Recent heavy rain blotting out sat signal

VH

North Kildare area - regular Sky dish with quad LNB on 28.2E - recent heavy rain, like the big one last saturday and then again on tuesday evening blotting out reception completely. Is this level of seriously heavy rain enough to do this or do I need to align the dish a bit better?

TIA

SamandFrank

No it happens to everyone sky should come up with a way to fix this until then sky sucks!

The_Conductor

Get a bigger dish- you're probably using one of the smaller dishes. Your signal strength will always deteriorate in very heavy rain. I've an 80cm katherin dish- even in the heaviest of rain on Saturday night I still got 85% signal strength (normally about 98%). I did have a problem with a nearby tree, but nothing a little outing with my chainsaw didn't solve......

VH

cool thanks - I have the 60cm perforated sky dish currently but I have an 80cm Triax waiting in the wings to be put into action

Tony

SamandFrank wrote: »

No it happens to everyone sky should come up with a way to fix this until then sky sucks!

How do you know it happens to everyone?

Rew

Tony wrote: »

How do you know it happens to everyone?

Happend to everyone I know with Sky during last Sat heavy rain.

Tony

Rew wrote: »

Happend to everyone I know with Sky during last Sat heavy rain.

Fair enough but this does not mean the entire sky viewing population lost picture. I suspect that many dishes were either slightly out of line, or perhaps less than optimum cable was installed . Heavy rain will show up problems as it attenuates the incoming signal. Perhaps all those who in a previous thread advocated using 45cm dishes on the east coast will take note.

watty

It was the worst rain on record, beating Hurrican Charlie in 1986.

cml387

It's a fact that satellite signals are affected by rain (more so than terrestrial television signals that are on a lower frequency).
This is why radar can detect rain showers (it reflects of heavy rain).
It's a question of physics.

I've pretty much convinced myself over the last while that when I get Sky in (it's not high on my list of priorities right now, lots more important stuff to sort first!) I'll be using my own 80cm dish for it rather than Sky's dish. Once I can get a quad LNB for one - for Sky+ and maybe a PC FTA card.

Hero Of College

smccarrick wrote: »

Get a bigger dish- you're probably using one of the smaller dishes. Your signal strength will always deteriorate in very heavy rain. I've an 80cm katherin dish- even in the heaviest of rain on Saturday night I still got 85% signal strength (normally about 98%). I did have a problem with a nearby tree, but nothing a little outing with my chainsaw didn't solve......

In fairness, my dish is in or around the same as yours....but right now, East Coast, this isn't "heavy rain". Its a monsoon, plain as. Visibility from my house is really poor. I am a good 100m above sea level- the road in front of my house is flooded, and the lower road is also flooded. The picture is really breaking up.

Hero Of College

Tony wrote: »

Fair enough but this does not mean the entire sky viewing population lost picture. I suspect that many dishes were either slightly out of line, or perhaps less than optimum cable was installed . Heavy rain will show up problems as it attenuates the incoming signal. Perhaps all those who in a previous thread advocated using 45cm dishes on the east coast will take note.

I have a brand new dish, well over 45cm, and brand new cable.

Picture is still toast.

I think today, Saturday Afternoon, is just unlike anything ever seen in 20 years.

adox

Mines gone completely now out here in Rush.
Usually get a strong signal strength and quality, 85%+, but with the current down pour I have "no satellite signal.........".

Tony

Why do you have to post in such vague terms? Well over 45cm could be 75 or it could be 3m . Brand new cable could be imitation wet string from Thailand.

Hero Of College wrote: »

I have a brand new dish, well over 45cm, and brand new cable.

Picture is still toast.

I think today, Saturday Afternoon, is just unlike anything ever seen in 20 years.

The_Conductor

I had the road here closed too- and the self-same monsoon conditions. My dish is an 80cm Katherein, not a sky dish, with an oct-lcb and properly aligned in a position where the wind can't get at it. I normally have about 95-98% signal strength- even in the worst of the rain, it only went down to 85% (I did loose a UHF vertical signal from 3 Rock though from a small directional antenna mounted with the dish, during the rain).

As Tony says- a decent dish, properly aligned, with good quality cable should ensure most eventualities are catered for. Chancing your arm with a 45cm dish and unshielded or poor quality cable- well, you get what you pay for.......

shinobi

Approx 8 years ago a Sky installer came to install Sky Digital.
Took down the 80 cm Dish we were using for Analogue to install
an inferior 60 cm Sky dish. The same thing happened with a couple of the neighbours also. It's a marketing thing for Sky I suppose & these "Monsoons" are few & far between, although 2 within a week of each other.

snaps

75 cm is a minimum really for any kind of reception from any satellite this part of Europe. 60 cm is really far to small to allow for unclement weather. Ive always told people or put up 80cm dishes just for 28east.

And the weather is bad and depressing. All ive done so far this weekend is stay in by the fire, pressing buttons on my remote to change matches and venture to the fridge for another cold can of carlsberg.

What else is there to do?

snaps

snaps wrote: »

75 cm is a minimum really for any kind of reception from any satellite this part of Europe. 60 cm is really far to small to allow for unclement weather. Ive always told people or put up 80cm dishes just for 28east.

Exactly. Even back in the days of the old analogue service, in these parts a 1m dish (possibly more) was really needed to properly get the weaker signals from the H2 beam on Astra 1B. I for one don't mind the size of the dish but I know there's plenty who do.

Antenna

re. dish condition for viewers with frequent breakup/signal loss
It might also be worthwhile checking for a build-up of slime or other dirt on the LNB.

Tony

Good point, this can have a serious impact on signal levels

Antenna wrote: »

re. dish condition for viewers with frequent breakup/signal loss
It might also be worthwhile checking for a build-up of slime or other dirt on the LNB.

snaps

Also a little homemade rain guard that sits over the LNB helps. I made one out of a lemonade bottle. arcs over the edge of the LNB to keep as much rain off the LNB face. Has improved my 1 west reception in bad weather by keeping the LNB dryish!!