boston area dish users!

[oneeyejack]

been reading a bunch of threads in here regarding dish.

planning on switching over to dish network soon and i had a couple of questions.

- any problems with the snow affecting the dish? if i got it mounted, should i have it mounted lower in case i need to dig it out of the snow or get rid of the ice?

- do you guys lose reception during thunderstorms or when it's overcast.

- planning on getting turboHD. they should automatically give me a 722 correct?

 

[Laddyboy]

been reading a bunch of threads in here regarding dish.

planning on switching over to dish network soon and i had a couple of questions.

- any problems with the snow affecting the dish? if i got it mounted, should i have it mounted lower in case i need to dig it out of the snow or get rid of the ice?

- do you guys lose reception during thunderstorms or when it's overcast.

- planning on getting turboHD. they should automatically give me a 722 correct?

The new subscriber deal is a 722 with no upfront cost. There's bigger rebates if you preapply through Dishstore by midnight tomorrow. I'm not in Boston but 20-inch antennas will break lock in heavy downpours regardless of location if the rain is between you and the sat in the atmosphere. I've had lots of ice on my antenna in IL and haven't lost lock due to that. I haven't lost lock during blizzards, just heavy thunderstorms and snow drifts blocking the signal.

 

[david_jr]

The new subscriber deal is a 722 with no upfront cost. There's bigger rebates if you preapply through Dishstore by midnight tomorrow. I'm not in Boston but 20-inch antennas will break lock in heavy downpours regardless of location if the rain is between you and the sat in the atmosphere. I've had lots of ice on my antenna in IL and haven't lost lock due to that. I haven't lost lock during blizzards, just heavy thunderstorms and snow drifts blocking the signal.

What antenna are you using? What sats are you hitting? I am using Dish 500 antenna aimed at 61.5 and I lose signal in light snow. I am about 130 miles west of Boston. Have'nt had the 61.5 dish long enough to know about rain fade, but based on the snow fade I would say it will be a certainty. Am considering using one of my 2 Superdishes sitting in my basement for 61.5 as I have read a few others (very few) have used for 61.5.

 

[Laddyboy]

What antenna are you using? What sats are you hitting? I am using Dish 500 antenna aimed at 61.5 and I lose signal in light snow. I am about 130 miles west of Boston. Have'nt had the 61.5 dish long enough to know about rain fade, but based on the snow fade I would say it will be a certainty. Am considering using one of my 2 Superdishes sitting in my basement for 61.5 as I have read a few others (very few) have used for 61.5.

In IL I'm on WA: 110 119 and 129. My signal strengths are 50-58 on 129 and in the 60-70s on the other two satellites. That's a bad deal if some light snow is causing signal disruption. I wonder if your dish needs to be tweaked to get a bit higher signal strength?

 

[david_jr]

In IL I'm on WA: 110 119 and 129. My signal strengths are 50-58 on 129 and in the 60-70s on the other two satellites. That's a bad deal if some light snow is causing signal disruption. I wonder if your dish needs to be tweaked to get a bit higher signal strength?

It may need to be tweaked, but I was just installed a month ago. Can't tweak right now because there's a pretty good snow pack on the roof right now. Just have to live with it till spring I guess.

 

[patsfan72]

i live in West Springfield and i only lose service during heavy rains ie thunderstorms and really heavy downpours.i have never lost it due to snow.i also have the 110 119 and 61.5. and get almost 70% signal strength on the 61.5 using tr 12.

 

[JayStil]

It may need to be tweaked, but I was just installed a month ago. Can't tweak right now because there's a pretty good snow pack on the roof right now. Just have to live with it till spring I guess.

Can you see the dish from the ground? The higher elevation of 61.5 is great for clearing trees and obstructions on your property. A minor downside is the dish antenna is tilted back more, and may collect a little snow. I usually have to go sweep out my ground mounted 61.5 dish after a decent snowstorm. The 119/110 dish500 is always clear on it's own.

 

[david_jr]

OK I am getting sick of this but a snow storm went through the northeast last night and today and we keep losing signal on 61.5. It is getting very frustrating. I recorded a show on Discovery HD at 3AM and it recorded in 6 pieces. I haven't watched it yet, but I assume it was due to dropouts. There was no snow accumulated on the dish. Today I was trying to watch TWC HD and the signal kept dropping every couple of minutes. This was after the snow stopped and the sun was trying to peak out. I checked the signal strength between dropouts and found that it went from 25 down to 20 then down to 15 and back to 25. I don't remember the transponder number. I have checked my SS in good weather and found SS between 45 & 60 on most channels. This is very frustrating. I was told that 61.5 would be less susceptible to rain/snow fade than 110/119, but it is WAY MORE susceptible. It goes out with even a light snow that doesn't accumulate on the dish. This is getting old real fast.

Thanks for listening.

 

[andyaxa]

We live in SW New Hampshire and are on the Eastern Arc. Rain fade has been tolerable with outages only in the worst of thunder storms and only for brief periods. Snow has become a bit of a problem with the last couple "sticky" snowfalls as snow did build up on the dish. Ours is mounted up about 30 feet (only way to get over the trees). The rest of our 100 inches was dry snow...no problem. I would certainly try to have it mounted lower for access if possible. I had to hook up the hose to the garage connection and spray off the dish during the last "wet snow."

 

[david_jr]

We live in SW New Hampshire and are on the Eastern Arc. Rain fade has been tolerable with outages only in the worst of thunder storms and only for brief periods. Snow has become a bit of a problem with the last couple "sticky" snowfalls as snow did build up on the dish. Ours is mounted up about 30 feet (only way to get over the trees). The rest of our 100 inches was dry snow...no problem. I would certainly try to have it mounted lower for access if possible. I had to hook up the hose to the garage connection and spray off the dish during the last "wet snow."

According to the installer the two dishes are mounted in the only place on the property that has line of sight to both directions we need to see. That is on the roof on the southwest corner of the house. The 61.5 does look toward trees, but the installer insisted it looks over them. I just seems to be a problem during snow storms. I don't know how many inches we've had this year, but it is a lot. I seems to be a problem whether the snow is sticking to the dish or not. This morning i noticed a very light coating on the dish, but the reception seems ok. This is frustrating, but I guess I just have to deal with it.

 

[andyaxa]

According to the installer ......... I guess I just have to deal with it.

Our installer could not hit the required satellites with the two dish set-up (thank goodness) and the Eastern Arc was the only alternative. I wonder if those trees are causing some problem for you, so that in best of conditions, the signal is marginal....adding a little light snow might push it over the edge. Maybe posting your signal strengths under clear conditions would help.

 

[andyaxa]

whoops...just read back and saw your posted signal strengths.

 

[david_jr]

whoops...just read back and saw your posted signal strengths.

I posted the whole list in another thread once and was told they were good. I will look for it and post it here.

Are you in a Eastern Arc market? I am not and need 119 for SD locals.

 

[david_jr]

I posted the whole list in another thread once and was told they were good. I will look for it and post it here.

Are you in a Eastern Arc market? I am not and need 119 for SD locals.

01/19/2009 @ 5:30PM EDT
Zip: 01267 - Northwest Massachusetts
61.5 Dish Type 500
ViP722 L6.16

1. 65
2. 41
3. 41
4. 0 Not locked
5. 68
6. 41 Locked name not aquired
7. 55
8. 41
9. 64
10. 38
11. 45
12. 56
13. 30
14. 52
15. 65
16. 29
17. 37
18. 39
19. 36
20. 31
21. 43
22. 28
23. 39
24. 36
25. 41
26. 0 Not locked
27. 50
28. 27 Locked name not acquired
29. 48
30. 28
31. 48
32. 30

Do these look right for my location?

Hemi 6.1 said they looked good for any location. This was posted in a thread asking folks to post their SS on 61.5.

 

[david_jr]

Ok this morning cloudy with rain watching Fox Business HD got 40 steady on transponder 27. No breakups. This is down 10 from clear weather.

 

[andyaxa]

We are in the Boston Eastern Arc market, I assume, as those are our locals. I am not very well versed in sat tv SSQs (more experience with our Hughesnet svc) but it sounds as if your numbers under clear conditions were good, so I'm not sure what to say. Seems like pretty extreme rain/snow fade.

 

[david_jr]

We are in the Boston Eastern Arc market, I assume, as those are our locals. I am not very well versed in sat tv SSQs (more experience with our Hughesnet svc) but it sounds as if your numbers under clear conditions were good, so I'm not sure what to say. Seems like pretty extreme rain/snow fade.

Eastern Arc markets hit sat positions at 61.5, 72.5 & 77. This is a one dish solution and does not require a "wing" dish as we have here. We are hitting 110 & 119 and have a wing dish for 61.5 as we are not an eastern arc market. Prior to upgrading to HD we had a "Superdish" which hit 3 positions at 110, 119 & 121. Apparently years ago our SD locals were moved off of 121 and onto 110, which is the main reason I guess that we are not eastern arc. When we upgraded to HD the installer removed our Superdish (I now have 2 in the basement) and installed a Dish 500 for 110 & 119 which I also had in the basement and he installed a Dish 500 that he had in his truck for the wing dish to see 61.5. I am not sure if Eastern Arc people are having the same trouble with 61.5 as some users have reported. A lot of people seem to have problems when it snows. Prior to the HD upgrade our Superdish setup rarely (2 or 3 times a year) suffered rain fade and then only in severe thunderstorms and never in 12 years saw snow fade.