Snow storm - No HD?

[elbelcho]

I've only had my service a few weeks now and todays the first batch of bad weather.

It seems like most of my channels are coming in, but the majority of the HD channels aren't working at all. I get a "searching for signal (771)" message on most of them, 1 of them is working OK, another is pixelating pretty hard.

Is that normal in bad weather?

[PicaKing]

I've only had my service a few weeks now and todays the first batch of bad weather.

It seems like most of my channels are coming in, but the majority of the HD channels aren't working at all. I get a "searching for signal (771)" message on most of them, 1 of them is working OK, another is pixelating pretty hard.

Is that normal in bad weather?

Take a look at your dish and see if snow is built up on the dish itself or the lnb's. If so and you can reach the dish safely, brush it off and you should be good to go. The HD channels are often the first to go in bad weather

[PCampbell]

Sometimes you will have problems, If the dish is pointed correct and you have good signal stringth then it should happen in very hard rain or if enough snow is on the dish. A broom can be used to dust it off or if it is to high then a super soker with warm water or windshield deicer.

[elbelcho]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

There is a fair amount of snow on the dish for sure. Unfortunately I don't have a method to get it off. Too far away for a broom or my telescoping car snow brush. No super soaker, no ladder.

I may run up to home depot and try to find a SUPER telescoping brush of some sort or just a ladder as I've been wanting one for a long time anyway.

[aim2pls]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

There is a fair amount of snow on the dish for sure. Unfortunately I don't have a method to get it off. Too far away for a broom or my telescoping car snow brush. No super soaker, no ladder.

I may run up to home depot and try to find a SUPER telescoping brush of some sort or just a ladder as I've been wanting one for a long time anyway.

NOT a good idea .... as levelage is involved .... you can easily disfigure the dish ... bend the alignment items ... bend the feed support ......

[elbelcho]

Well I just decided to climb out on the porch roof from our bedroom window and take a crack at it. I gently brushed the snow of and realized that snow wasn't the problem, ice was. Last night it was warm-ish and I think it rained a bit before the snow came in, so the dish had a layer of ice on it. The dish didn't really budge at all while gently brushing, so I got a little more vigorous about it to try and remove the ice. I only messed with it for about 60-90 seconds then called it quits. And guess what, all of my HD channels are back in action!

[bonscott87]

I was going to say I saw you were in Ohio and up here in Michigan we've been getting a blizzard for over a day now with lots of snow. Signals still in the 90s. The only thing that will drop your signals will be heavy rain, slushy snow buildup on the dish or ice on the dish. Just plain old fluffy snow we are getting now when it's 5 degrees out won't effect the dish at all, even if it had 6 inches on it.

Other big problem is just plain wind knocking it out of alignment.

But sounds like you got it fixed. Stay warm!

[ejjames]

I used to duct tape a wallpaper brush to the end of a snowrake handle. But that was with my old 3lnb plastic dish, i have never had a problem with snow sticking to an aluminum dish.

ej

[w6fxj]

Just a note from a retired satellite tracking guy: The Ka band used by DirecTV for MPEG4 HD channels is much higher in frequency than Ku band (22 Ghz instead of 12 Ghz). It suffers from a higher signal loss caused by ice, snow or even rain. The higher losses are partially compensated for by the higher gain of the dish and narrower beamwidth when used at 22 GHz. But, Ka-band will often drop out quicked than the old MPEG2 Ku-band signals, even with the dish right on point.

[wmj5]

I don't get very much snow in upstase south carolina but if the lnb ices over you will be out of a picture, period!

[elbelcho]

Just a note from a retired satellite tracking guy: The Ka band used by DirecTV for MPEG4 HD channels is much higher in frequency than Ku band (22 Ghz instead of 12 Ghz). It suffers from a higher signal loss caused by ice, snow or even rain. The higher losses are partially compensated for by the higher gain of the dish and narrower beamwidth when used at 22 GHz. But, Ka-band will often drop out quicked than the old MPEG2 Ku-band signals, even with the dish right on point.

That's interesting. My first thought when most HD channels that I checked were out, but some were in, was that they were divided along the mpeg 4 / mpeg 2 line. Unfortunately, I can never remember which channels use which compression method.

[HouseBowlrz]

That's interesting. My first thought when most HD channels that I checked were out, but some were in, was that they were divided along the mpeg 4 / mpeg 2 line. Unfortunately, I can never remember which channels use which compression method.

That's exactly what I am seeing here ... my MPEG-2 channels are fine but the MPEG-4 channels are hosed.

I'm recalling that we had a nasty ice storm this time last year but we didn't have the MPEG-4 channels at that time.

Unfortunately, D* installed my 5-LNB on the roof (the old one was mounted on the side of my deck) so I can't do anything to brush it off. And I'm way too heavy to be climbing up a ladder ... :eek2:

One oddity, though, is that my DirecTiVo (SD only) was hung up trying to get a signal (at 70 percent) after it rebooted overnight.


cheers

[BattleZone]

You folks who live in snowy/icy areas need to consider installing a dish heater. It will virtually eliminate outages caused by the dish icing up.

http://www.dishdepot.com/accessories.jsp