Thunderstorms and satellite

[kjnorman]

Okay it is 9.58pm on Sunday and we're being pummelled ny storms.

I've lost my satellite reception. I have a big fat 0 for reception on every transponder on all three of the sats 101, 110, and 119.

Now I know that thunderstorms and cloud can reek chaos with sat reception but this is getting too common. Almost every time a storm comes along, of which we have had a lot recently, my sat goes bye bye.

So did other sat users lose their signal on Sunday night, or is my dish iffy.

I'm wondering if water is getting into the cable (it was only installed in November)? I presume that if the water is getting in then that would likely cause the loss of the picture as well.

However its more than likely that my dish is just not aimed that well, or it is just not a very good dish.

Kerry

[Todd Wiedemann]

Check your dish pointing, Kerry.

I had no problems this evening.

[Talos4]

between about 8:30pm and 10:00pm, outages lasted about 10 mins total.

That's because we could hardly see across the street it was raining so hard.

Other than that we've been fine.

[Tom Snyder]

Whenever a T'storm moves in from the South, I know I'm gonna lose signal. Final moments of Six Feet Under at 8:55 got some pixelization, but it was only momentary, and we only missed a line or two of dialogue. So I guess I lucked out.

[bklass]

I loose my DTV signal every time the storms are south of us. I actually have lost the signals when it's been raining south of us....but nowhere near us. It does get frustrating.

[kjnorman]

Okay thanks for replies.

We lost probably 5-10 minutes as well last night on and off and each storm rolled though.

Particularly annoying as we were trying to watch The 4400 in near real time (time lagged on TiVo) and these picture breakups does not help me convince the Mrs that Sat is better than cable :(

We gave up in the end and rescheduled the show for another time. Thankfully out six feet under record was not scheduled until the 11pm showing tonight, so we will not miss that.

K.

[gparris]

I had NO problems recording on my DVR with The 4400 due to cable usage. Sorry to hear about your problems, Kerry.

As for HBO's series, even if I forget to record or even if there is a power outage, cable has "I-Control" which allows you to watch any HBO show or series (for the most part, like the one mentioned) or a recently-shown movie-any time from the cable company hard drive, even without a DVR in your house...on channel 1300.
Same thing if you subscribe to Showtime, Cinemax or The Movie Channel. I use it all the time and I get a clear consistant picture and 5.1DD sound.

Tell that to your wife and the dish will be falling off the roof.
There are other I Control "favourites" that she might enjoy in the non-premium channels in the digital tier, also.

Just a thought...:wave:

[Steve Mann]

Originally posted by gparris

...
Tell that to your wife and the dish will be falling off the roof.
There are other I Control "favourites" that she might enjoy in the non-premium channels in the digital tier, also.


Wow... all that sounds pretty interesting. I think I'll cancel my DirecTV.

Just so I can be prepared, what channels are the NFL Sunday Ticket located on at TWC?

[mhz40]

Originally posted by Steve Mann
Wow... all that sounds pretty interesting. I think I'll cancel my DirecTV.

Just so I can be prepared, what channels are the NFL Sunday Ticket located on at TWC?
If that is your only reason for staying with DTV, cool. Then the cable companies are becoming a competitive force---which is good for all concerned.
For me, I don't need it.... besides; for most of us there is only one game worth watching each week (until playoffs) and it's on almost every weekend on glorious Fox HD.

[Steve Mann]

Originally posted by mhz40
If that is your only reason for staying with DTV, cool.

There are other reasons for me. But, what I was trying to point out is that it's GOOD to have multi-sources for any product. What fits one person, doesn't always fit another. If it wasn't for the dish companies, cable TV would have never even attempted to get their act together (which it badly needed to do). I know, I worked in the CATV industry for over 11 years.

[StarvingForHDTV]

Originally posted by Steve Mann
If it wasn't for the dish companies, cable TV would have never even attempted to get their act together

I appreciate competition as a consumer.

[kjnorman]

I like the competition as well. Now that cablecard is a reality, when the cablecard DVR start coming out this Fall, this will put pressure on Directv to lower the price of their HDTivo.

If they do not lower their pricing or they do not significantly increase their HD offering, then cable especially when a dual tuner cablecard DVR comes out, will look a lot more tempting. No storm blackouts either!

Kerry

[720p]

In the last two years since I first got DirecTV I've only had the picture go out once... for ten minutes. I was suprised how well the satellite signal holds up during storms. I get a laugh out of those TWC commercials stating things go all haywire when it rains. And since that's on my mind, DirecTV has NEVER asked me to go onto my roof to check the dish. :rofl:

[720p]

Originally posted by kjnorman
I like the competition as well. Now that cablecard is a reality, when the cablecard DVR start coming out this Fall, this will put pressure on Directv to lower the price of their HDTivo.

I certainly hope so. I've been considering getting the DirecTV HD-Tivo but that price is a bit high for something I may not use for several years.