Soon to be new sub to satellite

[gkjdc24]

Hi all, This is my first post and I look forward to many more in the future.
So I recently purchased an HD LCD and I want to take advantage of the HD channels that satellite offers. My current cable provider has about 10 HD channels. I just have a few questions before I "take the plunge".

What kind of weather affects the performance? I live in central Oklahoma and we can get some pretty nasty weather here. Now I know it's not gonna stand up to tornado, but what about high winds, rain storms, and the occasional snow storm?
Does cloud cover affect the signal?

I appreciate any help that you guys could provide and I look forward to becoming a satellite sub!

Thanks in advance.

 

[gkjdc24]

So, I see after reading several posts, that rain can affect the signal. Seems like experiences vary though. Some have a lot of problems with rain and others have minimal problems. I guess it's a combination of the quality of install, the actual equipment and even the geographical area.

I still never saw anything about the cloud cover though. Can that be a factor? I know that the dish has to point to the south and the storms here in central OK, mostly come in from the west. Would that be a factor at all?

The reason for all these questions, is because I finally have the wife convinced that satellite is not as inferior to weather as she thinks it is. If this thing goes out everytime a rain drop falls (quite often here), or the wind blows (every single day here), then I may as well get comfy on the couch!

We all know that if Momma ain't happy, then nobody is!

Thanks again for any help.

 

[varaonaid]

Hi gkjdc24!

Welcome to the forums! You'll find almost anything you'd ever want to know about satellite here.

We currently have cable because at the time we subscribed, (if you can believe it) the 6 or so HD channels they had was more HD content than satellite and there was no cost for the equipment (at that point, around 3 years ago, satellite was pricey to upgrade to HD). Having said that, we were satellite subs for years and will be switching back shortly.

We lived in the Midwest for a couple of years when we had E*. We lived in an apartment where we couldn't do a permanent install of the dish. So, my husband devised an unusual mount where a 2x10 piece of wood was attached to two quick grip wood clamps. We "gripped" it out an upper window (so it was clamping on the inside and outside walls) with a piece of wood underneath the gripper feet to keep it from marring the walls or siding. Then we took some insulating foam and laid it over the grip arms which were over the window sill itself and closed the window down on the foam. (I hope that all makes sense.) The reason I'm telling you that is, this simple and very non-permanent mount held up to numerous Midwestern rain storms, even during ones that threatened tornadoes. We *very* rarely, lost signal and when we did, it was for a short period of time. Also, usually any signal loss was only on one of the satellites (ie we would still get 110 but have problems with 119). Similarly, we also used it up in New England through numerous snow storms and didn't lose signal either. So, I wouldn't be overly concerned about that. Yeah, you may lose it from time to time but it will not be a regular occurrence. In fact, I've had a lot more trouble with cable reception, signal loss and digital blocking than we did with satellite.

So, check out the offerings of both companies carefully to see which one fits you best. Good luck with your transition. Enjoy some great TV!

 

[gkjdc24]

This is great information. If it stood up to a temporary install like that, then I should be okay with a nice professional install. Thanks for the reply!!

It sounds like I may not have to sleep on the couch after all

Anybody else in the midwest, with some input?

I found out that my equipment (if/when) installed tomorrow, will be the 722 model DVR and the 1000 model dish. I assume that this is the "latest & greatest"? After reading several posts it seems that the 1000 or 2 500's is recommended. Is this a correct assumption?

Sorry for all the questions folks, but just trying to educate myself.

Thanks again!

 

[JEFFinINDY]

This is great information. If it stood up to a temporary install like that, then I should be okay with a nice professional install. Thanks for the reply!!

It sounds like I may not have to sleep on the couch after all

Anybody else in the midwest, with some input?

I found out that my equipment (if/when) installed tomorrow, will be the 722 model DVR and the 1000 model dish. I assume that this is the "latest & greatest"? After reading several posts it seems that the 1000 or 2 500's is recommended. Is this a correct assumption?

Sorry for all the questions folks, but just trying to educate myself.

Thanks again!

I've had Dish for almost a year. Never had problems with cloudcover, rainstorms, or snowstorms. Only severe storms seem to knock it out briefly (usually 10 minutes or less). If you can get OTA signals you can connect that to your Dish receiver and still have your local stations during weather events if you lose the satellite.

 

[vegassatellite]

Cable uses satellite dishes at their main facility to get the channels they ship you. However, they also have miles of cables between you and them. It doesn't take much to sever that connection. It can be as simple as a drunk crashing into a pole or a storm downing a tree limb, etc.

As long as you get a good install, then you will be fine. Most rain fade issues I've seen were the result of poor install resulting in lower signal gain and thus more susceptible to rain fade.

 

[gkjdc24]

I just had my install done yesterday, and when he dialed in the sats, it was over 80 on all 3 of them. So, I'm pretty happy about that.

I already have them coming back out to install another receiver tomorrow though. I didn't realize that with the 722, you can't record a channel, while watching another channel, and still be able to watch something else on the other TV that shares the DVR. I could do that before with cable and I don't want to have less than what I had before.

Love the picture though and the Rush HD channel friggin rocks!!

So far so good, but we'll see how it stands up to good ol' central OK "power wash"

Thanks again for the help, folks!