Signal Loss During Thunderstorm??

[shouchien]

In the last few days, we (northeast) had severe thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Is it normal to lost satellite signal during the storm?(3-5 minutes per thunderstorm) I believe I have signal strength in the 90s in a normal day. 5 LBN. 1 dish. That's all I know about my system.(1 hd receiver non-dvr)

Previously I had Dish, and they hardly(only couple times in a year) dropped out signal completely even with thunderstorms.

 

[NutFlush920]

Most people will agree that Dish is first to cut out during storms. I live in the Midwest, Wisconsin, and had all the bad weather recently. I have a 5 LNB dish and am getting low 90's on a clear day. My signal only went out once during this past series of storms. I would suggest checking your mount and allignment.

 

[88isgreat]

In the last few days, we (northeast) had severe thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Is it normal to lost satellite signal during the storm?(3-5 minutes per thunderstorm) I believe I have signal strength in the 90s in a normal day. 5 LBN. 1 dish. That's all I know about my system.(1 hd receiver non-dvr)

Previously I had Dish, and they hardly(only couple times in a year) dropped out signal completely even with thunderstorms.

I've had satellite in CT since 1997, first E* and now D*, and they've both cut out during heavy thunderstorms. From my experience, I can't say that either one is better or worse. If I remember correctly, I had a single LNB E* system, and I started with a 3 LNB D* system and converted to a 5 LNB system a year or so ago.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I'm in northeast Pa and we had the same storms ,and E* is the first one to go out every time! T.hey both go out for a few minutes

 

[shouchien]

Thanks for the reply. I am in CT as well.
I suppose the system is in perfect shape then.

In the past few days, there was a thunderstorm every evening.
Just tired of losing the signal EVERY DAY......


Guess NOTHING can pass through a massive thunderstorm cloud

 

[Hemi 6.1]

This has been a bad 2 weeks of thunderstorms. I've lost Signal on D* for 25 minutes within the last 2 weeks. E* 38 Minutes Thats more then all last year. I keep track of everytime they go out. I like to compair it to Blue Ridge Communications for the year.Right now Cable is ahead ,By alot. 17.5 hours this year so far.

 

[raoul5788]

Thanks for the reply. I am in CT as well.
I suppose the system is in perfect shape then.

In the past few days, there was a thunderstorm every evening.
Just tired of losing the signal EVERY DAY......


Guess NOTHING can pass through a massive thunderstorm cloud

CT here as well. The storms we have had the last week have been stronger than usual. I lost signal before the rain came, but got it back in about 10 minutes or so. The normal storms around here don't always knock out the signal, but sometimes they do. The newer ka hd channels are more susceptible to them.

 

[stlpaul]

I just got DirecTV on Tuesday and the weather has been beautiful all week. Right now mine has been out for about the last half hour and it isn't even raining at all. It rained very lightly for about 10 minutes when it first went out, but that was it. I do hear thunder in the distance. Signal strength for every transponder on every satellite shows 0 except for 2 of them on 101 which are 47 and 50 strength.

I assumed it would go out during a really severe storm, but if it goes out even when it's not raining -- that just won't be any fun. It seems like it always rains in the evening (prime time!)

 

[Mr Tony]

Heavy dark clouds to the south (or in y'all cases SE) will kill a signal quicker than rain does. When it rains I dont lose it as much

 

[stlpaul]

I didn't think of that, but I bet that's probably what it was. After about 30 minutes it came back. Apparently there was a very focused and serious thunder storm with hail and 60mph winds about 3 miles to the south of me, even though nothing happened here at all.

 

[Mr Tony]

yep that would do it

Seen that here in Minneapolis where its real dark to the SW and we get no rain yet the signal goes real low

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I had Dish for 11 years (until today) here in Wisconsin. Peaked my dishes every year. I lost my signal at least 8-12 times every year due to intense thunderstorms. Some years it would be 15-20 times.

When the D* installer came yesterday, I told him that I'd tip him $25 if he did a good job of aligning my dish. He did a great job, almost every transponder is in the 95-100 range.

A few minutes ago we had a thunderstorm, actually a hailstorm. Checked the signal strength while it was hailing and was getting 75-85. But I know whenever a big storm hits, that it will drop to 0 across the board. No way to prevent it. The signal can't get through that much water.

 

[Tom Imp]

Had the service for all of one day, and I already lost the signal. Granted, a hail storm rolled through with buckets of rain, but I just hope I didn't make a mistake switching over.

Where exactly do you check to see your signal strength anyway?

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I've never worried much about the rare loss of signal. Let's say in a bad year I lose my signal 12 times. Each of those would be for around 20 minutes. So that's 4 hours out of a year. Big deal.

 

[markfp-1]

I switched from cable to DirecTV almost 9 years ago and I only loose the signal a few times a year for a short period of time, far less than I experienced when I had cable. Example, we had a really bad thunderstorm a few nights ago and it was gone maybe 5 minutes. The cable service here was out for almost two hours. No service is 100% perfect, but I'll take DirecTV over cable anytime.

 

[dishcomm]

In the last few days, we (northeast) had severe thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Is it normal to lost satellite signal during the storm?(3-5 minutes per thunderstorm) I believe I have signal strength in the 90s in a normal day. 5 LBN. 1 dish. That's all I know about my system.(1 hd receiver non-dvr)

Previously I had Dish, and they hardly(only couple times in a year) dropped out signal completely even with thunderstorms.

Ok,....Heavy precip will block the satellite signal. Also, cloud to cloud lightining will interfere with recpetion provided the lightining is in the sky in the direction which the dish is pointed. Heavy wet snwo accumulating on the dish can also cause signal loss. A light fluffy snow will not effect signal that much. One more thing. Ice accumualtion n the dish will cause signal loss.
With such a large reflector, signal loss should be infrequent. If it is annyoing, contact Direct and have a tch repaek the dish for optimum reception. A poorly aligned dish is step one down the road to constant signal loss

 

[Jimbo]

I had Dish for 11 years (until today) here in Wisconsin. Peaked my dishes every year. I lost my signal at least 8-12 times every year due to intense thunderstorms. Some years it would be 15-20 times.

When the D* installer came yesterday, I told him that I'd tip him $25 if he did a good job of aligning my dish. He did a great job, almost every transponder is in the 95-100 range.

A few minutes ago we had a thunderstorm, actually a hailstorm. Checked the signal strength while it was hailing and was getting 75-85. But I know whenever a big storm hits, that it will drop to 0 across the board. No way to prevent it. The signal can't get through that much water.

Actually, When you lose signal on one sat, doesn't nessasarally mean the others will be out, occasionally if you lose signal try a different channel on a different transponder and see if that comes in.

Jimbo

 

[Tom Bombadil]

This was true frequently when I had E*, because I had dishes pointing at 61.5 and 119, which are 58 degrees apart. I suspect it will be true less frequently with D*, as there is only a 20 degree spread.

 

[Jimbo]

This was true frequently when I had E*, because I had dishes pointing at 61.5 and 119, which are 58 degrees apart. I suspect it will be true less frequently with D*, as there is only a 20 degree spread.

I agree, but it does happen ...
Of course, thats always a good time to turn on your local OTA channels as well.

Are you listening D*, many of us would like to KEEP our OTA channels and still use your product without ADDING more equipment to our set ups to do so.

Jimbo

 

[DetFan]

Had this problem until early this week, but it was bad even when it sprinkled out.
Anyway, long story short, They came out and replaced the dish, and gave me the new slimline, and boom, after rain a few times already this week, not a single glitch. I am a Happy Camper.