snow problems already?

[rstokas]

I can't believe it. I lost signal this morning on all channels for an hour, (Except for local channels which I never seem to lose bc I get them 100% signal). It was a wet light snow, but the top and side of the dish was covered with wet snow. Will this happen all the time?

my usual levels are 78 to 92

 

[miguelaqui]

Will this happen all the time?

my usual levels are 78 to 92

YES. You will have to remove the snow from the dish.

 

[Stargazer]

It will happen anytime you have snow on your dish. Just go outside and brush it off to get the channels back. I hear spam helps keep the snow off of the dish. They also make a dish heater that melts the snow and ice off of the dish.

 

[Spin]

It will happen anytime you have snow on your dish. Just go outside and brush it off to get the channels back. I hear spam helps keep the snow off of the dish. They also make a dish heater that melts the snow and ice off of the dish.

Spam... Not only a great tasting canned meat.. A quality way to keep your sat clean from snow!


I would try pam instead.

 

[joedekock]

I can't believe it. I lost signal this morning on all channels for an hour, (Except for local channels which I never seem to lose bc I get them 100% signal). It was a wet light snow, but the top and side of the dish was covered with wet snow. Will this happen all the time?

my usual levels are 78 to 92

WHere are you located... I am in West Michigan and we got about 2 inches of wet snow already. When I was home for lunch I noticed my dish was 100% covered already. But I still did not have reception problems. You may want to call an installer or call D* if this is a new install.

I remember when I first got mine installed, (in the summer), whenever a severe storm started to come into the area I would lose signal. But when the Storm actually hit the area it would come back. I was worried because in West Michigan we get about 80" every winter. And if it was doing this in the summer, then when its cloudy and snowy in the winter (which is everyday) I was not going to be happy. D* said that it only should go out in a severe storm. I told them I could understand this, but Mine goes out when the storm gets about 15 miles from my house, then when the storm is here its fine. They thought that was odd, and sent out an installer to "look" at it. The installer came out, and adjusted the dish a little and I have not had a problem since. It still goes out when a severe summer rain comes, but in the winter I have never had it go out.

My folks had the same issue when they first got theirs, but eventually it went away. Not sure what to think about that.

When the installer was at my house he told me that in the summer the air and clouds are warmer and have more moisture, making the clouds thicker, so signal can be interrupted in a severe storm. But winter snow clouds or storms are less moisturous so the signal can still get through them no problem. He was a very good installer, so I took his work for it, and if you understand your basic 8th grade science it actually makes sense.

So I guess the moral of all of this is if it keeps up call D*, because they did guarantee me that if I was unhappy with how much the signal was going out because of storms, they would let me out of my year commitment at no cost. But I called within the first month.

 

[riffjim4069]

Spam... Not only a great tasting canned meat.. A quality way to keep your sat clean from snow!


I would try pam instead.

Too funny!

 

[joedekock]

Spam... Not only a great tasting canned meat.. A quality way to keep your sat clean from snow!


I would try pam instead.

I have heard a lot of people in my are using Pam on their dish.

 

[RicS]

For all your Snow problems!

http://www.mailmsg.com/sounds/spam-song.wav

 

[charper1]

my usual levels are 78 to 92

1. Your signal readings should not be below 90 on a clear day. So peak you dish.

2. Spray a good coating of spray teflon type material or upgrade to a hotshot dish.

 

[timmac]

I personally have a large supply of spam on hand, just in case we have some sort of emergency and I can't get to the store. It fills in great for any occassion. I like it as a midnight snack and those surprise guests who happen to be hungry. I don't know how I can use it on my dish though. Do you smear the spam on the dish? I know it has a great shelf life, but will it rot and stink up the neighborhood? How often do I apply the Spam to the dish?

 

[raoul5788]

I personally have a large supply of spam on hand, just in case we have some sort of emergency and I can't get to the store. It fills in great for any occassion. I like it as a midnight snack and those surprise guests who happen to be hungry. I don't know how I can use it on my dish though. Do you smear the spam on the dish? I know it has a great shelf life, but will it rot and stink up the neighborhood? How often do I apply the Spam to the dish?

As often as the voices in your head tell you to.

Chip

 

[Stargazer]

OOPS! Lol, I'll never hear the end of this, Pam is what I meant. I must be thinking of all of this spam in my mailbox I been getting lol.

If your signal is weak to begin with then it will not take as much snow on the dish, clouds or moisture to block the signal. Check your signal levels when there is no snow on the dish.

 

[raymo721]

I've posted this link in another thread similar to this but got no feedback. www.kingcontrols.com . Check the bottom of the page. They claim they have a product to combat rain fade. Haven't tried it myself, was waiting for the 5lnb dish.---Ray

 

[riffjim4069]

Speaking of snow problems...I can't believe all the idiots I saw ditching their vehicles this morning! There were numerous lighted signs stating, Warning: Ice on Bridge - Use Caution! and accident reports on the radio every 10 minutes. Yet these dopes continued to drive over bridges at 60+ mph. Some knot head came within a few feet of taking me out this morning. After I pulled his sorry ass out of his passenger side window, I was tempted to give him a good thumping for his reckless behavior. Arrgghh!

Back on topic: last year it was easy to keep my dish clean since it was only 6 feet off the deck. I only had to clean it off two or three times and dousing it with boiling water removed the ice/snow and dried it out at the same time. However this year I have a 2nd dish that it 15ft. in the air. Is Pam (with all that buttery goo) really that effective or should I purchase Rain-X instead? I remember reading a review about a rain fade sometime last year. Is it really worth the $$$ and, if so, does someone have a link?

Thanks...

Doh!...just read the above thread on King Controls...

 

[01ds650]

My signal went out yesterday with only 1" of snow. It only has done this once the first 4 years I owned it. Now it's happened twice last year & yesterday. Wonder what changed. When I hooked up my R15 it showed signal strength of 92 or so. Yesterday it was from 38-78. The heavy slush snow is the worst. I have to crawl up my triangular antenna to get to my dishes. That's tough. One night I was sooooo stupid I was doing it in a snow storm at 10:30pm. That was the first time it ever went out in a snow storm. My one dish is about 7ft above my house roof. I tried the WD40 trick awhile back. I need to do it again. But it's WINDY today. Anyone ever try car wax? Maybe I should try Astroglide? I still love the suggestion to use Spam! Thanks for the laugh.

 

[riffjim4069]

My signal went out yesterday with only 1" of snow. It only has done this once the first 4 years I owned it. Now it's happened twice last year & yesterday. Wonder what changed.

After 4 years of facing the elements coupled with normal wear and tear (both the dish and roof), it could have moved ever so slightly. I would suggest re-aiming the dish if at all possible.

 

[Stargazer]

Just a little bit of a drop in signal will cause it. You could have had just enough signal in the past to still bring in a signal lock but a little of movement could drop it just below that signal lock. You may notice some channels drop before others.

 

[01ds650]

Just checked my signal. It comes in @ 94. That seems strong to me.

 

[Stargazer]

That does seem pretty strong. When the signal went out did you notice that it goes out on all of the channels or just some of them?

 

[markfp-1]

I'm not questioning anyone who says they have problems with snow. I'm sure they do and that's a real pain in the butt. It just got me wondering about it. I live in Upstate New York and it's common for us to get almost 200 inches in a winter, most of it heavy, wet lake-effect snow, and I've never had an outage because of it. I use to get a lot of rain problems, but after I had the dish removed from the roof and mounted on the side of the house I hardly ever have a problem. Just wondering why I'm so lucky.