? on dish sizes

[ricks]

Since I live in Florida, I might as well address the rain fade issue at the time of my initial install. I does tend to rain here. A lot.

Anyway, I've got a couple questions about dish location and size. We're planning on installing very close to the outdoor A/C compressor. I mean right next to it. Can that cause any sort of interference?

Secondly, I was planning on just upping to a 30" dish. Just took a second look and that might be really tight. Is there an appreciable difference between the standard 18" and a 24" dish. Is it worth going to the 24"?

Last question. I'm assuming all dishes are not the same. I know from other posts a 30" Winegard (DS2078) with the RCA support will work with Voom. Winegard has a 24" dish. Will their 24" dish automatically work?

I'm having trouble finding a local Winegard retailer. Can anyone advise of another brand that is guaranteed to work with my Voom install?

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[GeneWildershair]

Since I live in Florida, I might as well address the rain fade issue at the time of my initial install. I does tend to rain here. A lot.

Anyway, I've got a couple questions about dish location and size. We're planning on installing very close to the outdoor A/C compressor. I mean right next to it. Can that cause any sort of interference?

Secondly, I was planning on just upping to a 30" dish. Just took a second look and that might be really tight. Is there an appreciable difference between the standard 18" and a 24" dish. Is it worth going to the 24"?

Last question. I'm assuming all dishes are not the same. I know from other posts a 30" Winegard (DS2078) with the RCA support will work with Voom. Winegard has a 24" dish. Will their 24" dish automatically work?

I'm having trouble finding a local Winegard retailer. Can anyone advise of another brand that is guaranteed to work with my Voom install?

Thanks for any and all help.

I'm also wondering if I could go with a 24", and get rid of my rain fade problems. With the 18" dish I currently get a strong quality signal of 96, but during rain, it goes down to high 60's, and I get signal loss. Is there anyone who has put up a 24" inch dish to alleviate their rain fade problems with any luck?

 

[PSB]

A bigger dish always helps, unless its too big but we wont go there, I have never had a problem installing right beside an A/C, no interference reported! Its seems like the best place to put a dish, low, and where all the other utilities enter the home, with a nice short grounding run, as long as the dish does not touch the a/c. I use a Winegard 30" dish and it works great. If its a real tight squeeze you could cut a small notch out the dish to aim it if needed, its so big an inch here or there will not matter too much. And you can paint the dish to really make it blend in! (but not the lnb)

 

[rang1995]

Has anyone SOLVED their rain-fade with a bigger dish? maybe alot will be solved with the new encoders and when Voom goes to mpeg-4

 

[K4LK]

Has anyone SOLVED their rain-fade with a bigger dish? maybe alot will be solved with the new encoders and when Voom goes to mpeg-4

I'll let you know the next time it rains which may not be for a while. I'm in Tampa Bay. We get some good gully-washers in Summer. I installed a 30" last week. Signal quality increased from 81 to 95.

Dana

 

[ricks]

I'll let you know the next time it rains which may not be for a while. I'm in Tampa Bay. We get some good gully-washers in Summer. I installed a 30" last week. Signal quality increased from 81 to 95.

Dana

What brand did you use and where did you get it?

Thanks.

 

[K4LK]

What brand did you use and where did you get it?

Thanks.

Winegard DS-2078 from Starke Electronic in Worcester, Mass. The dish is $39 but shipping is also that much due to the size of the box. UPS charges the 70 pound rate.

http://www.starkelectronic.com/wing2.htm

Dana

 

[ricks]

Winegard DS-2078 from Starke Electronic in Worcester, Mass. The dish is $39 but shipping is also that much due to the size of the box. UPS charges the 70 pound rate.

http://www.starkelectronic.com/wing2.htm

Dana

Thanks. I knew about Starke. Was hoping to find a local retailer so I didn't have to ship from Mass. May have found one in Ft. Lauderdale but haven't been able to reach them yet.

 

[Ken F]

Has anyone SOLVED their rain-fade with a bigger dish?

I did. Well, I used a larger dish from the start, and have not had any outages during the rain.

Just make sure you get the right model (DS-4062 for 24", DS-2078 for 30") that takes the RCA LNB from the Voom dish. Get the 24" if you want protection from drizzles and light rains, or the 30" for resistance to heavier precipitation.

If you don't have VOOM yet, I recommend buying the larger dish beforehand. Most VOOM installers seem willing to install the larger dish instead, assuming you buy a model (see above) that will work with the VOOM LNB. I doubt any installer is going to protest over the 24" dish, though they might try to charge you extra to put up the 30". The 24" should work with all 18" dish mounting equipment, though I'm not sure the same is true for the 30".

 

[Gr8Reb8]

I did. Well, I used a larger dish pretty much from the start, and have not had any outages during the rain.

Just make sure you get the right model (DS-4062 for 24", DS-2078 for 30") that takes the RCA LNB from the Voom dish. Get the 24" if you want protection from drizzles and light rains, or the 30" for resistance to heavier precipitation.

If you don't have VOOM yet, I recommend buying the larger dish beforehand. Most VOOM installers seem willing to install the larger dish instead, assuming you buy a model (see above) that will work with the VOOM LNB. I doubt any installer is going to protest over the 24" inch, though they might try to charge you extra to put up the 30". The 24" should work with all 18" dish mounting equipment, though I'm not sure the same is true for the 30".

I installed my DS-2078 30" dish on the same mount that I previously had used for an 18" DirecTV dish. Worked like a charm.

 

[DarrellP]

I live in the rainy Pacific Northwest just South of Portland, OR and I installed a 24" dish 3 years ago for my Dish 6000 and I just converted it over for use with Voom and I have a fairly strong signal (80+). When I had my 18" dish I would lose the signal with a drizzle, with the 24" dish it took a fairly hard rain (Dish experience, it hasn't really rained much the since March 13th when Voom was installed).

 

[ricks]

OK. I've tracked down a local retailer for the Winegard 30" dish. Believe me, it wasn't worth the trouble. Should have just ordered from Mass. and eaten the shipping charge.

Anyway, they do not have and can not get the RCA feed support that everyone has been using and accepts the Voom supplied LNB. Winegard has listed a "universal" feed support for the same dish. Now, to me, "universal" means what it implies. Does anyone know if the Winegard supplied "universal" feed support will accept the Voom supplied LNB?

 

[DCXFORDGM]

I used a eliptical starchoice dish with my voom set-up in markham and signal is ok and I have not had one rain fade issue. Also most likely voom will use this dish when they launch another bird. Voom uses same tech as starchoice here in canada/motorola.

 

[Gr8Reb8]

OK. I've tracked down a local retailer for the Winegard 30" dish. Believe me, it wasn't worth the trouble. Should have just ordered from Mass. and eaten the shipping charge.

Anyway, they do not have and can not get the RCA feed support that everyone has been using and accepts the Voom supplied LNB. Winegard has listed a "universal" feed support for the same dish. Now, to me, "universal" means what it implies. Does anyone know if the Winegard supplied "universal" feed support will accept the Voom supplied LNB?

Save yourself further grief, get the RCA feed support. "Universal" might mean you will need duct-tape.......

 

[ricks]

Save yourself further grief, get the RCA feed support. "Universal" might mean you will need duct-tape.......

Thanks. They also have a "D" support for that same dish. Seriously. Silly me. I thought that was the one that utilized duct tape.

 

[coopertwist]

I received a call from Voom and the install company this past Monday and they wanted to know if I would be willing to participate in a larger dish trail. The claim since I live downtown Chicago on Lake Shore Dr that I might get more lake effect snow and rain outages. I told them that’s fine as long as I did not have to pay for anything and they will warranty the dish itself it falls off or needs adjustment. They claim they will and will bring an agreement when they come install Friday. I will try to take a pic of it when they come to install...

 

[sandpit]

might save some $ by calling Voom/installer before ordering - they are now testing a 30" during initial install. i think they were posting this info in the state/areas thread, not sure.
rick, i'm a fl also and i mounted a dish 500 24" which helps a little during rain. it mounted identical, 4 bolts middle of dish directly to mounting arm. might have taken 3 minutes and i swapped them back and forth checking signal as i went. i would definetly call and try an git won of them thar 30" free. and ax can you pls have an xter won fer a fiend near Ocala. thx
dave

 

[dsball]

Interesteing news on the bigger 30" dish testing. I wonder what States/Areas this is being done?

 

[GeneWildershair]

Interesteing news on the bigger 30" dish testing. I wonder what States/Areas this is being done?

I just got word from VOOM today about this. they are setting me up with a 30" next weekend. I'm in California. I've complained to VOOM ,and Installs Inc. in the past about rain fade though, maybe that helped to get in the testing? In any case, I'm not to thrilled with the performance of VOOM as of late, but I'm willing to give them a chance to fix everything, so at least they're trying to get the rain fade issue resolved for me.

 

[shelly]

I, too, experienced the rain fade problem with my signal droping 40 points during a very light rain a few weeks ago.

After many emails to Joe Harkins and telephone calls to the installation company that did my initial install, I am getting upgraded to a 24" dish only.

I requested the 30" but Joe said that the 24" would take care of my problem and that the 30" was being tested now for 2 satellite reception.

Why couldn't they just give me the 30" dish? If the 24" does not solve the proble come the heavy rainy season late this year, then not only will I lose my reception but also will have to go through this whole process again to have my dish upgraded to 30".

My installation company has already ordered the 24" dish and Installs Inc will reimburse them for it.

I hope it indeed solves my rain fade issue.

Shelly