Satellite reception

[Sal]

How bad does satellite reception get during rain, thunderstorms, snow? All of which we get a lot of up here in Buffalo?

[AJ2086]

Depends, if its really really heavy rain (Like you can hear it pounding on your roof from down stairs) then you lose picture and it chirps but it comes back really quickly. Thunderstorms are the same way. Normal rain isnt a problem. I havent experienced snow yet but someone else could tell you.

[Sal]

Hey thanks for your input, AJ. Anyone else have any experience in bad weather. Especially, snow and heavy rain.

[AJ2086]

Well come to think of it I have experience it in snow and I didnt lose any signal, atleast not enough to lose a picture. I got my dish in Feb and it snowed here until April. It didnt really cause anything so that why I didnt remember it and overlooked it.

[Rursery]

You can get a cover for your dish to keep the snow off. Otherwise, you will have to clean it off if it snows very much.

[cj9788]

I am a lucky one in the worst down pours I have never lost a signal.

Last year a weak tropical storm dumped 12"s of rain in 24 hours Lost the signal only because my dish was moved by the wind.

Other than that one time it has been great.

[toad57]

Any DBS setup (E* or D*) will beat cable TV's uptime record hands down. DBS outages (due to weather) are usually just a few minutes. Cableco outages are usually measured in hours...

[toad57]

How bad does satellite reception get during rain, thunderstorms, snow?

Oh, one more thing: Reception doesn't really get 'bad', it just gives up and quits until a 'good enough' signal returns. It may act a bit funny just before it goes out (pixelized jerky screens, etc.)

[Karl Foster]

If you have a good installation and good signal strength, you'll lose signal much less often. I have had satellite (first Dish and then Directv) for over three years, and have lost signal maybe once or twice each winter for a short periods of time (about 30 minutes). My dish is on top of my roof, so cleaning it off isn't an option, unless I want to slip and die, but I have to mount it there because of trees and laziness.

If you concerned about show accululation, mount your dish low so you can sweep it off as needed. There are also defrostsers you can mount that will melt accumulated snow and ice. Someone else will have to post a link because I have no idea where to find one.

[Pete K.]

During very heavy...and I mean "toad strangling" heavy rains, I've lost the signal for maybe 10 minutes at most.
Snow has never been a problem but my dish is under an eave on my house, so that keeps the snow off of it.
I can't stand those lying cable ads claiming the signal goes out every time in rains. It is more like the other way around!

[catman]

I live in wisconsin . I have not had the problem with snow . I have lost the picture . during the heavy storms . Wisconsin has had more , storms in 1 week .

[Cyclone]

Same story here. It takes a very hard storm (with towering thunderclouds many miles tall) to block the satellite signal. Your average heavy rain storm will not stop the satellite TV reception.

In Buffalo, I would make sure to put the satellite dish in a location where it will not be buried in snow. I know you guys get snow measured in feet often. So put it on the edge of a roof with the reception face pointing away from the house, or on a tall pole in the yard where you can easily clear the snow away from the Dish.

Don't put youself in a position where you'd have to get on the roof to clear the satelitte dish. A little foresight can keep that from being required.

[razorbackfan]

Had 75mph winds a few weeks ago in a storm, no picture loss at all. Pouring rain, no picture loss. Last winter with 8" of snow, I had to knock the snow off the dish to get a picture. Of course all those times my cable went out.

[Sal]

Thanks for the responses, guys! It doesn't sound like it is much of a problem. I'll just have to consider were it is being installed at the time.

[DarrellP]

Sal, just to show you how much of a non factor rain is: I live near Portland, OR and have a dish pointed at 61.5 for HD programming and it's at an elevation of only 10 degrees, the dish looks like it is looking at the ground. Since I put in the 24" dish, I have yet to lose the signal for more than an instant and it can rain fairly heavy here at times. In fact, when it is raining hard, I like to tune into 61.5 just to see if I will lose the signal and I rairly do. Signal strength has been down to about 38% and it still locks just fine.

In this area, snow is wet and heavy but it doesn't interfere with the signal but it clumps up on the dish and must be removed to maintain signal lock.

BTW, you should consider registering, this is an awesome forum, Welcome.

[Littlebit92]

How bad does satellite reception get during rain, thunderstorms, snow? All of which we get a lot of up here in Buffalo?

Well, I can reply for E* in Buffalo area... specifically Amherst. In the really bad downpours you may lose signal for a minute but it doesnt happen often. When we get a very heavy snowstorm (like our 7 footer) you will lose signal IF your satellite is somewhere that allows the snow to collect on the dish itself blocking the signal but otherwise I havent had any problems in the 6 years I have had the dish.
When I checked on the covers I was told two different things an havent decided who to listen to.... maybe someone on here can give their opinion. One guy said that they allow moisture to build up behind them during the day that freezes at night causing a sheet of ice to interfere with the signal. Another guy said that was nonsense.
Hope this helped :-)

[Steve Mehs]

Hey Cool another Buffalonian, hey guys feel free to register! :) Sorry I didn't see this thread when it was originally posted but I was on vacation that week. :) Here in Marilla, I get snow fade maybe 2 or 3 times a year with E*. During the Thanksgiving Blizzard a few years ago I only had to brush the dish off once and this past winter the newly installed dish for 61.5 never got covered enough to block the signal, but the Dish500 did a few times. Rain fade isn't that big of a deal either, in the past few weeks we have had heavy down pours after a fairly dry start to the summer and my TV watching has never been interrupted yet. That's not to say rain fade didn't occur, but it never occurred when I was watching. :) I can't give a comment on the covers, never used one on either of the dishes.

[pez2002]

My dish went out mabye twice last winter but ever since then ive been fine

Its gotta be a bad bad storm to knock the signal out


so go ahead and get a dish :)