Snow Snow Snow!!!

[Dish VIP]

I am not getting anything here in St. Louis with an EA dish! Actually I am getting my OTA and E* provided locals -- but nothing else. When I run the test I get three red boxes with white Xs in them instead of the normal green boxes. I never had issues like this through all the years I was with D*. Needless to say I am VERY upset! I was happy with the switch to E* -- that I made a year ago tomorrow -- but if E* cannot fix this from happening then I will have no choice but to leave them.

FYI, my dish is on the room two stories up so I have no access to it. And like I said, D* equipment never had this kind of issue with snow -- so IMO E* needs to fix it and fast!

HA! That's funny!

You guys are getting a Sierra type storm! Up here at Lake Tahoe we are used to that wet heavy sticky snow which is why we place our Dish where it can be reached with a broom.

It's not so much the thickness of the snow but the water content. You probably have a slushy base layer of an inch or two with whiter stuff on top attached to the reflector and that really messes with the signal.

Certainly not normal for you midwesterners, but hardly a cause to blame E* lol.

 

[chicagonettech]

PAM - the non-stick cooking spray.

It does wonders with heavy, wet snow and cuts down on having to clean the dish!

 

[Dish VIP]

PAM - the non-stick cooking spray.

It does wonders with heavy, wet snow and cuts down on having to clean the dish!

Yeah that works. Up here and at Mammoth Lakes I see alot of dishes with a trash bag tied over the reflector to keep the slush and ice from accumulating without blocking the signal.

 

[HiDefRev]

Snow

Snow ?? What's that ???? . . .

 

[Rob052067]

We had plenty of instances of wet sticky snow in the past when I had D* and it didn't have and dish heater -- and I never had this issue. So from my point of view, there seems to be something substandard with my leased E* equipment, their installation, or their sat signals.

It also depends on the wind direction. I live in the midwest, and usually only have snow build up on the dish once or twice a year at most, when the wet sticky snow is accompanied by winds from the south (since that's the direction the dish is facing).

 

[TheKrell]

I saw a red box w/white X on 119 and a yellow box on 110 and 61.5. (I never before saw boxes with yellow.)

This morning apparently snow slumped off 110/119 because they went green. But it apparently built up worse on my 61.5 dish because now has the red X.

 

[mhowie]

Snow ?? What's that ???? . . .

 

[old corps]

Yeah that works. Up here and at Mammoth Lakes I see alot of dishes with a trash bag tied over the reflector to keep the slush and ice from accumulating without blocking the signal.

Doing this CAUSED me to lose signal. The snow (small amount) melted a bit which caused ice to form on the lower third of the dish/bag--goodbye signal. This happened twice before I removed the bag. I've had WAY more snow on the naked dish in the past & never lost signal. Just my personal experience.

Ed

 

[mboron]

As posted by "dish VIP", snow and weather issues are just a way of life for alot of us. I take the broom to mine all the time. And it's not just "E", because my neighbor has "D", and he's out with his broom all the time also. I can't comment on the signal strength of eastern arc since I'm in Alaska, but on 119, 110, 129, it actually takes a good bit of snow to kill the signal totally. As previous folks said, the wetter and heavier, the worse it gets. Also, be careful of the Pam spray. Huge bug magnet come summer....yucky brown mess.

 

[dishcomm]

I keep hearing that, but I still find it hard to believe since I had D* for 7 years and we had plenty of snows just like this here in STL and I never had this issue. We aren't due to see the sun until Sunday so I'm worried I'll be without all day & night tomorrow. I've already missed two movies I was recording tonight and am setup to record two more tomorrow -- and my penny Cinemax runs out in just a few days.

Ok..The Dish you have is much larger than the 18"(assuming you did not have HD) and as such can catch and hold a lot more snow. Plus, the angle of elevation is higher than with D*. SO with the dish tilted more to the sky, it will again hold more snow.
No reason to get mad. It is the way of satellite tv.
Call Dish tell them you are out of service due to snow on your dish and would appreciate a crdit for the days of lost service.
It can't hurt to ask.

 

[dishcomm]

PAM - the non-stick cooking spray.

It does wonders with heavy, wet snow and cuts down on having to clean the dish!

Another believer!!!
This info is part of my routine for all new connect customers.

 

[Slamminc11]

Ok..The Dish you have is much larger than the 18"(assuming you did not have HD) and as such can catch and hold a lot more snow. Plus, the angle of elevation is higher than with D*. SO with the dish tilted more to the sky, it will again hold more snow.
No reason to get mad. It is the way of satellite tv.
Call Dish tell them you are out of service due to snow on your dish and would appreciate a crdit for the days of lost service.
It can't hurt to ask.

why would they give a credit, Dish didn't cause the snow.

 

[dishcomm]

why would they give a credit, Dish didn't cause the snow.

I'm in the business. I read the notes. I have seen Dish give credits for much less.
We may disagree with this, but it happens.
As soon as a custy mentions "cancel", Dish CSR's hit the panic button, run their supervisor or switch the custy to Rentention and voila!.
Example.. I once did a repair where the cust's dog chewed the cables. Not only did Dish offer the repair for free, they gave this lady a credit for the time she was out of service.
So when I mention credits offered to custys, beleive it.

 

[vinobabu]

We got close to 30 inches of snow in Nova and I lost signals from both my Dish , one pointed to 110 & 119 and the one on the roof pointed to 61.5 . I was able to clean the snow off the dish mounted on the ground but no luck with the one in the roof. So unfortunately I had to watch the super Bowl in Standard definition...felt wierd.( but thankful I got to watch something)

Any option/configuration to get all the channels using one dish for Northern VA ( with DC locals)? I currently subscribe to Absolute HD.

Thanks

 

[Sassan]

I had to take a broom to mine, but that was it. Here in Columbus.

 

[Bob Haller]

For the FIRST TIME EVER, my 61.5 dish accumulated a large amount of snow. Normally its protected my the house.........

Trudged all away around thru waist deep drifts.

If this happened often I would add dish heaters.

Tomorrow ANOTHER storm comes thru

 

[vaylon]

Yea, all this snow is getting ridiculous.
I have about 16 inches on the ground now that is frozen solid and you can walk on it with out sinking. Now their calling for an additional 5 -12 inches over he next couple of days.

I will use the "pam" trick this time.

That way the neighbors won't be talking about me walking in the snow. In shorts and a tee shirt.
I think I must be part polar bear.

 

[RedWings]

We got close to 30 inches of snow in Nova and I lost signals from both my Dish , one pointed to 110 & 119 and the one on the roof pointed to 61.5 . I was able to clean the snow off the dish mounted on the ground but no luck with the one in the roof. So unfortunately I had to watch the super Bowl in Standard definition...felt wierd.( but thankful I got to watch something)

Any option/configuration to get all the channels using one dish for Northern VA ( with DC locals)? I currently subscribe to Absolute HD.

Thanks

I would have tried to get an OTA signal before watching in SD.

 

[the mack]

here in Detroit we have avoided the snow pretty much all winter, it has been real nice....

expecting 6-12'' tomorrow:rant:....not too bad though, not like most of you guys to the south and east of me....

 

[md_paul]

As many have said, snow signal fade really depends on a combination of the normal signal strength you receive (based on your geographical location and how well your dish is aligned) and the wetness of the snow. Any kind of moisture (clouds, rain, snow, etc) between the satellite and your dish will reduce signal strength. Reduced signal strength does not mean reduced picture quality until the signal drops low enough that that receiver can't maintain a lock. The better your normal signal strength, the more you can afford to lose before losing channels. Slush or ice on the dish is the worst. I have lost all reception in the past with a thin layer of ice and slush coating the dish. However, we had 30" of powdery snow this past weekend in Northern MD and I was still watching my 110/119 channels even though the entire dish was buried and just a bump in the snow on my roof. I lost some of my HD channels on the 61.5 dish at one point, but that dish is mounted low enough that I reached it with an extension dust mop to push the snow off and they all came back.