DirecTV + Rain

[Buck]

I'll make this short and sweet.

1. Changing to DirecTV
2. Wondering how bad it needs to be raining to effect service
3. I live in SD so it doesn't rain that bad usually.

Thanks

[cabletech94]

good luck, braugh!!!

[Shogun]

Used to have it, never had a problem unless the storm made it seem like hell was about to freeze over. Weather had to be stupid bad for it to effect it.

[Buck]

Also if anyone is wondering why we are switching its because its about 40% cheaper than Cox for the same thing for a year (and about 15% after that year) and also Sunday Ticket for next year.

[Titty Meat]

To answer all 3 it won't matter if you are getting it to watch the Chargers they won't be in the playoffs this year.

[ChiefEd]

Buck,

I live in SD, too, and have DirecTV. It never rains hard enough to affect it here. Even the last 10 days...

[grandllama]

Unless it is a torrential down pour with thick black clouds I've never had one issue with the rain... its raining pretty heavy out right now and everything is crystal clear.

[Thig Lyfe]

AFFECT, not EFFECT, you IDIOTS!!!!!!!

[rtmike]

It's all in the installation is what I've been told. Back in '97 when we moved in our house I wanted Sunday Ticket so I installed the dish, etc. Since we're up here in the NW I'd lose service quite a bit with stronger than light rain showers.

Fast forward a decade or so the Sunday Ticket was acting up & I wanted another receiver. Installer gave us a new receiver for the old one while he was at it & now even the hardest of downpours we get won't affect the service.

I did notice during a heavy snowfall here a while back it acted up but again it's not some thing you'll ever worry about.

[ChiefEd]

AFFECT, not EFFECT, you IDIOTS!!!!!!!

See my post above... Teacher...

[Shogun]

AFFECT, not EFFECT, you IDIOTS!!!!!!!

Hey, I'm not groundhog expert.

[Frazod]

If your dish is installed correctly, it'll never go out for more than a few minutes. Snow is a bigger issue, but somehow I think that won't be a problem for you. :D

[big nasty kcnut]

they sell a thing to protect your signal from being disorted

[salame]

Buck, I may be going to san diego in march
I will exchange more info with you via PM
but I need some tips on good living areas near Valley Center, CA
I will give you a hug when I get there

[rtmike]

Ha, my e/a ffect was correct before the brow beatin'. :p

[BigMeatballDave]

In my experience, unless its very windy with lightening, rain fade is not an issue.

Heavy snow can be. Not really an issue for you...

[Silock]

Rain, not so much a problem. STORMS, though, are a problem.

I tried it once for a year or so. But, living in the midwest, with all the storms, it just interfered too much. Comcast was much more reliable.

Just didn't have a good experience.

[Bugeater]

LIGHTNING, not LIGHTENING, you IDIOTS!!!!!!!

[DaFace]

1. If you switch to DirecTV, be SURE you sign up through someone's referral. You'll get $100 and they'll get $100 (over 10 months). I'm happy to give you mine and would appreciate it, but the big thing is don't let DTV keep that $200.

2. If your dish is aimed correctly, you'll have no problems with anything but the craziest storms. However, some of the installers are lazy about it, and over time, it'll come out of aim. It's not that hard to aim it yourself if you've got a friend to watch the screen and a cell phone. If you have it installed and start having problems, shoot me a PM, and I'll tell you what I've learned over a few years of tweaking.

[Johnny Vegas]

would you like my account # so we can get $100? I get $100 and you get $100 if I refer you.

[cdcox]

We are pulling our signal through some tree tops and when it rains it affects the signal somewhat.

[alpha_omega]

AFFECT, not EFFECT, you IDIOTS!!!!!!!

Uhfekt?

[1ChiefsDan]

If your dish is installed correctly, it'll never go out for more than a few minutes. Snow is a bigger issue, but somehow I think that won't be a problem for you. :DSince I started spraying my dish with Pam in the winter - I haven't had any problems with ice or snow either. When we had Comcast cable it went out a lot more often than the DTV ever has.

[BigMeatballDave]

LIGHTNING, not LIGHTENING, you IDIOTS!!!!!!!:LOL:

[Frazod]

Since I started spraying my dish with Pam in the winter - I haven't had any problems with ice or snow either. When we had Comcast cable it went out a lot more often than the DTV ever has.

I do that, too (the only useful thing I ever learned from Skip) but eventually it wears off. Fortunately my dish is relatively easy to get to for cleaning.

[Buck]

Since I started spraying my dish with Pam in the winter - I haven't had any problems with ice or snow either. When we had Comcast cable it went out a lot more often than the DTV ever has.

I do that, too (the only useful thing I ever learned from Skip) but eventually it wears off. Fortunately my dish is relatively easy to get to for cleaning.

Um, sorry for stating the obvious, but wouldn't ANTIFREEZE be the best thing to spray on it to keep it from freezing?

[Frazod]

Um, sorry for stating the obvious, but wouldn't ANTIFREEZE be the best thing to spray on it to keep it from freezing?

Only if you mount your dish on the AIDS tree.

[Buck]

Oh and apparently we can't mount it on the roof, so it has to be on a post or something in the backyard, but the rep for DirecTV said they would construct the post for us. Is this BS or what?

[Frazod]

Oh and apparently we can't mount it on the roof, so it has to be on a post or something in the backyard, but the rep for DirecTV said they would construct the post for us. Is this BS or what?

No. The first dish I had was on a pole next to the garage - the installer dug a hole, filled it with cement and stuck the metal pole in just like you'd put in a fence. When I upgraded to HD, though, I had to move the dish to the side of the garage, since HD requires a wider signal area and the old location was partially blocked.

[WV]

Oh and apparently we can't mount it on the roof, so it has to be on a post or something in the backyard, but the rep for DirecTV said they would construct the post for us. Is this BS or what?

I would think you could force the issue and get it on your roof....that stupid pole they're talking about is just a metal post they shove into the ground, not nearly sturdy enough if you ask me. If your stuck with the pole add the service plan for a year and dig your own hole after their gone, plant that thing in concrete and then call them and tell them your dish needs repointed.

[WV]

No. The first dish I had was on a pole next to the garage - the installer dug a hole, filled it with cement and stuck the metal pole in just like you'd put in a fence. When I upgraded to HD, though, I had to move the dish to the side of the garage, since HD requires a wider signal area and the old location was partially blocked.

You got lucky to get concrete!!

[Frazod]

You got lucky to get concrete!!

Be mindful of this, Buck. If your installer doesn't pour a cement base, you'll probably have issues later. Don't let them half-ass it.

[Buck]

No. The first dish I had was on a pole next to the garage - the installer dug a hole, filled it with cement and stuck the metal pole in just like you'd put in a fence. When I upgraded to HD, though, I had to move the dish to the side of the garage, since HD requires a wider signal area and the old location was partially blocked.

I would think you could force the issue and get it on your roof....that stupid pole they're talking about is just a metal post they shove into the ground, not nearly sturdy enough if you ask me. If your stuck with the pole add the service plan for a year and dig your own hole after their gone, plant that thing in concrete and then call them and tell them your dish needs repointed.

1. We rent a condo so there will be no holes dug in the ground and filled with concrete.

2. We rent said condo, and the homeowners assoc. says no Satellite dishes on the roof.

3. If I buy a bucket and ask him to fill that with concrete and the pole think he will?

I can easily have a cement filled bucket surrounded by cinder-blocks so it would never move.

[WV]

1. We rent a condo so there will be no holes dug in the ground and filled with concrete.

2. We rent said condo, and the homeowners assoc. says no Satellite dishes on the roof.

3. If I buy a bucket and ask him to fill that with concrete and the pole think he will?

I can easily have a cement filled bucket surrounded by cinder-blocks so it would never move.

Your asking for issues if that thing isn't rock solid and I don't think a bucket with cement will do. The HD stuff is pretty sensitive and it's easily knocked out if you don't have a good setup.

[Frazod]

1. We rent a condo so there will be no holes dug in the ground and filled with concrete.

2. We rent said condo, and the homeowners assoc. says no Satellite dishes on the roof.

3. If I buy a bucket and ask him to fill that with concrete and the pole think he will?

I can easily have a cement filled bucket surrounded by cinder-blocks so it would never move.

I seriously doubt if that would work.

[Frazod]

BTW, the hole for the cement base doesn't have a huge footprint. I would estimate the base poured for mine wasn't any bigger than a basketball.

[Epic Fail 007]

unless it rains like hell u will be fine.plus make they align it good,if aligned well even storms will not effect it bad,unless real bad of course.i have directv .dish network is crap stay away from that.nfl sunday ticket rules.

[threebag]

DirecTV + Rain/Storms = Playoffs + chargers


they don't go together well

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

The slightest little drizzle will kill your reception. I even lose it when it's foggy and if you have any migratory birds fly over you won't be happy. In fact I've had to climb to the roof and spray the flys off with raid just to get a signal working.

[DaFace]

The slightest little drizzle will kill your reception. I even lose it when it's foggy and if you have any migratory birds fly over you won't be happy. In fact I've had to climb to the roof and spray the flys off with raid just to get a signal working.

Your dish probably needs aligned.

Sent from my Optimus S using Tapatalk.

[DTLB58]

I've had Directv since 2000 and I've heard stories from the weather never effects me to it's horable.

My personal expirence is this.
Thunder and Lightning make my signal go out before a light to moderate rain these days. A Heavy rain will take away my reception also. I say these days because I upgrade all the equipment as often as they will let me. I call and complain when summer storms do take it out and that has led to the free upgrade of the equipment. :LOL:

I've only had no reception once in the winter and that was due to ice not snow but I guess you won't have to deal with that in sunny San diego :p

I said for years THE only reason I had Directv was because of Sunday ticket but now with their HD and DVR service and my two new TVs it is a pretty spectacular viewing expirence.

Enjoy :thumb:

[Thig Lyfe]

I've had Directv since 2000 and I've heard stories from the weather never effects me


This motherfucker...

[Ming the Merciless]

I'll make this short and sweet.

1. Changing to DirecTV
2. Wondering how bad it needs to be raining to effect service
3. I live in SD so it doesn't rain that bad usually.

Thanks

Rain will never affect it...

Wind will, but not rain.

(I live like 600 miles north of you in rain country.....)

You will fucking love DTV man...do ittttttt

doooo eeeeettttttttt

[Donger]

It is entirely dependent on how good your RSS is.

[Stewie]

they sell a thing to protect your signal from being disorted

"...a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time."

[ModSocks]

1. We rent a condo so there will be no holes dug in the ground and filled with concrete.

2. We rent said condo, and the homeowners assoc. says no Satellite dishes on the roof.

3. If I buy a bucket and ask him to fill that with concrete and the pole think he will?

I can easily have a cement filled bucket surrounded by cinder-blocks so it would never move.


When I lived in my apartment a few years ago I did much more than that to get DirecTV. Gotta watch them Chiefs, ya know.

Same situation, no dishes on roof cant drill holes, blah blah blah.

So, i went to home depot, bought some thick pole and a really heavy base. Welded one pole to the base, welded the two poles together to make a 90 degree angle that went up and over my patio fence. Laid that bitch outside and had the installers install it on my new pole. Worked to perfection.

The Installers don't actually work FOR DirecTV. They're contracted by DirecTV. Therefore, they'll do anything within there power to install the dish so that they can get paid by DirecTV.

Oh, and I've never had any issues with the dish signal.

And if you're switching from Cox, you'll be SOOOOOO glad you did.

[Hydrae]

I've had Directv since 2000 and I've heard stories from the weather never effects me to it's horable.

My personal expirence is this.
Thunder and Lightning make my signal go out before a light to moderate rain these days. A Heavy rain will take away my reception also. I say these days because I upgrade all the equipment as often as they will let me. I call and complain when summer storms do take it out and that has led to the free upgrade of the equipment. :LOL:

I've only had no reception once in the winter and that was due to ice not snow but I guess you won't have to deal with that in sunny San diego :p

I said for years THE only reason I had Directv was because of Sunday ticket but now with their HD and DVR service and my two new TVs it is a pretty spectacular viewing expirence.

Enjoy :thumb:

Now that is spelled correctly! :thumb:

I will leave the rest of the post for SportsRacer

[ModSocks]

Oh, and one last thing, i secured the poll to my fence with clamps for extra stability.

[KChiefs1]

Love Directv.

[Mr. Laz]

I'll make this short and sweet.

1. Changing to DirecTV
2. Wondering how bad it needs to be raining to effect service
3. I live in SD so it doesn't rain that bad usually.

Thanks
for me rain fade is really bad ... a solid rain and i start losing signal almost immediately.

different for different people but i don't think i could ever have Directv as my only t.v. service. Just not reliable enough.

[Ming the Merciless]

for me rain fade is really bad ... a solid rain and i start losing signal almost immediately.

different for different people but i don't think i could ever have Directv as my only t.v. service. Just not reliable enough.

Honestly you must have another problem....I live in an area where there is pretty constant rain for weeks at a time sometimes....Rain should not affect your reception at all....I would look into other issues if you are having problems with rain (as opposed to wind / lightning)......

I don't think I have ever had a single issue with poor reception due to rain, and the TV is on every night in my house...(had DTV since the 1st year of Sunday ticket...7+ years?)

[bevischief]

Unless it is a torrential down pour with thick black clouds I've never had one issue with the rain... its raining pretty heavy out right now and everything is crystal clear.

This. It has to be a crazy KC storm that Katie Tornado is going nuts over to lose signal.

[kepp]

You'll have zero problems in SD.

[Lzen]

Several things can affect your satellite reception. Mainly, any obstacles between your dish and the satellite (tree branches, neighbor's roof overhang, etc.). Keep in mind that if there are tree branches nearby, they may have to be trimmed occasionally (tree branches grow into signal path sometimes) even if your signal is fine after the initial installation .My dish has always been on my roof and there are no trees or any other obstacles nearby.

I had Dish Network for 6 years until this past October. Never really had much trouble with the signal. On a rare occasion, it would go out. Usually, it would only be out for a minute or two. And the things that would cause that would be things like heavy rain (I'm talking cats and dogs), heavy snow/ice, or extremely heavy cloud cover.

I have noticed that since I have Directv, it is a little worse as far as having stable reception. But I think that just has to do with the install. I think the guy that originally installed my Dish Network probably did a much better job making sure the signal was the absolute best it possibly could be. The guy that did the Dtv I could tell wasn't as careful and detailed.

In any case, satellite is great. Don't buy the BS hype commercials that cable tries to make you believe. A kid jumping on a trampoline next to your house is not gonna affect your signal. And generally speaking, you will hardly notice the rare and short times that it does. When that happens to us, we just watch something on the dvr anyway.

[Buck]

The only thing I am worried about is that my backyard patio is on the North side of my house and the Dish has to point South, so it has to get enough height to point over my house.

[Ming the Merciless]

The only thing I am worried about is that my backyard patio is on the North side of my house and the Dish has to point South, so it has to get enough height to point over my house.

Have you looked around to see what your neighbors have done? (Some of them HAVE to have direcTV....) I would just take a stroll through your neighborhood and check out what everyone else did to solve the problem.

[Buck]

Have you looked around to see what your neighbors have done? (Some of them HAVE to have direcTV....) I would just take a stroll through your neighborhood and check out what everyone else did to solve the problem.

Yeah I didn't see a single dish anywhere. Its really weird. All of the backyard patios are hidden though, so if they have it, I can't see it.

[chief52]

I live in No. California ( Humboldt Co. ) and get over 50 inches of rain a year and I have absolutely no issues on my DirecTV. San Diego will not be any issue.

[ModSocks]

The only thing I am worried about is that my backyard patio is on the North side of my house and the Dish has to point South, so it has to get enough height to point over my house.

Did you read my post? Because that is what you need to do.

[Ming the Merciless]

Yeah I didn't see a single dish anywhere. Its really weird. All of the backyard patios are hidden though, so if they have it, I can't see it.

That is peculiar.....Hmmm....

[Buck]

Did you read my post? Because that is what you need to do.

The way you posted made it sound like your patio was to the south of your house and you just had to clear the fence. I have to clear my house....if I pointed it over the fence it would face north.

[RickObie]

I'll make this short and sweet.

1. Changing to DirecTV
2. Wondering how bad it needs to be raining to effect service
3. I live in SD so it doesn't rain that bad usually.

Thanks

I haven't read through all the posts so forgive me if someone already answered, I live up in Carlsbad and with the rains lately I didn't have any troubles. Make sure no tree limbs hang over it or better yet if the wind blows a limb interferes with it, that gave me trouble once, I had a palm that would droop over it when the wind blew, cut it and no problems.

[ModSocks]

The way you posted made it sound like your patio was to the south of your house and you just had to clear the fence. I have to clear my house....if I pointed it over the fence it would face north.

My patio pointed east and had a wall blocking the south. I built a poll that came up and over the fence by about two feet to clear the wall and face south. You'll need to do something similar. Are you on a corner unit? upstairs or downstairs?

[ModSocks]

BTW, it sounds like you'll need one that goes up and over your roof if you cant make it go around the corner. It's going to take some effort, but if you want it bad enough....

I'd go to a machine shop or exhaust shop and have them do a mandrel bend on a long piece of pipe. Maybe in the shape of a question mark if it needs too? Secure the pipe to a pillar on your patio with some C-clamps. Maybe even bolt it in so it wont twist. The installers have the equipment to then install it on your pole.

[DJ's left nut]

Eh, 3-5 times/year I'll get some breakup.

It doesn't 'fade', it just freezes, skips/starts or goes out altogether.

I'm not in love with it, but it is what it is.

[Mr. Laz]

Honestly you must have another problem....I live in an area where there is pretty constant rain for weeks at a time sometimes....Rain should not affect your reception at all....I would look into other issues if you are having problems with rain (as opposed to wind / lightning)......

I don't think I have ever had a single issue with poor reception due to rain, and the TV is on every night in my house...(had DTV since the 1st year of Sunday ticket...7+ years?)You know, everyone keeps saying that but i've had the Directv dish installed by one tech and then moved up to the roof and installed by a tech from a completely different company.

they measure the signal strength and it's 90+ for each satellite.

hard rain = poof

a i'm not talking monsoon either ... just any 'heavy' rain and complete lost of both tuner signals. More than 1 DVR too so it's not the machine.

[ModSocks]

You know, everyone keeps saying that but i've had the Directv dish installed by one tech and then moved up to the roof and installed by a tech from a completely different company.

they measure the signal strength and it's 90+ for each satellite.

hard rain = poof

a i'm not talking monsoon either ... just any 'heavy' rain and complete lost of both tuner signals. More than 1 DVR too so it's not the machine.

Think there could be a problem with the connection from the coaxial cables to the dish?

I had an issue once with my cable internet at work that was similar. The connection inside the wall was messed up so whenever the wind blew hard the coaxial cables would swing around and I would lose my connection.

[Mr. Laz]

Think there could be a problem with the connection from the coaxial cables to the dish?

I had an issue once with my cable internet at work that was similar. The connection inside the wall was messed up so whenever the wind blew hard the coaxial cables would swing around and I would lose my connection.i don't think so since when they move it they completely redid the setup. Also the DVR machine itself shows signals strengths of 90+ ... so does the handheld tester thingie that the tech uses at the dish itself.

[Ming the Merciless]

You know, everyone keeps saying that but i've had the Directv dish installed by one tech and then moved up to the roof and installed by a tech from a completely different company.

they measure the signal strength and it's 90+ for each satellite.

hard rain = poof

a i'm not talking monsoon either ... just any 'heavy' rain and complete lost of both tuner signals. More than 1 DVR too so it's not the machine.

Hmm...I wonder if there are any 'switches' in the loop (little silver boxes, that split the signals...)...maybe you have a bad switch somwhere? Or a switch that is getting wet?

I mean Im not really an expert but honestly that should not happen...seriously.

Another thing you can do (on your own) is check your satellite signal strengths.......on a perfect calm day...and see if theyre good. If not you may just need a minor alignment.

[DaFace]

Just for the record, getting readings of 90+ does NOT necessarily mean that your dish is pointed optimally. Look up dish dithering to find the best way to do it. Basically, you find the approximate center, then intentionally throw it out of alignment, record the level it's at (say 70), then count the number of turns it takes to get it down to 70 on the other side of the signal. Halve that, and you've got your optimal alignment.

[Ming the Merciless]

Just for the record, getting readings of 90+ does NOT necessarily mean that your dish is pointed optimally. Look up dish dithering to find the best way to do it. Basically, you find the approximate center, then intentionally throw it out of alignment, record the level it's at (say 70), then count the number of turns it takes to get it down to 70 on the other side of the signal. Halve that, and you've got your optimal alignment.

cool man...I will try this some time...I have been just 'going for the 90s'

ty for mentioning this

[DaFace]

cool man...I will try this some time...I have been just 'going for the 90s'

ty for mentioning this

No problem. See page 9 of this thing for basic instructions:
http://www.hometech.com/pdf/gc-au9s.pdf

The basic idea is that the main satellite for most SD channels (101 or 119) operates on the Ku band, which is more tolerant when it comes to aim. However, most of the HD channels are on satellites on the Ka band, which isn't nearly as tolerant. However, it's tough to aim using the Ka band since you'll be way off if you don't have it right at the peak. So, they tell you to aim using the former, but dither it so that the latter will be aimed correctly as well.


DISCLAIMER: I'm not an expert at this, but just sharing what I've learned. I make no guarantee that this is 100% accurate, and if you screw your dish up trying it, don't come whining to me. :)

[Ming the Merciless]

DISCLAIMER: I'm not an expert at this, but just sharing what I've learned. I make no guarantee that this is 100% accurate, and if you screw your dish up trying it, don't come whining to me. :)

Aww damn! You ruined my plan :evil:

seriously tho thanks for all of the info! Hopefully laz can figure this shit out....I seriously think it has to be something 'fixable'...Just sitting here thinking Laz's tv could get messed up in a medium rain is making me crazy...

If we lived in the future we could just grab a six pack and a ladder and head into the teleporter over to Laz's place and I could hand the ladder to one of you fine gentleman, crack a beer and watch you all fix the problem.

[Luke]

I had Dish TV at 2 different locations, it sucked at both. We have had Direct TV for the last 3 years and have had very little problems with reception. That is not to say it does not occassionaly go out with rain. Outage does not seem to last as long as DISH did. The satalites seem to be in higher orbit for what it is worth.

Direct TV seems to have better customor service than Dish, but I think they are owned by the same corp?

[rtmike]

I don't think I have ever had a single issue with poor reception due to rain, and the TV is on every night in my house...(had DTV since the 1st year of Sunday ticket...7+ years?)


I was curious of this since I installed our dish in '97 & thought NFL ST started around that time. It began in '94.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nfl_sunday_ticket

[Ming the Merciless]

I was curious of this since I installed our dish in '97 & thought NFL ST started around that time. It began in '94.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nfl_sunday_ticket

Hmmm...I think they mustve not had the exclusive on it then? There was some reason I switched to Direc...I had a different carrier prior to the time I switched and was able to watch Chiefs games (prior).....I am not sure what year I joined direc but now you have me curious too...But the only reason I switched to driec was to watch me some Chiefs.

[DJJasonp]

Buck,

I live in SD, too, and have DirecTV. It never rains hard enough to affect it here. Even the last 10 days...

echo that....