[SPACEMAKER]

Rain fade since 8:30 am here in mid-Michigan. Other than a few breaks I haven't been able to watch more than 3 hours aggregate of any HD programming today.

I've been a D* customer for 11 months and this is the worst I have ever seen. Is anyone else in the area south of Lansing MI experiencing this misery?

Also, this is the first steady rain I've experienced in this home. Is it possible that my dish was not aligned properly from the outset?

I guess this is one instance where I am glad I don't get HD locals through D* because the OTA HD is all I have had all day.

 

[Supervolcano]

There's more coming your way.

Where I am next to O'hare International Airport in Chicagoland, we got 6 inches so far (and new record for O'hare) and plenty more coming tomorrow.

Thick, wet clouds are known to cause rain fade, and moreso on the new MPEG4-HD channels. You'll probably have better luck on the SD channels than the HD channels when this occurs, so try that. Turn off the "Hide HD Duplicates" setting temporarily to see the SD feeds of those HD channels.

Something is better than nothing.

 

[Supervolcano]

As for how good your signal is, we won't be able to help you measure that until you find a clear day and post your signal strengths (for each transponder on each satellite) for us to evaluate.

 

[SPACEMAKER]

Thanks. I guess I should have known that the thick wet clouds are the real culprit. When the installer was here I made him stay as I checked all the signal strengths and they were great at the time of install. I just have never experienced such prolonged and steady service interruption.

I do have OTA so I will be able to watch tOSU tonight as well as the race and NFL tomorrow so all is not lost. It's just frustrating. I guess if having to deal with rain fade is the most stressful part of my day I should consider myself a very fortunate individual. Probably best if I just turn off the TV and do a puzzle with the family. I watch too much TV as it is.

Sorry for the ramble...

 

[mauijiminar]

Thanks. I guess I should have known that the thick wet clouds are the real culprit. When the installer was here I made him stay as I checked all the signal strengths and they were great at the time of install. I just have never experienced such prolonged and steady service interruption.

I do have OTA so I will be able to watch tOSU tonight as well as the race and NFL tomorrow so all is not lost. It's just frustrating. I guess if having to deal with rain fade is the most stressful part of my day I should consider myself a very fortunate individual. Probably best if I just turn off the TV and do a puzzle with the family. I watch too much TV as it is.

Sorry for the ramble...

Yes I have had the same problem with my HD in Arkasnas. I need to check the transponders on a clear day, we may need a dish alignment.

 

[BNUMM]

Problems all day with rain fade. DishNetwork has been having the same problem. Not just HD but SD also.

 

[BattleZone]

Guys... hurricane weather is NOT the norm. Given all the damage that such a storm can cause, a few hours without HDTV is far from the worst thing that can happen.

 

[Stealth87]

I've had the same problem all day with HD shows. I would be upset if I didn't have a million things to watch on my DVR. I went on vacation 2 weeks ago and still have programs I gotta watch.

 

[spartanstew]

Guys... hurricane weather is NOT the norm. Given all the damage that such a storm can cause, a few hours without HDTV is far from the worst thing that can happen.

I've been watching weather channels all day and this is the first I've heard of a Hurricane in the Michigan area.

 

[luckydob]

I've been watching weather channels all day and this is the first I've heard of a Hurricane in the Michigan area.

Well...the amount of rain that we have had today rivals that of some hurricanes. Almost 7 inches here. It doesn't happen like this all the time...plus we ALL KNOW that rain fade happens. It sucks when it does, but that's what we get with a signal from space. FWIW D* and E* have less downtime than cable does.

 

[Redlinetire]

FWIW D* and E* have less downtime than cable does.

Since that's a made up statistic, I'd say it's 'worth' nothing. :lol:

But we have had a ton of steady rain here too, been watching mostly OTA today.

 

[luckydob]

Since that's a made up statistic, I'd say it's 'worth' nothing. :lol:

But we have had a ton of steady rain here too, been watching mostly OTA today.

Too bad it's not a made up statistic...but believe what you want.

Overall....cable downtime ranges from 3~5% and Satellites are around 1%.

 

[Davenlr]

May not be a hurricane in Michegan, but its sure the moisture flow from on getting sucked up into a cold front.

I've had 5 rain fade events today in central Arkansas... 4 on KA only, and one on Ka and Ku. OTA solid. Bands from IKE are ripping by at 40-60 knots, so my fades never lasted over two minutes.

When gustov was sitting right over us for 2 days (9 inches of rain), I had a steady KA signal of 50. Normal is 85 for me. KU's were in 80's, normally high 90's.

Hope that helps.

 

[Redlinetire]

Too bad it's not a made up statistic...but believe what you want.

Overall....cable downtime ranges from 3~5% and Satellites are around 1%.

Did you actually think using the tilde was going to make it sound more official? :lol:

Back it up with some actual data (link, study, report, PDF, whatever).

 

[spartanstew]

The weird thing is that we've also had steady rain all day (and 35 mph winds this evening as a result of Ike) with occasional downpours and we haven't lost signal all day.

 

[luckydob]

Did you actually think using the tilde was going to make it sound more official? :lol:

Back it up with some actual data (link, study, report, PDF, whatever).

Can you prove it to be wrong...? I used the tilde because I thought it would look nice. Geesh.

http://www.dish-system-tv.com/satellite-vs-cable.html

See PDF...very official.

 

[SParker]

Hmmm I think I had one hiccup with my HD local via Directv today during ND vs U of M but I didn't have much of an issue with cnn hd.

 

[apexmi]

Rain fade since 8:30 am here in mid-Michigan. Other than a few breaks I haven't been able to watch more than 3 hours aggregate of any HD programming today.

I've been a D* customer for 11 months and this is the worst I have ever seen. Is anyone else in the area south of Lansing MI experiencing this misery?

Also, this is the first steady rain I've experienced in this home. Is it possible that my dish was not aligned properly from the outset?

I guess this is one instance where I am glad I don't get HD locals through D* because the OTA HD is all I have had all day.

I have been with D* for over 10 years, Yesterday was the worst rain fade I have ever seen...

 

[PCampbell]

I had very little yesterday but looking at whats on the way today may not be as good. My signal levels are very good on a clear day and yes HD is affected more.

 

[SPACEMAKER]

Hmmm I think I had one hiccup with my HD local via Directv today during ND vs U of M but I didn't have much of an issue with cnn hd.

According to the radar, Cedar Springs is north of the maing rain/storm system. You just missed the bulk.

After checking an MSU message board it appears that the rain fade is widespread.

Hopefully it's better today.