110 Problems

[elbyj]

Did anyone else experience an outage on the 110 Sunday afternoon about 4:00pm (CST)?? All our receivers had that lovely screen saying no signal was available. Checked with my neighbors and they had the same problem. Anybody know what was going on?? All the channels did return after about 30-40 minutes. Couldn't have been a storm, since the sky was clear. Or was this just an isolated problem with the south Texas area?

[JohnH]

Did anyone else experience an outage on the 110 Sunday afternoon about 4:00pm (CST)?? All our receivers had that lovely screen saying no signal was available. Checked with my neighbors and they had the same problem. Anybody know what was going on?? All the channels did return after about 30-40 minutes. Couldn't have been a storm, since the sky was clear. Or was this just an isolated problem with the south Texas area?

Well, Solar Conjunction season is more or less upon us. That is when the sun gets behind the satellite and overpowers it for a brief period. Not sure that was your problem.

[Mickdog]

Well, Solar Conjunction season is more or less upon us. That is when the sun gets behind the satellite and overpowers it for a brief period. Not sure that was your problem.
The Solar interference that you are referencing is not due to conjunction. The conjunction happened in late August. The solar interference referenced by Dish is due to the Equinox period, which happens in the change from spring to summer, and from summer to fall! This link should enlighten you:
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=35729

:rolleyes:

[JohnH]

The Solar interference that you are referencing is not due to conjunction. The conjunction happened in late July. The solar interference referenced by Dish is due to the Equinox period, which happens in the change from spring to summer, and from summer to fall! :rolleyes:


You are out to lunch.

It is called Solar Conjunction and has been for many years. The sun moves into the focus of the dish and creates bunches of noise. It occurs after the equinox in the fall and before the equinox in the spring. It is important to remember we discuss satellites here not the moon.

[Mickdog]

You are out to lunch.

It is called Solar Conjunction and has been for many years. The sun moves into the focus of the dish and creates bunches of noise. It occurs after the equinox in the fall and before the equinox in the spring. It is important to remember we discuss satellites here not the moon.
Well why do you not read this one:

http://www.jsat.net/en/satellite/sun.html

It is you that is confused!!!!

[TNGTony]

LOL! John you have to admit that was a creative answer though.

Every year I get the same call from my mother about her TV going out. Every time I explain the issue and to wait 10 minutes. Every year she says "I didn't know that!"

See ya
Tony

[JohnH]

Yeah, that is a good site for getting info on the Conjunction. The Equinox they refer to is the Solar Equinox(The start of Autumn).

Definition 2:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=conjunction&x=13&y=18

[Mickdog]

Here is a site explaining terms:

http://www.oregano.demon.co.uk/terms.htm

[TNGTony]

Mickdog,

I have been dealing with satellite TV for 15 years and before with cable TV downlinks for another 7. I and every co-worker called it "Solar Conkunction" when the sun appeard to go directly behind the satellite essentially blinding the Dish to the much weaker satellite signal.

Even Dish Network and DirecTV call it Solar Conjunction.

Now there is the astronomical use of the term rescribing when the sun gets in the way of another celestial body or when two planets appear to cross each other in the night sky.

Just like many other terms in the English Language there is more than one meaning depending on the context. Solar Conjunction when applied to geosstationary satellites means very simply that the sun appeared to cross directly behind the satellite and temporarily blinded the receiver.

A solar equinox (to most people) is when the sun appears to be directly above the equator. This happens March 21 or 22 and September 21 or 22. In most of the US solar conjunction season for satellite viewers a week in length and occurs about two weeks before the vernal equinox and about two weeks after the autumnal equinox

See ya
Tony

[JohnH]

Here is a site explaining terms:

http://www.oregano.demon.co.uk/terms.htm

And their explaination of Conjunction somewhat bolsters our usage of the term.

[Mickdog]

OK, word play, but it is not "The Solar Conjunction" period, the Satellites are experiencing "Conjunction" because of the "Equinox" period! Your right, I'm right!

[JohnH]

Anyhow, as the "season" progresses, the conjunction will move from south to north in Autumn. At some points it will affect only certain channels as the effect is only between the satellites and the uplink centers. There will be some areas which will lose all of the channels from a particular satellite at one time of day and all of the channels from another satellite at another time of day.