[Stewart Vernon]

I recently moved from western arc to eastern arc.

Tonight we had a minor snow "storm" across NC... and I started experiencing some signal issues. I was doing other things, but eventually noticed the outage had lasted over two hours and 61.5 was the last satellite to die for me.

That prompted me to search around... and I saw that people with eastern arc were having issues where the reflector is more horizontal than the other arcs (the 1000.4 dish) and thus is more susceptible to collecting snow.

We had an inch or less here... but it fit the pattern... since the snow had tapered off, but my signal had actually been getting worse even as the sky became clearer...

So, I managed to get outside and find a good angle to hit the dish on the roof with a hose... and within a few minutes of getting back inside the house I had TV again!

I would understand if we had a major snowstorm or something... but if this kind of minor snow is going to be that bad of an issue... I need to be more prepared next winter. We don't get much snow here in NC, but it does happen... and I'm learning now that my eastern arc is going to be WAY more sensitive than my western arc ever was.

Long story short... Any good suggestions on how to more easily deal with this in the future?

 

[olds403]

This is an issue several times a winter for me here in Michigan, especially when the snow is wet and sticks to the dish. I just keep a short piece (10') of hose available just for clearing the dish. Keeping the hose short makes it easier to blow it out when finished. Takes about a minute to clear, no biggie for me.

 

[CCarncross]

It really doesnt matter how much snow you get, it has to do with whether it sticks to the dish or not..It only takes an inch or so of wet sticky snow to render a sat dish useless until it either melts off or is removed.

 

[tampa8]

Two things, as mentioned it's really not how much snow but how much it sticks. Many times it snows heavily but it does not stick, so no signal loss. The other is yes, the EA is more apt to have a signal loss as it is angled/tilted less than the WA is. I have both.

I don't think any of the remedies I have seen really work. Don't use the cooking non stick spray as some suggest, it actually makes it worse. I would make/get something with a soft brush on the end that can reach and periodically brush off the snow. In Ct where we do get snow (not this year!!) even the EA dish I have does not often get coated enough to lose the signal. (And still better than all the times Cable seems to be out at work)

 

[MadScientist]

I too live in NC; North of Roxboro on lake Hyco, we had about 3" and TV was out for the good part of the night! This morning back on! I am also on the eastern arc. Luckly I can get the snow off the dish when it does snow!

 

[botto84]

This is because dishnet has yet to figure out a way to get reliable signals off the eastern arc. the highest you will ever see the signal strengths with that dish is a mid to upper 50's, where as with the western arc you can get all sats to the high 70's to low 90's depending on the meter you're using... this has been ongoing ever since the 1000.4 dish went live

 

[Stewart Vernon]

As a couple of others have noted... my issues last night had nothing to do with signal strength or dish alignment. We had some of that heavy/wet/sticky snow last night... and the angle of the dish for eastern arc is such that when you get that kind of snow it just sticks there on it.

I could have waited until the sun came out this morning... but had already been without TV for a couple of hours and decided to try and hit it with the hose. That did the trick. I guess I was just hoping for something easier

I don't even think we got an inch here... but that wet/sticky snow doesn't take much... I'm just new to the eastern arc and didn't even think about that being a problem until last night. I have had Dish since 2002 and never had a snow issue on western arc... the dish angle was enough that everything slid off... I guess I will have to adjust to eastern arc and keep the hose at the ready!

 

[James Long]

I had C Band dishes that could fill with a foot of snow on a good night and not lose signal ... then as soon as the sun came up the snow would melt a little and start reflecting the signal the wrong way. It wasn't the big flaky bits that killed the signal ... it was the thin sheet of ice. Sleet would do the same when it stuck to the big dish.

My DBS dishes generally fare better but I have them sheltered from the storms. Most of the dish has to be covered with sticky snow to a depth of more than an inch for me to notice. That happens a couple of times each winter. And due to dish placement, I just have to brush off the dish with the brush I keep in the car for snow. (All of my dishes are at ground level.)

 

[MadScientist]

Boy I do miss my bud! I loved that we where able to see programing before most did. The snow and ice was a killer, but at less it was on the ground where you can get to it.

 

[Stewart Vernon]

The guy was going to do a ground level install here... but the house was in the way of the proper aiming angle... so he had to do the roof. Most of the time it should be fine.... I just will have to train myself to keep an eye out when we do have the inclement weather.

Here in NC we tend to not get deep snow, but we do get freezing rain, sleet, and sometimes that wet mushy stuff... and those seem like they are going to be more of a problem here than they were when I was pointed the other way.

And to think... I didn't even care which arc they pointed me at... I guess I should have stuck to western arc after all!

 

[david_jr]

The other day we got about a half inch of the wet mushy snow and it was enough to get us "complete signal loss" warning screen. Had to put up a ladder, climb on the roof and walk up to the second level roof in the dark to brush what seemed like a miniscule amount of snow off the lower half of the dish. Bingo, signal right back on. Only place on our tri-level roof that had clear LOS for EA. Funny thing is we have had storms with drier snow that built up on the dish several inches without causing a signal problem.

 

[TBoneit]

The guy was going to do a ground level install here... but the house was in the way of the proper aiming angle... so he had to do the roof. Most of the time it should be fine.... I just will have to train myself to keep an eye out when we do have the inclement weather.

Here in NC we tend to not get deep snow, but we do get freezing rain, sleet, and sometimes that wet mushy stuff... and those seem like they are going to be more of a problem here than they were when I was pointed the other way.

And to think... I didn't even care which arc they pointed me at... I guess I should have stuck to western arc after all!

How about a satellite dish weather cover such as this. The name tickled my fancy. http://www.wedgiecovers.com/ I'm not recommending the company just the product category.

The other day we got about a half inch of the wet mushy snow and it was enough to get us "complete signal loss" warning screen. Had to put up a ladder, climb on the roof and walk up to the second level roof in the dark to brush what seemed like a miniscule amount of snow off the lower half of the dish. Bingo, signal right back on. Only place on our tri-level roof that had clear LOS for EA. Funny thing is we have had storms with drier snow that built up on the dish several inches without causing a signal problem.

It is the amount of water in the snow that makes the difference.

 

[Stewart Vernon]

How about a satellite dish weather cover such as this. The name tickled my fancy. http://www.wedgiecovers.com/ I'm not recommending the company just the product category.

I may have to look into something just like that... Hopefully we're done for the winter with just this one snow! And I'll have more time this year to investigate before next winter.

 

[coolman302003]

How about a satellite dish weather cover such as this. The name tickled my fancy. http://www.wedgiecovers.com/ I'm not recommending the company just the product category.

Respectfully, the reviews don't look very good for those covers. http://www.amazon.com/Wedgiecover-Slimline-Directv-Newest-Satellite/product-reviews/B004AKG1WC

 

[TBoneit]

Well I did mention I do not recommend the company only the category, dish covers.

I suspect how they perform would depend on how slippery the surface is.