Spoke to a csr today about when I had directv my picture went out almost always when it rained. He said several technical improvements were made since last year that have greatly resolved the picture loss. Is this true??
Has directv made improvements with their signal?
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Not as far as I know. But in Michigan, with a correctly aligned dish, you should not get outages very often. The worst states for outages are Florida and here in Texas, and I don't often lose signal and not for very long.
Yes, the Ka frequencies used for HD are more affected by storms than the Ku SD signals. If I lose the HD channels, I will often just tune the corresponding SD channel and that will be fine. But as you say, even in the states that are rated worst for rainfade, it does not happen very often. But the CSR was just spouting BS...
Why does Directv use the Ka Ku that they do when they know it's inferior? My parents have Dish and their HD lasts a lot longer than mine, but when they lose HD, SD is gone too. You'd think Directv would WANT the higher quality channels that some people actually pay extra for to come in as long as possible...
The frequency spectrum for satellites has become really crowded. You can't transmit two signals on the same frequency without them interfering with each other. there are also a limited number of satellite slots (remember, all satellites have to be directly above the equator). So when DirecTV was looking to launch several satellites to deliver hundreds of new channels, they chose Ka frequencies. Not a problem for most people, most of the time.
They could of course eliminate all the SD channels and use the Ku frequencies for HD, but given the number of DirecTv customers who only have SD, and the millions of SD receivers that would need to be replaced, that isn't going to happen soon.
From what I understood the KA satellites, Spaceway 1 and Spaceway 2 were ment for satellite internet. When that didn't happen for what ever reason, they decided to use it for HD programming, as far as I know if more satellies were added to these orbital locations they had to be KA. As far as Directv planning on using KA for HD, well that i'm not sure its true.
I think they had no choice but to do something with these satellites when Hughesnet refused them. And licenses come into play so that changes everything.
I think they had no choice but to do something with these satellites when Hughesnet refused them. And licenses come into play so that changes everything.
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Spaceway F1
Spaceway F1 is part of DirecTV’s constellation of direct broadcast satellites. The satellite was launched via a Zenit 3SL rocket from Sea Launch’s Odyssey equatorial platform on April 26, 2005. Its operational position is in geosynchronous orbit 35,800 kilometres above the equator at 102.8 degrees west longitud…
Spaceway F1 is part of DirecTV’s constellation of direct broadcast satellites. The satellite was launched via a Zenit 3SL rocket from Sea Launch’s Odyssey equatorial platform on April 26, 2005. Its operational position is in geosynchronous orbit 35,800 kilometres above the equator at 102.8 degrees west longitude. SPACEWAY-1 is a Boeing 702-model satellite with a 12-year life expectancy. It is expected to provide high definition television to DirecTV customers with its Ka-band communications payload. DirecTV is not expected to make use of the broadband capabilities on SPACEWAY-1 even though it was originally built by Boeing for this purpose.
Spaceway F1 is part of DirecTV’s constellation of direct broadcast satellites. The satellite was launched via a Zenit 3SL rocket from Sea Launch’s Odyssey equatorial platform on April 26, 2005. Its operational position is in geosynchronous orbit 35,800 kilometres above the equator at 102.8 degrees west longitud…
Spaceway F1 is part of DirecTV’s constellation of direct broadcast satellites. The satellite was launched via a Zenit 3SL rocket from Sea Launch’s Odyssey equatorial platform on April 26, 2005. Its operational position is in geosynchronous orbit 35,800 kilometres above the equator at 102.8 degrees west longitude. SPACEWAY-1 is a Boeing 702-model satellite with a 12-year life expectancy. It is expected to provide high definition television to DirecTV customers with its Ka-band communications payload. DirecTV is not expected to make use of the broadband capabilities on SPACEWAY-1 even though it was originally built by Boeing for this purpose.
Except that doesn't work for the many groups of local channels (ABC, CBS, etc.) that are ONLY transmitted in MPEG4 Ka...
I'm down in south Florida.
Direc goes out regularly with
Storms.
I've seen no improvements in this area.
Except that doesn't work for the many groups of local channels (ABC, CBS, etc.) that are ONLY transmitted in MPEG4 Ka...
In terms of customers, there are not that many people in MPEG-4 only DMAs, because they are mainly small (many of them used to get SD locals from the 75 satellite) although it sucks if you are in an MPEG-4 only area because as you say there are no Ku locals there.
They should start charging an "inconvenience to HD viewers" fee to all SD receivers. I'd say $12/month. "Lower your monthly bill and upgrade to HD..."
Don't give them any ideas ....
They should have started swapping recvrs for all subs to HD long time ago.
My HughesNet is Ka band too, it actually outlasts the DirecTV HD in storms, goes out about when DirecTV's Ku goes out (must be a higher wattage satellite? (95deg))
I'm in Texas, only time it goes out is during really bad downpours which is not often. If it's going out in showers it ain't aimed right.
The only way to make the CSR's statement true is to look at it like this: Ku on a SlimLine will probably outlast Ku on a 18" dish in bad weather due to the dish being bigger.
I'm in Texas, only time it goes out is during really bad downpours which is not often. If it's going out in showers it ain't aimed right.
The only way to make the CSR's statement true is to look at it like this: Ku on a SlimLine will probably outlast Ku on a 18" dish in bad weather due to the dish being bigger.
Being in Texas, you have a more direct line to the sats at 95, 99, and 103 than those of us on the coasts. That means less atmosphere to penetrate, so theoretically a more stable picture.
But in fact that does not really help, because of the nature of the storms in Texas/Florida. The satellite communications people have lots of data and classify every area in the world based on the likelihood and duration of interruption in the signals (generally in Ka like the DirecTV HD signal). Florida and Texas are far worse than anywhere else in the U.S.
I remember my first SlimLine, was a non SWM SL5 on a H20, Installer peaked the 101Ku using the receiver's beeping and called it a day saying the rest fall in line with it.
I believe it does on the analog outputs only. If I recall he used the D10 I was getting in addition to the H20 to aim it with. It was a independent installer with his own pick up truck and he wined because I would not let me use existing coax and he had to run a line from one corner of the house to the other.
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