Directv and rain

[KLM212]

Hey guys, I don't have any issues, just curious maybe someone can explain.
I can imagine why there are issues with the signal while it's raining, why I don't get is at least in my case, after the first 5/10 minutes it gets back to normal even if it's raining heavier than when it started.
How is that possible? I was thinking it could be some kind of buffering but most basic decoders don't even have storage, besides some little amount of flash memory where to save the setup, so?

 

[907TECH]

It is about the total amount of attenuation in the path. You may be seeing more rain, but are only seeing what is very close to you not the whole path.

 

[(((Garyd)))]

It is about the total amount of attenuation in the path. You may be seeing more rain, but are only seeing what is very close to you not the whole path.

Just buy a bigger dish use the same feed I used to do that all the time when I was working I would get calls that their pros said no, and I would say maybe, let me look

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys KLM212!

 

[slice1900]

Hey guys, I don't have any issues, just curious maybe someone can explain.
I can imagine why there are issues with the signal while it's raining, why I don't get is at least in my case, after the first 5/10 minutes it gets back to normal even if it's raining heavier than when it started.
How is that possible? I was thinking it could be some kind of buffering but most basic decoders don't even have storage, besides some little amount of flash memory where to save the setup, so?

It isn't the rain falling on your dish that does it, it is all the water in the clouds between your dish and the satellite. You can have "rain fade" when the sun is shining on your dish, if there are huge dark clouds passing just south of you, and you might get your picture back when the rain starts falling if the worst of the clouds have passed to the east by the time the drops start hitting.

This is why putting RainX or whatever on your dish doesn't do squat for rain fade, because it has nothing to do with what is going on within a few hundred feet of your house, but rather what is going on at 50,000 feet a few miles to your south.

 

[KLM212]

It isn't the rain falling on your dish that does it, it is all the water in the clouds between your dish and the satellite.

I totally understand that, but it doesn't explain the part where the signal always comes back after the first few minutes of rain.

 

[907TECH]

There is no buffering or anything like that going on, don't overthink this. When the signal comes back to the proper C/N ratio or greater, the picture returns.

 

[KLM212]

When the signal comes back to the proper C/N ratio or greater, the picture returns.

That's totally obvious.

My question was why this always happens after the first 5-10 minutes of rain.

 

[dare2be]

That's totally obvious.

My question was why this always happens after the first 5-10 minutes of rain.

Now imagine that storm is directly over the dish. The path of the signal would go through less clouds and rain than it is in this picture.

 

[slice1900]

I totally understand that, but it doesn't explain the part where the signal always comes back after the first few minutes of rain.

Because it doesn't "always" come back after the first few minutes, but weather typically moves west to east so where you are located in the US matters. The satellites are at 99/101/103W which is roughly a line splitting the Dakotas, Nebraska and Texas in half. So if you are located there then your worst rain fade will be when the storm is directly overhead / to your south. The further west you are in the US the more likely you will see issues at or after the end of a storm, the further east you are the more likely you will see issues at or before the beginning of a storm. I'm guessing you live somewhere in the eastern half of the US.

 

[KLM212]

Because it doesn't "always" come back after the first few minutes, but weather typically moves west to east so where you are located in the US matters. The satellites are at 99/101/103W which is roughly a line splitting the Dakotas, Nebraska and Texas in half. So if you are located there then your worst rain fade will be when the storm is directly overhead / to your south. The further west you are in the US the more likely you will see issues at or after the end of a storm, the further east you are the more likely you will see issues at or before the beginning of a storm. I'm guessing you live somewhere in the eastern half of the US.

I'm not US resident, I live in South America, in the Southest part.
BTW, I natively speak Spanish, I hope my English is good enough for your guys.

I can tell you, for me is always this way, I lose signal when the wind start blowing 5 minutes before the rain, then once it starts I have another 5 minutes without receiving anything and then it gets back to normal, doesn't matter how f**ked up the weather is at that point.
This is what makes me wonder what is going on, otherwise I would just assume it normal.

 

[Jimbo]

I'm not US resident, I live in South America, in the Southest part.
BTW, I natively speak Spanish, I hope my English is good enough for your guys.

I can tell you, for me is always this way, I lose signal when the wind start blowing 5 minutes before the rain, then once it starts I have another 5 minutes without receiving anything and then it gets back to normal, doesn't matter how f**ked up the weather is at that point.
This is what makes me wonder what is going on, otherwise I would just assume it normal.

Your probably on the fringe edge of the D* signal as well.

 

[Don in CT]

View attachment 143280

Now imagine that storm is directly over the dish. The path of the signal would go through less clouds and rain than it is in this picture.

It also depends on how big the storm is. A cloud that's 60,000 feet with cause a longer outage. I've been out for a half our before. It all depends on how bad the storm is. Now a downpour will also cause an outage but usually it's a huge thunderstorm that had a really high top.

 

[TheTechGuru]

In the near future the major HD channels that get moved from Ka to Ku will be more reliable in rain.

 

[slice1900]

I'm not US resident, I live in South America, in the Southest part.
BTW, I natively speak Spanish, I hope my English is good enough for your guys.

I can tell you, for me is always this way, I lose signal when the wind start blowing 5 minutes before the rain, then once it starts I have another 5 minutes without receiving anything and then it gets back to normal, doesn't matter how f**ked up the weather is at that point.
This is what makes me wonder what is going on, otherwise I would just assume it normal.

OK well the geometry is a little different for you since the GSO satellites are in the northern sky not the southern sky like they are in the US, but I don't know where exactly your satellite(s) are in relation to where you are located. But I'd guess your location is east of where they are which is why you'd always see the fade starting before the storm arrives.

As for why your fade ends shortly after the storm begins, a lot of storms are strongest on the leading edge - that's generally where the hail and tornadoes occur because that's where the biggest temperature differential exists and thus the highest most moisture laden clouds are found.

 

[c-spand]

May need a pic of your dish too. Sometimes the lnb arm is lower to the roof . When that happens the rain is doubled as it bounces off the roof and blocks signal even more.

 

[raoul5788]

May need a pic of your dish too. Sometimes the lnb arm is lower to the roof . When that happens the rain is doubled as it bounces off the roof and blocks signal even more.

The lnb would have to be inches off the roof for that to happen.

 

[Jimbo]

The lnb would have to be inches off the roof for that to happen.

They do use a lot of those low profile mounts .....

However, even using those, the LNB would end up at least a foot off the ground/roof.

 

[Inclined Orbit]

Are you somehow receiving DirecTV US or the DirecTV Latin America service or something else?

I'm not US resident, I live in South America, in the Southest part.
BTW, I natively speak Spanish, I hope my English is good enough for your guys.

I can tell you, for me is always this way, I lose signal when the wind start blowing 5 minutes before the rain, then once it starts I have another 5 minutes without receiving anything and then it gets back to normal, doesn't matter how f**ked up the weather is at that point.
This is what makes me wonder what is going on, otherwise I would just assume it normal.

 

[raoul5788]

They do use a lot of those low profile mounts .....

However, even using those, the LNB would end up at least a foot off the ground/roof.

I saw one pointing up the roof line, so the lnb was pretty close to the shingles.