florida on the west coast about 45 miles northwest of Tampa.
The receivers I use are a Sony SAT-A50, which is original and a Samsung SIR-75 Both are used in home theatre and are Dolby Digital. I do occaisionally have the sound problem with the Sony on HBO. I do not have any HDTV right now. I have 2 runs of aprox. 100' of RG-6 cable, although, I may have to relocate the dish, which would make for longer runs of cable.
What would be a good, larger replacement dish to use? I have read about the Winegards, Channelmasters, KTI, and one from Budget satellite, http://budgetsatellite.com/lnb.htm a 24" with a commercial dual LNB. They seem to offer the most information about there dish and LNB, but I don't know much about this stuff. I called and talked to the guy and of course his is better than the rest, but he seemed to put more emphasis on his LNB being better than most. Now im even more confused. Any help would be greatly apreciated!
Thanks!
Steve Belew
[email protected]


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