theesir Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 I love my service, I love my Tivo, but I can not stand the constant loss of signal whenever we have a slightly heavy general snowfall. I have a dish cover and it still does not help. When I bought the service I was assured that the cable company claims of loss of service whenever it snows were lies, now, I'm not so sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 I love my service, I love my Tivo, but I can not stand the constant loss of signal whenever we have a slightly heavy general snowfall. I have a dish cover and it still does not help. When I bought the service I was assured that the cable company claims of loss of service whenever it snows were lies, now, I'm not so sure. 241329[/snapback] My guess is that your dish isn't aligned properly. What's your signal strength on a good day? It should be in the high-80s or low 90's on almost every transponder. If it's not, you need to adjust the dish (or call DirecTV and have them send someone out to do it, but you'll be waiting a few days for that). I live in Minnesota and have never had an outage due to snow or ice. Even heavy storms usually only knock me out for a minute or two (and those are the ones with tornado warnings). Could it be the dish cover is causing more harm than good? I've never actually used them before, so I don't know. I do know that I've had snow on the dish before and it hasn't affected it at all. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 My guess is that your dish isn't aligned properly. What's your signal strength on a good day? It should be in the high-80s or low 90's on almost every transponder. If it's not, you need to adjust the dish (or call DirecTV and have them send someone out to do it, but you'll be waiting a few days for that). I live in Minnesota and have never had an outage due to snow. Even heavy storms usually only knock me out for a minute or two (and those are the ones with tornado warnings). CW 241337[/snapback] Agreed, something wrong with the dish alignment. Have had D* for over 10 years, last two years I only lost service twice, once during the hurricane, other during a tropical storm that deposited 14 inches of rain in 6 hours, and even then only lost sporadically Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dib Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 I concur. The dish doesnt have to be out much to cause a signal drop. I might also get rid of the cover. Check which transponder you are using 1 and 2 are the only 24 hr transponders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theesir Posted February 16, 2005 Author Share Posted February 16, 2005 My guess is that your dish isn't aligned properly. What's your signal strength on a good day? It should be in the high-80s or low 90's on almost every transponder. If it's not, you need to adjust the dish (or call DirecTV and have them send someone out to do it, but you'll be waiting a few days for that). I live in Minnesota and have never had an outage due to snow or ice. Even heavy storms usually only knock me out for a minute or two (and those are the ones with tornado warnings). Could it be the dish cover is causing more harm than good? I've never actually used them before, so I don't know. I do know that I've had snow on the dish before and it hasn't affected it at all. CW 241337[/snapback] My signal strength is in the upper 70's low 80's normally. I also found these numbers low and Directv is sending someone out (for free) this Saturday to realign the dish. The cover cause a decrease of 2-3 points of signal strenth, but I thought it would help keep snow from building up in the bottom of the dish. This would happen and I would lose signal. Then I'm up on the roof in my pajamas and coat brushing off the dish to get my signal back. This morning my 118 signal was in the 80's, but my 101 signal was 0! I saw some snow build up on top of my LNBs and this must be what is causing the problem. Am I REALLY the only one with this problem??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 My signal strength is in the upper 70's low 80's normally. I also found these numbers low and Directv is sending someone out (for free) this Saturday to realign the dish.The cover cause a decrease of 2-3 points of signal strenth, but I thought it would help keep snow from building up in the bottom of the dish. This would happen and I would lose signal. Then I'm up on the roof in my pajamas and coat brushing off the dish to get my signal back. This morning my 118 signal was in the 80's, but my 101 signal was 0! I saw some snow build up on top of my LNBs and this must be what is causing the problem. Am I REALLY the only one with this problem??? 241354[/snapback] Just because you have a signal of 0 on a transponder doesn't mean there's a problem -- not all transponders send out signals to all locations (ie: some are spot beams so you can't "see" them). That said, your signal strengths are really low. If you don't want to wipe snow off the dish, what some people do is fill a Super Soaker squirt gun with the blue windshield wiper solution (the stuff that doesn't freeze in winter). They then spray that up on the dish to melt the snow so they don't have to go up on the roof. http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showt...ht=super+soaker But again, I think once your dish is properly aligned that you should be fine. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediaman Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 Just because you have a signal of 0 on a transponder doesn't mean there's a problem -- not all transponders send out signals to all locations (ie: some are spot beams so you can't "see" them). That said, your signal strengths are really low. If you don't want to wipe snow off the dish, what some people do is fill a Super Soaker squirt gun with the blue windshield wiper solution (the stuff that doesn't freeze in winter). They then spray that up on the dish to melt the snow so they don't have to go up on the roof. http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showt...ht=super+soaker But again, I think once your dish is properly aligned that you should be fine. CW 241369[/snapback] Damn, thats a Pro Cable commericial if I ever saw one. A guy in his fuzzy slippers and bathrobe with his kids super soaker gun shooting at a 18" target 25 feet away in the freezing cold weather.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch19079 Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 any good amout of rain causes mine to cut out for a min or 2. every once and a while, does your reciever not let you go above channel 150? i have to unplug the whole thing, and plug it back in, so it searches for a signal befor it will let me go above 150. im just to lazy to call and ask why this happens. i have 2 other tvs with 2 other recievers, and they dont do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 any good amout of rain causes mine to cut out for a min or 2. every once and a while, does your reciever not let you go above channel 150? i have to unplug the whole thing, and plug it back in, so it searches for a signal befor it will let me go above 150. im just to lazy to call and ask why this happens. i have 2 other tvs with 2 other recievers, and they dont do this. 241432[/snapback] When I had the dish, I CONSTANTLY lost my signal during summer Thunderstorms. And not for 2-3 minutes either. And my signal strength was in the high 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcrusho Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 Dude I have Adelphia and never have any issues.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theesir Posted February 16, 2005 Author Share Posted February 16, 2005 Dude I have Adelphia and never have any issues.... 241562[/snapback] If my dish didn't work at all I would still be happy I no longer was with Adelphia. Even with only my locals working, they are still presented digtally and in Stereo, with adelphia only channels over 100 were in digital and only those were broascast in stereo, all for the same price. No thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fla Bills Fan Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 any good amout of rain causes mine to cut out for a min or 2. every once and a while, does your reciever not let you go above channel 150? i have to unplug the whole thing, and plug it back in, so it searches for a signal befor it will let me go above 150. im just to lazy to call and ask why this happens. i have 2 other tvs with 2 other recievers, and they dont do this. 241432[/snapback] I went through 2 hurricanes plus numerous normal rain storms and never lost my signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fla Bills Fan Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 I went through 2 hurricanes plus numerous normal rain storms and never lost my signal. 241692[/snapback] I should add my signal strength is normally between 90-100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 I love my service, I love my Tivo, but I can not stand the constant loss of signal whenever we have a slightly heavy general snowfall. I have a dish cover and it still does not help. When I bought the service I was assured that the cable company claims of loss of service whenever it snows were lies, now, I'm not so sure. 241329[/snapback] As a DTV owner for MANY years perhaps I can offer some advice.... First...I dont think your dish is alligned correctly. What is your signal strength? I first got my DTV equipment back when I lived in cape cod and I used to get signal in heavy snowfall (Every once in a while I would have to go out and brush off the biuldup) Only in a absolute blizzard did I lose my signal. In CA....I only lose my signal during heavy rain and only for brief moments.....clowdy days....average rain...wind...nothing effects it. You should have a tech look at your dish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts