rain fade has been terrible today!

[SeattleVoomer1]

Rain fade in Seattle?

Not. Have been hooked up to VOOM since Dec. and had a few weather related issues particularly in heavy wind using the standard VOOM dish-one installer thought it was 20" but is on the top of the roof and I haven't been up there to measure it. Once we had a competent installer (not Direct Broadcast Satellite Center out of Portland for you guys in Portland-I banned them from ever stepping on our property again due to multiple problems) come back and tighten up the loose antenna parts no more weather related problems.

Last night in moderately heavy rain here we had no problems--didn't even bother to check signal level. However, this AM in light rain our signal level for sat. is 96 and 97 is what we get in clear skies. However, a couple of days ago in light rain we were getting between 83-85 with no reception problems. Under the old signal level system we started to have problems when we got below 20.

And remember for us West Coasters the sat. is very low in the SE sky-think it is 11-12 degrees above the horizon and you do need a clear shot. Trees can reduce the signal and, of course, Seattle and Portland hills can block it altogether.

By the way, Wilt has said that VOOM will upgrade the satellite antenna if necessary for rain fade. So, you can buy your own but I figured for $749 + Wash. sales tax VOOM owed it to me to provide a signal off of the satellite assuming it could be "seen" from my house. Same for OTA where as you know VOOM will upgrade. However, in our case living about 8-10 miles from the OTA antennas the Stealth antenna-once PROPERLY oriented-works fine.

Watching HDTV under rainy Seattle skies, Gill

 

[rtt2]

Imagine if VOOM used the 7 inch dish that they talked about in their FCC documents originally?
Wish I had the link
But they were talking about using a 7 inch dish. Now people are taling about30 inch dishes.

 

[wbuffetta]

Seattle I'm Glad Your Having Good Luck So Far Too.
The Satellite Points Its Beam At Several Regions Over The Lower 48. It Just Happens That One Of Those Spots Is A Large Circle Around Seattle, Portland & Spokane. So If You Can Get A Clear Shot Of The East Even At The Low Elevation The Signal is Strong.

 

[Ken F]

Imagine if VOOM used the 7 inch dish that they talked about in their FCC documents originally? But they were talking about using a 7 inch dish. Now people are taling about30 inch dishes.

The 7" dish was based on the acquisition of Dish Network's 61.5 capacity, through the proposed Dish/DirecTV merger. Had that extra capacity materialized, Voom could have used far more error correction, and thus a smaller dish, to deliver the same number of channels.

Last night in moderately heavy rain here we had no problems--didn't even bother to check signal level. However, this AM in light rain our signal level for sat. is 96 and 97 is what we get in clear skies. However, a couple of days ago in light rain we were getting between 83-85 with no reception problems. Under the old signal level system we started to have problems when we got below 20.

Live In Portland OR and Yesterday It Rained a Lot. I Watched VOOM Last Night
And My Clear Sky Signal Of 93 Never Went Below 80 to 81. The Picture Never Went Out. My Dish Has A Clear View Of The East So Maybe Thats Why I was Lucky. In Portland We Get Alot Of Rain But Not Real Thick Clouds.

This just goes to show that there's more at work here than just rain.

 

[kschorz]

I guess I am just pragmatic about getting a larger (30”) dish. After reading thousands of posts on the Yahoo group, this forum and AVS, I was aware of the complaints and issues regarding programming (repeats) and the STB. I joined as soon as the 0 down deal was offered. I noticed almost immediately that even after re-peaking the dish, I would loose picture or have severe pixilation as soon as it started to snow or rain. For me, it was worth the $60-$70 to get the larger dish.

So will any Sat. 30" dish work?
Where did you purchase your dish?
Can I use an old snow saucer I have laying around

Thank you!

 

[Ken F]

So will any Sat. 30" dish work?
Where did you purchase your dish?

You'll want a dish that can use the LNB from the VOOM dish. The 30" Winegard dish is model DS-2078 and the 24" is DS-4062. The cost is $30-$39 plus shipping. I would compare shipping costs before you buy.

http://www.spectravox.com/ds2078.html
http://www.starkelectronic.com/wing2.htm

 

[K4LK]

So will any Sat. 30" dish work?
Where did you purchase your dish?
Can I use an old snow saucer I have laying around

Thank you!

Just installed my 30" dish. Due to the narrower focusing of the bigger dish, alignment is a little more touchy. My satellite quality increased from 81 to 95. Definitely worth the $39 plus $40 shipping to Florida.

Dana

 

[shelly]

I emailed Joe Harkins of Install Inc about my problem and he replied that he would set up a service visit to install the larger dish.

I just need to be patient for now for this to happen.

Great service.

Shelly

 

[Taron1]

Shelly, what is Joe Harkins e-mail address?

 

[GeneWildershair]

I emailed Joe Harkins of Install Inc about my problem and he replied that he would set up a service visit to install the larger dish.

I just need to be patient for now for this to happen.

Great service.

Shelly

Shelly is he providing you with the larger dish, or are you getting it before he sends someone out?

 

[GeneWildershair]

I phoned installs inc. and I told them about my situation, and they basically said that it has to be my reciever??? They said that they would just swap it out next week with a new one. The CSR for at installs inc. said that getting signals in the low 30's, or in my case (since the update) high 60's, (during this light rain) she said that I should have a perfect picture, and it shouldn't even pixelate? Does this sound right? Could it really be the reciever? It just appears to be rain fade to me, but she insisted it's a bad stb?

 

[shelly]

I phoned installs inc. and I told them about my situation, and they basically said that it has to be my reciever??? They said that they would just swap it out next week with a new one. The CSR for at installs inc. said that getting signals in the low 30's, or in my case (since the update) high 60's, (during this light rain) she said that I should have a perfect picture, and it shouldn't even pixelate? Does this sound right? Could it really be the reciever? It just appears to be rain fade to me, but she insisted it's a bad stb?

You and I seem to have similar experience last night. My signal dropped 40 points from mid 90's to mid 50's and I got a screen message "no signal present".

How could this be a box problem? The problem for me is that we may not have any more rain this season in my area of central CA. So I may not be able to learn if the problem is fixed with a larger dish until next winter.

The email I received from Joe says that he "will arrange a service call and request the larger dish." That's all he said but I interpret this to mean that Voom will provide and install a 30" dish for me, which was what I requested. There was no mention of swapping out the stb.

But there seems to be only a few who experienced this during the rain. Most posts indicate that there was no problem for them. So it might just be my particular location. Great signal during perfect weather but low signal with any kind of atmospheric disturbance.

I got Joe's email from the Everything You Need To Know About Voom thread.

Shelly

 

[GeneWildershair]

yeah Shelly, it really doesn't feel right to me either, about the stb being at fault. I also emailed Joe Harkins about this issue, (we'll see what he says?) I have only had trouble with that light rain yesterday. It's been cloudy today, but my signals are in the mid 90's, no trouble at all. It only seems to be affected when it actually starts to get wet outside?

 

[Ken F]

Replacing the box is not going to fix the problem. And yes, any signal in the 30s with the old software, and 60s with the new software, is going to suffer from excess pixelization and dropouts.

Rather than spending an hour on the phone with VOOM talking to a CSR that knows less than you, spend three minutes to order the dish and 30 minutes to install it.

 

[GeneWildershair]

Replacing the box is not going to fix the problem. And yes, any signal in the 30s with the old software, and 60s with the new software, is going to suffer from excess pixelization and dropouts.

Rather than spending an hour on the phone with VOOM talking to a CSR that knows less than you, spend three minutes to order the dish and 30 minutes to install it.

yeah I was getting kind of annoyed at the csr when she said that you should get no pixelation issues with a signal quality of 30! LOL.... whatever.

 

[shelly]

Replacing the box is not going to fix the problem. And yes, any signal in the 30s with the old software, and 60s with the new software, is going to suffer from excess pixelization and dropouts.

Rather than spending an hour on the phone with VOOM talking to a CSR that knows less than you, spend three minutes to order the dish and 30 minutes to install it.

When I close my eyes, I can see myself doing this. But when I open my eyes and look at my roof, I just do not want to go up there.

But if you want to come visit, enjoy some of the most beautiful weather and scenery in California, eat to your heart's content (former chef and restaurant owner here), smell the sweetest of fruits and flowers (edible landscape consultant with demo gardens at home), totally relax and visit the beaches of Carmel, (did I mention breakfast in bed for you and your wife), then please come and install the dish for me.

Shelly

 

[rollerfink]

When I close my eyes, I can see myself doing this. But when I open my eyes and look at my roof, I just do not want to go up there.

But if you want to come visit, enjoy some of the most beautiful weather and scenery in California, eat to your heart's content (former chef and restaurant owner here), smell the sweetest of fruits and flowers (edible landscape consultant with demo gardens at home), totally relax and visit the beaches of Carmel, (did I mention breakfast in bed for you and your wife), then please come and install the dish for me.

Shelly

Can you also please stop by Detroit on your way. I can't offer all of what Shelly is offering but we do have cheap hookers and some pretty high quality crack here.