Rain fade more than anticipated

[olliec420]

Well I'll put it this way,I'm within a half mile of the main shipping channel of the St Lawrence Seaway,every time a ship goes by everything horizontal on Cband gets wiped.

Why is that? How is it allowed that the ships can cause that much interference? Isn't the point of the FCC to make sure stuff like this doesnt happen?

 

[waylew]

Similar frequencies,harmonics,sat and radar are microwaves,the radars have gotten more powerful,I don't really know.
Never used to be a problem back when things were analog,at least I never noticed,but this digital stuff,you sneeze and it's gone.There are filters that can be put on the dish but they are way too spendy for me.

 

[wvman]

If this happens regularly, use a spectrum display to see if the noise floor is raised during the outage or if the satellite signal is reduced. Easy to figure out if the problem is because the satellite signal is being attenuated or interference is wiping out the satellite signal.

A cheap SDR RTL USB dongle connected to a PC or android and placed inline with a voltage blocked splitter would work fine if you don't have access to a satellite meter with a calibrated spectrum display. Just tune the SDR to the IF of one of the problematic transponders ( LO Frequency minus the C-band TP frequency).

Example: 5150 - 3900 = 1250 IF. Take note of the dB strength with e SDR in fixed gain mode. Also tune to a unused frequency between the TPs and not the noise level in dB (see satsignature.com for real-time spectrum display of active frequency range). This measurement is the noise threshold level and it will rise or fall with interference. Compare the peak TP measurement to the noise threshold and this will provide the approxiomate SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio). An increase in the SNR is good! A decrease in the SNR is bad and if the margin gets too small, the transponder will not lock or decode.

Radar should be outside the C-band frequency range, but harmonics or other onboard gear could be the cause.

It almost sounds like what happened to some of my channels on Galaxy 16. This, and some other channels will no longer lock, and they worked perfectly for over a year on a 7 1/2 foot dish. The problem is, I'm 8 miles out in the country, down in a hole between 4 mountains, and I can't even see a cell tower from here. I checked for local wifi setups, and couldn't find any other than my own. I even turned off the wireless transmitter in my modem, and still have the problem. I have wireless internet, but my antenna is 40 feet in the air so I can see over the hill to get an open shot to the tower my internet is coming off of. Not sure what's going on.

 

[Shicks4]

It almost sounds like what happened to some of my channels on Galaxy 16. This, and some other channels will no longer lock, and they worked perfectly for over a year on a 7 1/2 foot dish. The problem is, I'm 8 miles out in the country, down in a hole between 4 mountains, and I can't even see a cell tower from here. I checked for local wifi setups, and couldn't find any other than my own. I even turned off the wireless transmitter in my modem, and still have the problem. I have wireless internet, but my antenna is 40 feet in the air so I can see over the hill to get an open shot to the tower my internet is coming off of. Not sure what's going on.

Did your electric company install a smart meter. I recently had one installed and discovered every time it sends a data burst (about every 10 seconds) on the lower power channels it completly knocks them out. so i go from picture to black screen every 10 seconds. I even see signal decrease on the higher power channels (on the meter) but its not enough to degrade picture quality.

 

[wvman]

Did your electric company install a smart meter. I recently had one installed and discovered every time it sends a data burst (about every 10 seconds) on the lower power channels it completly knocks them out. so i go from picture to black screen every 10 seconds. I even see signal decrease on the higher power channels (on the meter) but its not enough to degrade picture quality.

I never thought of that. They changed mine from the old analog to a new digital readout meter, but I don't think it's a smart meter because the electric guy was out there and read it the other day. It was the annual reading. I could see why that could be a problem. I have enough trouble with the electric out here anyway. It took me 2 years and a dozen calls to the PSC just to get them to replace the ground wire on the power line. It fell off the pole.

I thought of something after I posted this. I noticed on mine that several channels have a fluctuation is signal levels. May drop and recover as much as 10 points or more. Got me wondering about that meter now. I may have to check into that a little more.

 

[Shicks4]

I only mention it because it appears that is what is causing the interference. I only have a few simple methods available to check this but from what I can see it is highly likely it is the culprit. Also went to ask if there was an opt out to be able to go back to a non transmitting meter and they flatly stated there is no opt out provision.

 

[wvman]

I only mention it because it appears that is what is causing the interference. I only have a few simple methods available to check this but from what I can see it is highly likely it is the culprit. Also went to ask if there was an opt out to be able to go back to a non transmitting meter and they flatly stated there is no opt out provision.

You read my mind. I was going to call and see if they could tell me if my meter is transmitting data, or if it was simply a digital meter.

 

[Radioguy41]

Did your electric company install a smart meter. I recently had one installed and discovered every time it sends a data burst (about every 10 seconds) on the lower power channels it completly knocks them out. so i go from picture to black screen every 10 seconds. I even see signal decrease on the higher power channels (on the meter) but its not enough to degrade picture quality.

I had a similar issue and I filed a complaint with the FCC. They sent up two guys from the Philadelphia office with a trunk full of equipment and, contrary to what the electric company was telling me, the meter was, in fact, generating RFI. I don't know the specifics of what steps the FCC took but a day later the problem was gone and a few days after that the FCC called me and had me verify the problem was gone. The FCC does take complaints like this seriously and does follow through so it might be an option to consider.

 

[Shicks4]

I spoke with a guy from the power company today, not one of the ladies in the office. He said hed look into it and knowing this small town and i know the guy he probably will.