Sun outage no longer interrupts satellite reception?

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polgyver

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Sep 21, 2010
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I tried yesterday to see, if Sun outage would interrupt program reception. It did not. In fact, the Sun was yesterday just 0.4 degree higher than the Clarke belt. Today, the Sun was exactly on 97 W co-ordinates, therefore I prepared the dish to picture it. But it was no program outage. Just some drop in "Q", which still allowed to watch TV program.
Annotated pictures follow:
IMG_1997.JPG IMG_2001.JPG IMG_2003.JPG IMG_2006.JPG IMG_2012.JPG IMG_2014.JPG IMG_2015.JPG IMG_2016.JPG IMG_2018.JPG
 
I experienced sun outage yesterday on 99W, albeit brief. I was watching escapes and signal was totally gone for a minute or two
 
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97W C band Justice, Grit, Bounce mux went down for a short while today. Justice has been advertising about the solar outage possibilities all week.
 
I've always found DVB-S QPSK to be rather forgiving when sun outage time comes around. Of course factors such as nominal power level, FEC rate, symbol rate (bandwidth), receiving dish size, etc. have to be taken into account, but, in my experience, a good deal of DVB-S QPSK signals that have rather high symbol rates (meaning they utilize a rather high amount of bandwidth) will weaken, but still remain receivable, as the sun passes behind the satellite.

Now, DVB-S2 8PSK (or higher modulation schemes) signals are an entirely different matter. They are much more likely to go out.

This behavior has been exemplified over the years by the channels on my local cable system. Back when everything was analog, virtually every channel, without question, would go out for several minutes during the solar transit. Then, with the advent of DVB-S QPSK and DCII and all transponders going to digital, sun outages were, for the most part, either eliminated or would last only a minute or two at most. Now, though, with the majority of channels broadcasting on DVB-S2 8PSK transponders, at least for HD services, I've noticed many channels are now once again subject to outages of several minutes.

97W C band Justice, Grit, Bounce mux went down for a short while today. Justice has been advertising about the solar outage possibilities all week.

I like monitoring the diginets available in my area when the sun is predicted to affect their signals to see if anything is done in response to the signal outage. Several of of the networks, I imagine through the customized receiver which many networks require local stations to use, will have a "technical difficulties" message pop up on screen for the duration of the outage (I like GetTV's the best - it's a picture of a bug-eyed Jackie Gleason with the message "WHOOPS We are experiencing technical difficulties." Justice Network, however, goes one step further and transitions to alternate programming with a message on the bottom of the screen saying "regularly scheduled programs will resume shortly." In some other cases, I've seen a message come up that I assume is inserted manually by somebody in the control room because the appearance of the message is inconsistent from day-to-day, year-to-year. My local PBS station is like this. If and when their Create, FNX, and primary subchannels go out, they will occasionally put a message on screen explaining the situation.

I have to mention radio, too. Many of you probably know that Minnesota Public Radio is distributed on Galaxy 16 C-band. During the weekdays, when they always have somebody in studio around 12:30-1:30 PM, the general time of the sun passing behind Galaxy 16 in Minnesota, there will usually be a few mentions on the news and information service as well as the classical service of the possibility of listeners outside of the Twin Cities temporarily losing programming due to the sun interfering with the satellite. The outages are usually pretty brief, though, since all the stations I've ever heard affected have an internet backup that quickly kicks in if the satellite connection is lost.
 
The higher power used for KU band Direct To Home on 97 west and other DBS satellites does not experience a total outage the way lower powered KU band and C-band does. Since that first picture was taken only 14 minutes before it shows that the dish was shaded so that portion of your dish that is in the shade is not seeing a signal from 97 west, you can use the sun during transit season to do a line of site survey. There is also a way to use the moon at other times to do a site survey. You could lower the dish about a foot to get around the obstruction of the roof's over hang.
 
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I like this outage time, time when we not only experience considerable drop of sat signals but also time when we can find best place for planting of antenna and do other experiments. Today, at the time of maximum interference I took picture of antenna. I can see minor shadows from feedarms and top of the subreflector. IMG_20151011_132730 (Custom).jpg
 
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This behavior has been exemplified over the years by the channels on my local cable system. Back when everything was analog, virtually every channel, without question, would go out for several minutes during the solar transit. Then, with the advent of DVB-S QPSK and DCII and all transponders going to digital, sun outages were, for the most part, either eliminated or would last only a minute or two at most.

During the VC2 days, my cable system would, without fail, lose authorization on at least one channel at each outage. :facepalm
 
Too bad that I missed checking Sun outage for 125 W which was on Friday, two days ago.
Today it was, well, a mustard after the dinner...
Got 5 pictures to share;
IMG_2043.JPG IMG_2045.JPG IMG_2047.JPG IMG_2049.JPG IMG_2050.JPG
 
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Solar outage calculators are very useful tools and will allow the user to input the satellite signal variables and the downlink equipment variables such as the reflector size, efficiency and feed specs.

An oversized dish with a narrow beam width is the most effective way a hobbyist can minimize the length of the outage.
 
Are they stickers or tape that contours flush to the curvature of the dish?
These are glass mirrors, bought from craft or hobby stores or from e-bay. Plastic or tape mirrors would not reflect proper straight beam.
I described it in my previous posts.
 
Solar outage calculators are very useful tools
.... if they work...
IMG_2031.JPG IMG_2032.JPG IMG_2033.JPG IMG_2034.JPG

other calculators seem to be too complicated to use, and confuse the user with too many variables.
For years, I am happy with very simple Navy site, and Dishpointer.
IMG_1976.JPG IMG_1978.JPG
 
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Thanks Polgyver for your research and bring this Topic..
I have posted something like that on this thread:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/can-the-warm-weather-affect-my-signal.351480/
I did not "deep" research about this but what I am seeing in my installation. right now:
Using Sadoun 6ft aimed 40.5W (C band /circular), Openbox/amiko mini Hd SE, Geosat pro2, LNBF. TP:4025H)
1) Fall is starting and my channels came back some days (I wait December-January to full enjoy).. all Summer is in black
2) "Kofi123" is right DVB-S2 is more sensitive. When The same TP was DVB-S I never seen this problem before. Right Now is DVB -S2
3) C-Band Circular is more sensitive than C-Band linear. "PLUS" your reception is reduced due the dielectric plate
 
Yea, today, i watched my signal go from 97 down to 46 and minor pixelation on 107w. Wondered what was going on for a minute, and then i pulled up the trusty solar outage calc and wam bam. Fun couple minute diversion. Funny, I was watching the weather network when it happened... :)
 
I'm hope'n it's sunny tomorrow in the early AM when the sun is right at 30W.
See how much that tree has grown in 5/6 yrs that's right below the satellite.
W/luck I 'think' I got another 4-5 yrs before ????? chain saw? or move the dish??
103 C went out. froze, for about a minute today around noon.
 
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