Sky loss in Rain

davylee

How frustrating is it that every time there is an anyway heavy shower sky goes.?? Its so annoying
"No satellite signal is being received":mad:
I thought those days were gone

Pat Gleeson

It might be good idea to have the dish alignment checked. This could improve the signal stength greatly. My signal used to go during rain showers, but since I got my dish tweaked only a torrential shower affects the signal now.

davylee

i didn't know that nice one pat
worst thing is it's always at the worst time i.e. during matches

Pat Gleeson

No problem. Did you check the signal strength? You can do it on your Sky box by pressing 'Services', 'System Setup', and 'Signal Strength' and you will see how good or bad your signal is. Generally the strength and / or the quality bar should be above a third for good signal.

niceirishfella

My system Strength and Quality are at 2 thirds and I loose reception in dowpours?!

Pat Gleeson

Torrential downpours will affect reception.

Klim

My signal strength is full and sometimes it will go off in torrential rain.

However, on Tuesday evening, before a nasty thunderstorm, my signal went a good couple of minutes before it even started raining???

Anyone else experience this?

Maverick.ie

This probably seems like a daft idea, but it worked for me, although I could easily reach the LNB.

Get a small plastic tea cup, cut the bottom out of it and put the cup over the LNB. It stops the rain getting onto it. put a couple of small holes in the cup so that any water collected can drip out.:D

niceirishfella

Maverick.ie wrote: »

This probably seems like a daft idea, but it worked for me, although I could easily reach the LNB.

Get a small plastic tea cup, cut the bottom out of it and put the cup over the LNB. It stops the rain getting onto it. put a couple of small holes in the cup so that any water collected can drip out.:D

nice idea..........thanks Maverik.:pac:

John mac

Maverick.ie wrote: »

This probably seems like a daft idea, but it worked for me, although I could easily reach the LNB.

Get a small plastic tea cup, cut the bottom out of it and put the cup over the LNB. It stops the rain getting onto it. put a couple of small holes in the cup so that any water collected can drip out.:D

how does that allow the signal pass through the rain cloud?

snaps

it stops the lnb getting wet, people laugh but i swear by it. Ive a lnb cover on my 1.1m dish and ive found in bad weather even though signal drops i dont loose the lock on sats like 1 west and 26 east (where i did before), just by keeping the lnb dry.

Plus the fact the mesh sky dishes and lnbs are just not up to the job, a solid 60cm will perform much better with a half decent lnb. 80cm dish really is whats needed here to be sure even in bad weather. But saying that one day i even lost most birds on my 1.1m, but also found out the gutters where overflowing and the rain was pouring onto the dish from the overflowing gutters as well as the heavy rain!

Sam Radford

snaps wrote: »

Plus the fact the mesh sky dishes

A common misconception.
Sky dishes are actually perforated steel, not mesh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh

But I agree that 80cm works better.

Ricky91t

Would you not be better off upgrading the LNB to a new one(depending on the age of yours) to a newer one and then covering it with a plastic bottle?

My sky service has been great for 3 years,The last year and a half it's been going down abit,I'm still waiting for a new LNB in the post but i'll be putting that on and a plastic bottle over it,Just to eliminate any possible issues

IrishHomer

Can someone upload a photo of a bottle on a LNB please

I just want to know i am putting mine on correctly i think this global warming monsoon summers are the root of this propblem

watty

Maverick.ie wrote: »

This probably seems like a daft idea, but it worked for me, although I could easily reach the LNB.

Get a small plastic tea cup, cut the bottom out of it and put the cup over the LNB. It stops the rain getting onto it. put a couple of small holes in the cup so that any water collected can drip out.:D

Waste of time. As are Plastic bottles.

IrishHomer

Worth a try nothing to lose.

Found some people across the pond do it:

snaps

thats exactly what i have over my lnb

snaps

watty wrote: »

Waste of time. As are Plastic bottles.

You always pooh poo this idea. Im not going to argue but i know for a fact when im watching lower signal channels like 1 west and 26 east i can hold onto a signal much longer than when just the lnb on its own is receiving the signal. next time it rains and you have rain on the lnb, check the signal and then dry it clean, you'll see signal gains just by keeping the lnb dry. (Dont forget the reflected signal has to pass through the moisture on your lnb cap as well as the rain in the air!

watty

I've been doing microwave & satellite links in the rain for over 25 years. You think a film of water means much compared with 1km of rain? Don't you think Communication engineers would have "discovered" this?

The signal varies hugely before, during and after rain actually on you. You can have no rain in your own garden but a massive signal loss due to rain to southwest, ice crystals high in air, heavy cloud etc.

You know also modern LNBs have very high level output and AGC, so you can really only measure BER, the level is nearly meaningless.


We used condoms long ago on OB, but only because the horn had no plastic cover. The most important things are the dish and alignment.

But as long as no-one takes risks on ladders or roofs fitting bottles, there is no great harm in it.

Maverick.ie

and that as the fella said is putting us back in our box,,, and closing the lid:D

Jimmyboss

While researching this issue, I've discovered that this is a countrywide problem.....it seems very unlikely that multiple dishes all over the shop have suddenly become mis-aligned.
Perhaps a more valid reason is something to do with the new viewing cards, not that SKY will admit to that. My Sky+ box freezes completely at the first sniff of a shower, only since I got my new viewing card a couple of weeks ago.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???????:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Klim

Jimmyboss wrote: »

While researching this issue, I've discovered that this is a countrywide problem.....it seems very unlikely that multiple dishes all over the shop have suddenly become mis-aligned.
Perhaps a more valid reason is something to do with the new viewing cards, not that SKY will admit to that. My Sky+ box freezes completely at the first sniff of a shower, only since I got my new viewing card a couple of weeks ago.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???????:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Funny, the opposite has happened mine. Mine usually screws up in bad weather, but today, (I've had my new card just over a week) its been torrential rain, directly into the dish, and it hasn't flinched????
Perfect reception all day.

podgeandrodge

Jimmyboss wrote: »

While researching this issue, I've discovered that this is a countrywide problem.....it seems very unlikely that multiple dishes all over the shop have suddenly become mis-aligned.

same with my relations sky dish in dungarvan. Got independent installer out and got dish installed on pole - everything ok for a few days, now breaking up again in the rain...it can't have got misaligned that quickly..There is a tree in the way but most people on here reckon it isin't the tree. Now I'm thinking it must be.. Maybe a bigger dish next..

denis1501

ah come on now lads! Viewing cards affecting reception??? What next!
What diameter are your dishes? Make sure you have at least 80cm. And make sure it's aligned properly. Misalignment is the biggest problem out there. Just because you have a good signal on 11778, V (the default) doesn't mean your dish is aligned to receive Astra 2D or Eurobird. AN INSTALLER WHO KNOWS HIS STUFF IS VITAL!! Or get rid of your sky dish and buy a 1m and watch your problems disappear!

Wizard007

"We used condoms long ago on OB, but only because the horn had no plastic cover. "


I would give ANYTHING to see Watty up a ladder putting a condom on a horn that had no plastic cover :p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p

BeepBeep67

Quick question: I have 2 sky boxes of the same dish, both are +.
The primary one is HD and quite a few of the channels are experiencing what look like reception issues, large pixels, noise and picture distortion, most noteably on Channel 4 when the OH is watching Big Brother, plus Living, Discovery, Sky Sports News this morning keeps freezing on the picture while the audio continues.
The other box is not impacted when it happens.
I added Channel 4 to other channels and it seems fine there.
Strength on both inputs are 50%ish and Quailty 70%ish.
On the non HD box Input 1 is Strength 100 / Quality 90 and Input 2 Strength 40 / Quality 80.
Is it normal to have such variation for different boxes from the same dish?
I done the normal switch off, etc.
Any thoughts before calling Sky later today?

Actually have realised after typing that maybe it's more than a quick question - any thoughts are appreciated.

netwhizkid

Sometimes even the very best aligned dishes will lose signal during absolute torrential rain as was experienced throughout alot of Ireland yesterday and similarly during the downpours of mid August which broke all records in Dublin last year.

If your dish is off alignment and it starts raining you will get artifacts and pixalation on your screen or lose signal altogether. A good low loss LNB (preferably 0.1dB) and a good aligned dish and also the bigger the better in terms of dish size.

I have seen dishes sold in Lidl and places with 0.6dB LNBs which fail to pick up satellites like 8° West wheras a.3dB or.1dB would pick it up no bother. Coke bottles are not a solution, bigger solid dishes and lower loss LNBs are.

Degag

Jimmyboss wrote: »

While researching this issue, I've discovered that this is a countrywide problem.....it seems very unlikely that multiple dishes all over the shop have suddenly become mis-aligned.
Perhaps a more valid reason is something to do with the new viewing cards, not that SKY will admit to that. My Sky+ box freezes completely at the first sniff of a shower, only since I got my new viewing card a couple of weeks ago.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???????:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

This was a problem long before the new cards were issued.

joeduggan

Pat Gleeson wrote: »

Torrential downpours will affect reception.

hows it goin. my signal goes if theres as much as a slight breeze. and i have two thirds of a signal bar.

elsie1b

Jimmyboss wrote: »

While researching this issue, I've discovered that this is a countrywide problem.....it seems very unlikely that multiple dishes all over the shop have suddenly become mis-aligned.
Perhaps a more valid reason is something to do with the new viewing cards, not that SKY will admit to that. My Sky+ box freezes completely at the first sniff of a shower, only since I got my new viewing card a couple of weeks ago.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???????:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

On 2 occasions recently our sky signal was lost during heavy rain ,but freesat reception on channel 4 off same dish remained o.k.
This has coincided with the new sky card. ????

Apogee

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Quick question: I have 2 sky boxes of the same dish, both are +.
The primary one is HD and quite a few of the channels are experiencing what look like reception issues, large pixels, noise and picture distortion, most noteably on Channel 4 when the OH is watching Big Brother, plus Living, Discovery, Sky Sports News this morning keeps freezing on the picture while the audio continues.
The other box is not impacted when it happens.
I added Channel 4 to other channels and it seems fine there.

It sounds like you may have 2 problems. The version of C4 on the Irish EPG is prone to interference from DECT phones, or routers, mobiles masts. Try turning off or moving any DECT phones and see if it makes a difference.

Breakup on channels other than C4 would be due either to a poorly aligned dish or the dish is too small.

Honestly this nonsense about the sky card is up there with people saying we'll lose reception as the number of sky dishes around the country increases thereby taking all the signal on everybody else :rolleyes::rolleyes:

It's complete and utter nonsense.

I record rainfall and have equipment to tell me how heavy the rain is falling and there have been some massive monsoons this summer.

We had a bad thunderstorm here in the south east in june with lightning forking all over the place and rain coming down at a rate of 130mm/hr at times [which is as good as India I'll tell you] and we didn't lose sky signal.
A cursary glance at the services reception menu showed it dropped from full to two thirds alright but plenty for reception.

The reason why we didn't lose reception was because our dish is perfectly alligned and tightened.
I fear for the day [going on experience] that we do lose reception because the downpour will be so bad that we'll be more concerned with bailing out water than watching the telly.


So the moral of the story is-If your reception is going in heavy rain,it's because it was a rushed install thats all.It may have moved in wind either which is another symptom of a bad install.
Get that fixed and get the signal peaked with a meter.

St Senan

Some problems with picture break up in rain is due to

1. Poor dish alignment

2. Water on rusty dishes

3. Connecter at dish poorly insulated

4. Average signal strength and quality at dish until connected in attic to Poor quality cable installed by electrican.

I get a lot of customers requesting the cable run from the dish to be brought in to attic
and be connected to internal cable what a lot them don't understand is they will end up with 2 connections or splits on the cable run from the dish to receiver and a loss or strength and quality.

watty

The difference between 0.1dB NF LNB and 0.7dB NF is less than 0.3dB Noise on average A cloud passing can be 2dB change.
Going from 45cm dish to 90cm dish is over 7dB change.

Not all dishes the same size have exact same gain either.
Dish size/quality and Alignement are the main issues.

denis1501

joeduggan wrote: »

hows it goin. my signal goes if theres as much as a slight breeze. and i have two thirds of a signal bar.

Your dish is either misaligned or not connected tightly enough to stop it moving in the wind.
two thirds of a signal bar means NOTHING. Firstly it's signal quality that counts, not signal strength. Secondly the signal you are reading is ONLY for the default transponder of 11778, V. Just because you have a good reading here does NOT mean your dish is aligned properly! There are 4 satellites co-located at 28.2 and 28.5 degrees east. Your installer must find the 'sweet spot' to get the best signal from both locations. For example, put the dish on Astra 2A (default) and you'll find a loss of signal on Astra 2D (rte, bbc) and could lose Eurobird (Setanta) altogether! YOUR INSTALLER MUST KNOW HIS STUFF!!

denis1501

elsie1b wrote: »

On 2 occasions recently our sky signal was lost during heavy rain ,but freesat reception on channel 4 off same dish remained o.k.
This has coincided with the new sky card. ????

It has NOTHING to do with your new card. It simply means your dish is aligned to receive Astra 2D perfectly and needs tweaking to enable better reception of Astra2a, 2b and Eurobird.

But remember that if we are talking about torrential rain then it is normal to lose your viewing. The only way around it is a bigger dish.

watty

There are 4 satellites and 6 beams.

Not all transponders on each beam are same strength either.

In London you can use a 45cm dish. Astra 2D is just as strong here. Two of the other beams are weaker, two weaker still and Eurobird weakest. This is because the centre of these 5 beams is not over the Irish Sea as the Spot beam on Astra 2D is.

My signal level is only 25%. But my Quality is 95%. The signal level is meaningless as the regular LNBs have a very high output level. Mine system doesn't use regular LNBs and has a distribution system with a long cable feed. Really only the Quality counts.

Note that the Sky box only displays Quality and Signal on a specific transponder unless you use installer menu. So it's not very useful unless you dish is really badly off.

podgeandrodge

watty wrote: »

Dish size/quality and Alignement are the main issues.

Hi Watty, given what you are saying, am I correct in saying that having got an independent installer out to remove a dish that was on a chimney directly, and got it put on a pole lashed to the chimney, that if it is STILL breaking up in rain the only remaining choice is a bigger dish - 80cm? (given that I can't get a bloody tree cut down that I think may be causing an issue as well!)

Thanks.