# 811 OTA and Thunderstorms



## N0JS (Feb 21, 2005)

We are having a thunderstor traveling through our area tonight and I lost many of the OTA digital channels. I switched back to analog. Is this more of an issue with DTV itself, the 811, or is this something unique to my particular installation?


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## jpetersohn (Apr 6, 2005)

Don't worry about it. I lost mine too on some channels when the line was right between my antenna and the broadcast towers. I suspect the rain drops produce multipath interference of something of the sort. Attenuation shouldn't be a big problem at UHF frequencies.


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## Larry (Aug 1, 2003)

Hmmm,

Digital satellite signal...digital ota signal. I suspect you are experiencing the phenonema known as "rain-fade". Here in Florida, where we experience frequent torrential downpours, it's a fairly common occurance. Not to worry though, it usually only happens at the crucial moments of whatever program you happen to be watching.


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## jpetersohn (Apr 6, 2005)

Larry said:


> Hmmm,
> 
> Digital satellite signal...digital ota signal. I suspect you are experiencing the phenonema known as "rain-fade". Here in Florida, where we experience frequent torrential downpours, it's a fairly common occurance. Not to worry though, it usually only happens at the crucial moments of whatever program you happen to be watching.


I think rainfade really sets in above 10 GHz or so. I wouldn't think it a problem with the signal strengths and attenuation coefficients in the UHF band.


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## julesism (Feb 25, 2004)

I never have problems with OTA in Dallas during a storm.... sure, DBS might go out, but NEVER OTA. Analog OTA doesn't "rain fade", neither should digital OTA. That's strange. perhaps the wind is blowing your outdoor antenna around or jigglin' a loose cable run?


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## ZJedi01 (Mar 5, 2004)

N0JS said:


> We are having a thunderstor traveling through our area tonight and I lost many of the OTA digital channels. I switched back to analog. Is this more of an issue with DTV itself, the 811, or is this something unique to my particular installation?


Could be the fact you must subscribe to Dishnetworks HD PAK in order to use the 811 as an OTA receiver. During a Thunderstorm with rain fade maybe the receiver cant tell whether or not you subscribe to the HD PAK so it kills the OTA reception. Of course when the storm passes and it can reconnect to the satellite it works again. I've had this exact thing happen just once in 2 years. At least thats what i think caused it.


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## Foxbat (Aug 1, 2003)

N0JS could also have a bad coax connector on the outside antenna conenction that might be affected by the moisture. Or, it could be chaotic multipathing caused by trees being blown about by the storm winds.


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## S.C. Am (Jul 27, 2004)

N0JS said:


> We are having a thunderstor traveling through our area tonight and I lost many of the OTA digital channels. I switched back to analog. Is this more of an issue with DTV itself, the 811, or is this something unique to my particular installation?


All Echostar HD receivers lose ATSC signal when signal from the satellite is lost. DirecTV HD recivers do NOT have this feature - you can receive ATSC without card, dish or subscription.


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

S.C. Am said:


> All Echostar HD receivers lose ATSC signal when signal from the satellite is lost. DirecTV HD recivers do NOT have this feature - you can receive ATSC without card, dish or subscription.


If true, that really stinks! I understand rain fade with satellites, but in the "old" analog days, at least you could fall back to OTA until the storm passed. Further proof that the almighty dollar comes first.

Losing OTA over a technicality might even be life-threatening in a Tornado/Hurricane scenario. Folks might not be able to tune in to the storm warnings.


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## julesism (Feb 25, 2004)

someone wanna tune to an OTA channel and yank their SAT IN to see if OTA does in fact go dark? I'd do it but the 811 is at my folks house.


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## Laverne (Feb 17, 2005)

julesism said:


> someone wanna tune to an OTA channel and yank their SAT IN to see if OTA does in fact go dark? I'd do it but the 811 is at my folks house.


OK, well (since I'm up  my fault, not yours ) I did just that. Tuned in to an OTA HD channel, pulled the wire, and it was still there. Of course, I tuned to another channel and had no signal. Then hit Recall and still looking for the signal. Wire back in, OTA HD pic came back immediately. Tuned to another channel and I'm still good. Just a quick test, maybe I didn't give it enough time to get persnickety :sure: . So, as long as you have your OTA lock before the loss, you get to keep it, but trying to get it afterwards, forget it; so if you get a bad storm, whatever you do, don't change the channel. HTH! 

'NIGHT! :new_sleep


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

This thread is hilarious. Like a blind mime leading the blind

_"I suspect the rain drops produce *multipath interference* of something of the sort."

"..rainfade sets in above 10 GHz or so. I wouldn't think it a problem with the signal strengths and *attenuation coefficients in the UHF band*."

" I've had this exact thing happen just once in 2 years. At least thats what i think caused it."

"it could be *chaotic multipathing* caused by trees being blown about by the storm winds."_

...I could go on, but I won't.


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## Larry (Aug 1, 2003)

moman19 said:


> If true, that really stinks! I understand rain fade with satellites, but in the "old" analog days, at least you could fall back to OTA until the storm passed. Further proof that the almighty dollar comes first.
> 
> Losing OTA over a technicality might even be life-threatening in a Tornado/Hurricane scenario. Folks might not be able to tune in to the storm warnings.


Probably what I would do is unplug the OTA feed from the receiver and connect it directly to the "antenna in" connection on my TV set...or if my signal strength was strong enough, I would use a splitter and have both hooked up at all times. Analog is just fine for storm information. But then again, if there was a hurricane coming, I'd probably have my dishes and antenna off the roof and be using a rabbit ears inside the house.


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## moman19 (Oct 22, 2004)

Larry said:


> Probably what I would do is unplug the OTA feed from the receiver and connect it directly to the "antenna in" connection on my TV set...or if my signal strength was strong enough, I would use a splitter and have both hooked up at all times. Analog is just fine for storm information. But then again, if there was a hurricane coming, I'd probably have my dishes and antenna off the roof and be using a rabbit ears inside the house.


I agree this is all hpothetical and perhaps over the top, but......

1. My TV is HD-Ready, so it cannot receive DT OTA
2. My antenna is UHF, so my analog VHF locals will not come in if I attach this antenna to the TV.

So rabbit ears does make the most sense.

(Honey, have you seen the rabbit ears? I need to hook them up before we head down to the cellar...... :lol: )


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## Mike Johnson (Jan 16, 2005)

julesism said:


> someone wanna tune to an OTA channel and yank their SAT IN to see if OTA does in fact go dark? I'd do it but the 811 is at my folks house.


I got a chance to test this tonight when some storms rolled through. I lost signal on all three satellites, and I was able to tune OTA channels. The trick was getting the 811 out of the "aquiring satellite" screen. I figured out that pressing the "menu" button will interrupt the "aquiring" message and take me to the menu. I then selected the program guide and was able to select an OTA channel. Once I got to an OTA channel I could use channel up/down or the number buttons to tune other OTA channels.

This also worked on the 942 to get to an OTA channel after loosing the satellite.

I should also mention the 811 was in standby mode when the storm hit and I powered it on during the rain fade. The 942 was already on.


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