I see was looking at this link ( http://www.global-cm.net/HIGHTECHHILLPROG.html ) and noticed that it is recommended that you use a 36 to 48 inch dish for Montana PBS station (AMC 3 at 87 West). 30 to 36 inch is recommend for everything else KU. This makes me think that I'm liable to get a lot of rain fade with my "minimal" 36 inch dish. Is this true?
Sort of related - Do water droplets sticking to an antenna (during and after a rain) attenuate the signal?
Thank you.
Yes Ku band is always susecptible to rain fade and rain fade can happen even when it's not raining directly on your area. For example I have a fixed 1 meter primestar (the semi-round ones) aimed at G10. I can usually tell when a heavy shower is headed my way before it gets here as my signal quality level will drop noticeablely. I can usually still get a lock if the rains not too heavy but it definitely has a noticeable affect on signal strength. Therefore, I would recommend you get the largest dish you possibly can. There's no substitute for dish size. No miracle LNB will make up for an undersized dish. So, always spend most on your dish and get the biggest best dish you can. In addition to my fixed primestar I also have a n 8.5' spun aluminum birdview which works pretty good on C and very well on Ku. So, if the rain gets too heavy and I lose signal on the primestar, I swing the birdview over that way and switch to it. Anyway, always get the biggest dish you can.
Do water droplets sticking to an antenna (during and after a rain) attenuate the signal?
Probably to some extent, but I firmly believe this is NOT the primary cause of rain fade. As I said before on my G10 Ku fixed dish I always see the rain fade before the rain actually gets to my house. This is because in my area the rain usually always comes from the west and for me G10 is to the west. I'm guessing the reason you ask this question is you've seen those products which claim to help prevent rain fade by preventing water from sticking to the dish. While, I'm not saying those products may not perhaps be a tiny bit benefical, I seriously doubt they are really all that effective at preventing rain fade, as I believe the problem they address is not the main cause of rain fade. Water droplets and moisture in the atmosphere that the signal must pass through on it's way to you are probably the biggest problem and there's nothing you can do about that except get the biggest dish you can to make up for the loss.
Whats Rain Fade? (This is a sarcastic comment, I fully know what Rain Fade is ) http://www.psbsatellite.com/Rain_Shield.html
This stuff is GREAT! Sadoun - Scott the owner of this forum and myself........you know the people who have ACTUALLY seen it work in real life all agree, water on your dish is a BIG factor in rain fade, its a link in the rain fade chain. Of course there is signal fade caused by big BLACK clouds and Rain Shield will NOT help with that, but water droplets on the dish do indeed fragment the signal. I have seen side by side tests and know the results, Rain Shield can mean the difference between picture and no picture, especially in FTA where we ALL know every point of signal quality is coveted
I will be posting my results soon with Rain Shields performance in snow, just waiting for the white stuff now..............
Here is some more Scientific Data on Rain Fade..... http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/Noise.html#anchor1149220
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