Strange Occurance (RTN/RTV)

[Diamond Jim]

I haven't had any problems with the signal this summer, abeit weak, until just recently, within the past several weeks. Is this about when you and Dee_Anne began to notice this, as well?

I had it coming in great. We moved the last week in June and I didn't get ole BUD up until about the 2nd week in August. I couldn't rasie it at the new place. About 10 days ago I made a silght up and down adjustment and it brought the signal up to the high 50s. Great video and audio. It was about a week ago I got up around 9:30am and there was nothing. It was overcast and drizzling so I chalked it up to the weather. Well, 2 hours later the weather hadn't changed and RTV was coming it at 58%.

 

[Dee_Ann]

fibre is a satellite guy's enemy...lots of sports events (and Dee I know you hate sports but some of us got FTA for them) and having it fibred is evil

Most sports are fibred (NBA, MLB, NHL)....college usually isnt. Some is though

I don't understand about the fiber optic.
Isn't it supposed to be like teh auhsum? (as the kids say)

I wouldn't mind having fiber optic cable (if they EVER get it) because I was led to believe it's really great quality, everything is HD and the internet is super fast on it.
At least that's what I heard.

Now you are saying that it's not good?

Oh yes, and RTV is still very spotty tonight, in and out a lot, mostly out.

 

[Tron]

fibre is a satellite guy's enemy...lots of sports events (and Dee I know you hate sports but some of us got FTA for them) and having it fibred is evil

Most sports are fibred (NBA, MLB, NHL)....college usually isnt. Some is though

I don't understand about the fiber optic.
Isn't it supposed to be like teh auhsum? (as the kids say)

I wouldn't mind having fiber optic cable (if they EVER get it) because I was led to believe it's really great quality, everything is HD and the internet is super fast on it.
At least that's what I heard.

Now you are saying that it's not good?

ABC26 (WGNO-TV) and CW38 (WNOL-TV) from New Orleans were at one time available via Ku, but they had so many weather-related problems with their Ku that they switched to fiber. The problem with fiber, from our standpoint, is that we can't receive it ... Only the sender and receiver have access to the fiber (its kind of like a closed network, such as a direct phone line between point A and point B...) Cable TV and internet via fiber is a different thing... they fiber the cable and internet to each neighborhood, then it is converted to coax before it goes to each home. If you have cable internet or digital cable in your area, there's a somewhat good chance that your area is wired with fiber. While this is the same technology, it is not the same fiber network that is used by broadcasters to send and receive video. Those fiber networks are closed to the public, and only accessible to the sender and receiver(s).

Ku is a cheap method of uplinking via satellite, but due to its high frequency range, it is dramatically affected by poor weather.

 

[Dee_Ann]

ABC26 (WGNO-TV) and CW38 (WNOL-TV) from New Orleans were at one time available via Ku, but they had so many weather-related problems with their Ku that they switched to fiber. Ku is a cheap method of uplinking via satellite, but due to its high frequency range, it is dramatically affected by poor weather.

If the KU is so bad why do some many people use it?

You say the Cband is better but from what I've seen, those things are almost extinct. We had one back in the 80's and 90's and we subscribed. I can't remember who though. But the motor gave us lots of problems and was breaking a lot. Then the satellite company told us that Cband was being replaced by the new little dishes because it is better. They said subscribers were dropping off like flies and that they weren't accepting new subscribers. They said that when they got down to under 500 subscribers they were going to shut the whole thing down and go out of business. And they did. One day stuff went blank so the X called and they told him they had shutdown their satellite, it was no more.

The thing went to rust until a hurricane finally blew it over and he took it apart.

I don't understand why they replace something that works with something that sort of works.

 

[Tron]

If the KU is so bad why do some many people use it?

I don't understand why they replace something that works with something that sort of works.

Its all about size and money. Given the choice between an 8-10 foot dish and an 18-20 INCH dish, most consumers would gladly choose the small dish (and they did). Thats why most consumers ditched their BUDs and opted for the pizza dish services instead. Nobody bothered to explain to people that rain kills the Ku-Band DBS signal. The larger networks still use C-Band to move their signals about, but those signals are not intended for consumers.

Ku is still used extensively for SNG (Satellite News Gathering) because of its small size (uplink dish fits on a truck) and lower cost than C-Band. Many organizations with lower budgets also use Ku because of cost.

 

[AcWxRadar]

If the KU is so bad why do some many people use it?

I don't understand why they replace something that works with something that sort of works.

Its all about size and money. Many organizations with lower budgets also use Ku because of cost.

Dee_Ann,

Here is something that my father told me about life and how the world works...

FOLLOW THE MONEY!​

This is one of the most enumerable truths, even though it does not always make sense. Everything eventually always boils down to money. Somebody is making it. So, if you look for the money, then ........... Ah Hah!

RADAR

 

[Dee_Ann]

Ah. Ok. Makes sense when you put it that way.

 

[Diamond Jim]

The motor gave us lots of problems and was breaking a lot.

Wow.....I must be lucky. I just put on my third motor in 26 years. There was the original (which came with the unit), the 2nd one I paid for and the third one I got for free. My Dad was a whizzzz at fixing electric motors. The original started going bad after about 8 years, he worked on it and stretched it out to about 15 years. I bought the new when said he was tired of looking at the 1st one. A friend of mine that is a former installer had bunch of motors laying around and he gave me one(it did cost me a few Bud Lights) that even had a like new arm with it. All in all, I've been pretty lucky.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Wow.....I must be lucky. I just put on my third motor in 26 years. There was the original (which came with the unit), the 2nd one I paid for and the third one I got for free. My Dad was a whizzzz at fixing electric motors. The original started going bad after about 8 years, he worked on it and stretched it out to about 15 years. I bought the new when said he was tired of looking at the 1st one. A friend of mine that is a former installer had bunch of motors laying around and he gave me one(it did cost me a few Bud Lights) that even had a like new arm with it. All in all, I've been pretty lucky.

These things looked like giant shock absorbers.
It would jam a lot and strip the plastic parts inside.
It was very unreliable. Just about the time he was going to get a new thingie for it the satellite company went out of business and the channels went bye bye.

After that it just went to waste until a hurricane bent it over and he took it down.

Maybe the new ones are made better these days?