Dish Newbie Needing Advice Before Taking The Plunge - Please Assist

[Dish Newb]

Hello All,

I am on seriously contemplating taking the leap to the world od satellite TV...

The only thing that is holding me back is the stories I have heard (mostly 2nd hand) that Satellite TV reception is unrealiable when any adverse weather occurs. Living in Michigan where we can have extremem weather this has always kept me away fro Satellite TV.

So my question is: Is Satellite TV reception as "fragile" as I have been led to believe?

Thanks in advance.

Dish Newb

[rad]

Yes, heavy rain or heavy/wet snow can cause an outage with the signal. Doesn't even need to be raining at your home, a really big storm between your dish and the satellites will cause one. But they are usually only a few minutes in duration.

But look at it this way, an ice storm wipes out the cable line somewhere between the headend and your home, it could take hours or days for it to be repaired.

[Dish Newb]

Yes, heavy rain or heavy/wet snow can cause an outage with the signal. Doesn't even need to be raining at your home, a really big storm between your dish and the satellites will cause one. But they are usually only a few minutes in duration.

But look at it this way, an ice storm wipes out the cable line somewhere between the headend and your home, it could take hours or days for it to be repaired.

Thanks for the quick reply Rad.

So it would be accurate to say that all/most of the outages you experience are not for long durations (several minutes)

I noticed you said heavy rain/snow can induce an outage.. would you say it is the exception when it does go out in bad weather or the other way around?

Thanks again!

[rad]

It depends. When I lived in the Chicago area and we got one of those 'heart attack' snows sometimes it would accumlate on the dish or the LNB's killing the signal. If you get a pole/ground mount just go out and brush off the snow, or a roof mount you can use a hose to wash it off. For rain it all depends on how much 'water', either rain or water vapor in clouds. is between you and the satellites. I've had an outage once that lasted 10 minutes, that was a real downpour, but normal rain doesn't cause any problems.

[Dish Newb]

It depends. When I lived in the Chicago area and we got one of those 'heart attack' snows sometimes it would accumlate on the dish or the LNB's killing the signal. If you get a pole/ground mount just go out and brush off the snow, or a roof mount you can use a hose to wash it off. For rain it all depends on how much 'water', either rain or water vapor in clouds. is between you and the satellites. I've had an outage once that lasted 10 minutes, that was a real downpour, but normal rain doesn't cause any problems.

Fantastic, your exposure/experience to Chicago climate is perfect since the weather is nearly identical to what I experiance here in Michigan.

Looks like I am going to take the leap... Thanks again Rad for the swift and informative response!

[Spize]

Fantastic, your exposure/experience to Chicago climate is perfect since the weather is nearly identical to what I experiance here in Michigan.

Looks like I am going to take the leap... Thanks again Rad for the swift and informative response!

The most important part of the whole process is installation.

**BTW, I am a retailer in Ohio and don't go to Michigan so I am not trying to sell anything here.**

Quite frankly before you pick where you are going to buy it from, ask around to some people that have satellite tv, more than likely they will tell you if they have had problems. If they swear by it, use their guy/gal. Also, when you order (if you go through a retailer) ask them what kind of warranty they put on their installation. I tell my customers that if anything goes wrong with my installation(not including the boxes or a bad LNB, things beyond my control) to call me and I will come out and fix it for free(Everyone is human and mistakes happen) and will do so during the duration of their contract (18-24 months).

Quite frankly if I can't expect myself to do an installation that will at least last as long as your contract then I don't see why people should buy it from me... I may be a rare dealer (I really don't know) that does this though, but the "90 day" guys worry me... If you don't trust your work beyond the 90 days you are required to take care of, why should I?

Your best bet would be to ask some people that have it and get their installer if they are pleased with their setup, plus as a bonus if you do this and they have Direct you can tell the CSR their account number when you call to sign up (Do this at the very beginning) and your friend and you will both get $50 off your bill.

I am not for sure if this website makes sales or has a company that they work with or not, if they do I think you should check them out. The people that run this site are a class act and if they have a recommended place I would imagine they are pretty good!

hope this helped.

[melanie2009]

It goes out sometimes, but nowhere near as often as my cable used too.

[theoak]

Worse case scenario ... let say you get satellite ... according to the commercials ... a good looking girl will come to your home and rescue you ...