are there any problems with satellite tv in the south?

[TrophyHusband 0]

we had dish for 4 years, but when we got to florida we got cable. it sucks. my dvr only works on one tv and the rest of the tvs only get channels 2-70 and they are standard def. my dvr has 16 show recorded on it and it is full. i want to go back to dish, but was told that it sucks here because the summer afternoon storm clouds and so thick that you lose signal a lot. looking around, i don't see many satellite dishes on houses at all, so its believable. is this really the case?

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[CSpenceFLY 1]

A bad storm will block the signal.

[JohnMitchell 14]

No kidding? Is it the lightning discharges or the raindrops? Rain will attenuate microwave signals in certain frequencies.

We have very good reception up here in Seattle. Very few intense storms like you see in Florida and the Midwest.

[normiss 622]

rain fade

[Miranda 0]

I live in Alabama and have DIRECTV. We do lose signal sometimes if the weather gets really bad but my mother has Dish and hers is MUCH worse.

[JohnRich 4]

>> A bad storm will block the signal.

> No kidding? Is it the lightning discharges or the raindrops?

Heavy rain does it. Light rain is okay. You need line-of-sight clarity to the satellite. It happens to me here in Houston now and then, but not too often. When it does happen, it's always in the last 10 minutes of a 2-hour movie, of course. Trees will also mess up the signal, so the dish should be located where it's pointed at the satellite without obstructions.

Florida gets often daily doses of rain showers, but those are in the afternoon. If you're working during the day, those shouldn't matter to you. How often do you get heavy rain at night while you're watching TV? Not too often, probably.

[TrophyHusband 0]

Quote

rain fade

how often and for how long? are we talking just a little while during the worst of the afternoon storms or is it every every time it clouds up on a summer afternoon and evening? i could deal with occasional interference, but i would really be pissed to lose my signal every day.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[theonlyski 3]

Ku Band sat tv is great for pushing a large amount of information to a lot of people, but its not the best for weather.

A properly pointed antenna, polarization included SHOULD see only a little rain fade here and there, with the exception of a hurricane, in which case, you should be hiding in your bathtub!

Its a trade off, the freqs that Ku uses are WAY more degraded by rain than an X band or C band shot, but they have their perks too.

Remember, there are 2 distant ends, just cause your weather is nice and not a cloud in the sky (you should be out jumping and not watching tv) doesnt mean that at the earth station the weather is the same.

'Yes sir, bad weather in Washington is preventing you from checking your facebook....'

'Why the hell does it matter if its bad weather in Washington, we're in Tennesse!'

'Solar conjunction as well as the flux capacitor and the ortho-mode transducer are both bad, Ill get replacements, should be another hour or so according to the weather chan I mean... FedEX'

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[PLFXpert 0]

I have lived in Florida my whole life and until I left the comforts of home for college, we had both satellite and cable.

If it is feasible for you, you might consider paying for a basic cable service and then get all the bells & whistles you want through satellite.

Edit: I would check whatever shows you typically DVR and see if they are available On Demand. If not, you might consider paying the additional $10/mo to include DVR with your basic cable plan--if you are concerned about shows not recording during satellite outages.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[TrophyHusband 0]

we already have a dvr, it's just full without very many shows recorded on it, plus i can only watch hd and whatever i have recorded on one tv. with dish, one dvr unit not only stores more recordings than i need, but one unit works two tv's. with this setup, i can record something and watch it in either the living room or the bedroom.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[normiss 622]

I think John and ski covered it..
It usually doesn't become a big deal...USUALLY
Until that last 10 minutes of a really good game.

But with a DVR, I'm pretty sure you could have that downloading regularly enough to make up for the few outages. In my opinion, nothing compares to the video and audio qualities of satellite though. Nothing.

Also consider how much video can be downloaded over the internet as well. Yes Douglas, I mean legally.

[skymama 35]

I had a boyfriend who had satellite tv; his tv was out of service WAY more than mine was on cable.

For help with your DVR, scroll down this page to "5 ways to keep your DVR from filling up".

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[jceman 1]

Quote

I had a boyfriend who had satellite tv; his tv was out of service WAY more than mine was on cable.

For help with your DVR, scroll down this page to "5 ways to keep your DVR from filling up".

That is quite the opposite of my experience; in the 2 1/2 years I have had DirecTV, I have had less total outages than in any given 2 1/2 month period with NotSoBrightHouse.

When we moved into the house, I used Dish network as that is what we had in the RV, the outages were more frequent and lasted longer than with DirecTV, but that was 6 years ago so I can't speak of their current state.

As for the current state of DirecTV, HD stations get lost easier and sooner than SD, because they are sent on Ka band which is much more sensitive than Ku when dense cloud/rain is to the SW of us; but most outages are indeed short.

Last year when Tropical Storm Fay sat over us and churned for 3 days, we never lost signal at all! Our development fees include basic cable so if worse comes to worse, I can simply select that miserable excuse for a picture.

Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money.

Why do they call it "Tourist Season" if we can't shoot them?

[TrophyHusband 0]

thanks for the link. it looks like more than i'm willing to fuck with though. i think i might give dish a try and if it sucks then i'll just have to go cable.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[skymama 35]

Quote

thanks for the link. it looks like more than i'm willing to fuck with though.

I spent, like, 2 minutes finding that article for you. Fine then!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[TrophyHusband 0]

hey, i read the article, i'm just not going to follow the advice

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[BillyVance 34]

I've been perfectly happy with plain old cable TV. That plus the high speed internet I get for $77 a month.

Every time I visit a friend or relative that has DirecTV, I have to ask them to work the fucking remote to get the channels I want to watch. My way is simpler.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[JSBIRD 1]

If it's really that big of a deal to you, larger dishes are available (usually for fringe locations), or you can mount two dishes, and co-phase them into the receiver.

Any competent installer should be able to hook you up.

HTH

359

"Now I've settled down,
in a quiet little town,
and forgot about everything"

[labrys 0]

Quote

Heavy rain does it. Light rain is okay. You need line-of-sight clarity to the satellite.

Rain fade and line-of-sight are pretty much unrelated. You can have perfect line-of sight and rain fade will still have an effect.

One way to mitigate rain fade is to have a transceiver that can adjust power levels automatically. Even when they lose signal they rejoin the network faster.

Owned by Remi #?

[normiss 622]

Audio quality is far superior with satellite....if it matters.

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

Rain fade and line-of-sight are pretty much unrelated. You can have perfect line-of sight and rain fade will still have an effect.

Huh? The only time I have a problem is when the rainstorm is in the direction that the dish is pointing. If the storms are in other directions, they don't affect my service. You seem to be saying that this isn't always true. Could you explain, please? How can rain, somewhere else, affect my satellite signal?

[captain1976 0]

Have Direct TV in Wisconsin and Florida. Rain has never been a problem and the only time I had a signal fade was when there were thunderstorm cells in the line of site. They never lasted very long as cells move pretty fast.
Also I like the guide which gives you the description of whats playing and not some stupid scrolling channel where you have to wait to see whats playing.

Do yourself a favor, get Direct TV. Additionally they are having some specials now.

You live more in the few minutes of skydiving than many people live in their lifetime

[BillyVance 34]

Quote

Audio quality is far superior with satellite....if it matters.

Not to me.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[labrys 0]

I missed an important part of your post, John... sorry. You said "line of sight clarity" and I stopped reading at "line of sight"

Is it unusual for old women to have Ritalin prescriptions?

Owned by Remi #?