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Here's something that's pretty amazing: marine satellite television. I mean think about it. You're on a boat that's moving constantly in 3 dimensions. There's a system that's able to point an antenna at a spot in space 22,000 miles away, and receive a signal that's weaker than a night light. This signal gives you hundreds of channels of live TV. If you're like me, you're probably amazed that it works at all.

But work it does, at least 99% of the time. When it doesn't, there are some simple steps you can take to get things back up and running. Most of them take no technical expertise at all, so let's take a look.

1. Look out the window

That's right, look out the window. Most satellite TV outages are caused by extreme weather. You probably shouldn't be out in heavy rain, but if you are, your satellite service could suffer. This is called "rain fade" and while it's rare, it does happen.

If you look out the window and see rain or extremely dense cloud cover, sit back and wait until the skies look less gloomy. Chances are your satellite service will come back on its own.

2. Check the silly things

Is the TV on? Is the cable connected? What about the receiver? It may seem silly but sometimes these little steps get skipped and you chase your tail for a while before realizing what's going on. Check the TV's input to make sure it's the right one as well. Someone else may have pushed a button they didn't mean to push and the input could be wrong.

Take a look at the receiver. Does it seem to be receiving power? There's almost always some sort of power light. If it's on, then try a reboot.

3. Breathe and reboot

Satellite receivers are so reliable that we almost forget that they are complex special-purpose computers. Like all computers, they sometimes need to be rebooted. Somewhere on that box is going to be a red button to reset it. Push that button. If you can't find the button, pull the plug then wait 2 minutes before plugging it back in.

This is the most common step in fixing bad reception and it's the one that will probably fix what's giving you trouble.

4. Reset the Antenna Control Unit

The ACU, as it's called, is the thing that controls the outdoor dish. Like a receiver, it's a special purpose computer. And, sometimes it too needs a little reboot. Here's a tutorial on how to reboot the most common antenna control units. It can take about 5 minutes after rebooting for your marine dish to get back to automatically aiming. So sit down, have a drink, and wait for it. No sense in getting worked up.

5. Call Signal Connect

If steps 1-4 don't work, you need an expert to help you. Luckily, the folks at Signal Connect are here for you. We have over 20 years' experience dealing with marine satellite. In fact, we're the #1 marine activation specialist in the world.

Here's the really amazing thing about working with Signal Connect: all our tech support is free. We'll help you with your equipment whether you bought it from us or not. We'll even help you if we don't sell the brand of antenna you bought. Our experts are here to get you back up and running.

Call us at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. If it's after hours, no problem! Fill out the form below. If it's urgent, tell us and we'll try to get someone to call you back as soon as possible. Most calls are returned the next day, but we have people who work odd hours who are available to help as well.

The post 5 things to try if your marine satellite TV doesn't work appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.

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