[warrior05]

I'm considering switching to DirectTV from Time Warner Cable but my main concern is reception during bad weather. Myth or does it happen?

 

[Kirosia]

I've heard conflicting results. My uncle had it for his restaurant a years back, and mild wind/rain/show would freeze/screw up the picture intermittently, sometimes for a noticeable period. I'm in MA.

 

[zotjen]

This is probably not a reliable indicator but they have DirectTV at my gym, and during severe thunderstorms they lose the signal.

 

[justhavingfun]

I have DirecTv for number of years but only very severe weather breaks up the signal and loose the picture. Not enough concern for me but it does loose the signal during severe storm. However, I love its picture quality with decent sound.

 

[Erik_C]

I lose signal for maybe 30 minutes/year, and only when there's a really bad storm out. Like bad enough that I turn off my amp, preamp, sub, and computer to prevent them from being fried by lightning strikes. The DirecTV DVR stays on, but if it's recording something during the time the time it loses lock on a satellite all you get is a black screen. Not a huge deal, because I'm very happy with every other aspect of DirectTV. I say go for it.
-Erik

 

[NacMacFeegle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrior05 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm considering switching to DirectTV from Time Warner Cable but my main concern is reception during bad weather. Myth or does it happen?

Ha! I was just thinking about doing the same thing. Getting fed up with Time Warner and their constant rate increases. However, I checked out the channels I would get on DirectTV, and they don't have half the stuff cable has, so I guess I'll be sucking it up for a wee while yet. Especially with hockey season just round the corner..
A buddy of mine and fellow head-fier who also lives round these parts, has just switched over, so hopefully he'll chip in with his thoughts when he gets back from vacation.

 

[warrior05]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NacMacFeegle /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ha! I was just thinking about doing the same thing. Getting fed up with Time Warner and their constant rate increases. However, I checked out the channels I would get on DirectTV, and they don't have half the stuff cable has, so I guess I'll be sucking it up for a wee while yet. Especially with hockey season just round the corner.. A buddy of mine and fellow head-fier who also lives round these parts, has just switched over, so hopefully he'll chip in with his thoughts when he gets back from vacation.

According to the listing I have, DirecTV with their Choice Xtra package and adding the Sports Pack, offers more HD channels than at least my Time Warner. I never go for the premium stuff since I have no interest in the movie channels so I don't know if that makes a difference for you.

I just can't ignore the price difference anymore.

 

[warrior05]

Thanks, all, for the replies. With the number of interruptions in service I've experienced over the past 3 years with Time Warner, it sounds like DirecTV will actually be an improvement in reliable service.

I am curious about snow storms. I'm in an area that tends to get above average snow within my location. Do I need to keep the little dish clear of snow?

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Hey guy,

I've had Dishnetwork happily now nearly 20 yrs, location R.I. with less than a handfull of 5 min. heavy rains related interruptions, where lightning had me unplug surge protected electronics . Only once did heavy wet snows gather upon the dish requiring me to broom it off once during that 7" accumulation storm. This storm was an aberration with the prevailing winds driving the wet snow directly into the face of the dish, hence the accumulation!

So yeah, potential Satallite Dish outages are geographically and locally climatically dependent. I could go on, but you get the idea(s).

I do know there are covers (think: Boat cover) sold as an aftermarket accessory to prevent snow build up, which may well be the fix up in ski country as extra protection.
EDIT: Said cover remains in place year round (or put on for the winter) with service uninterrupted ...

I would also strongly suggest you consider Dishnetwork , written comparisons found elsewhere, if the channel lineup is agreeable.

Hope this helps ya decision(s) somewhat, Scott!

 

[swt61]

Scott, I have Dish Network, and I do experience loss of signal during bad thunderstorms. Luckily that's not too often.

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Geez, I'm terrible with guessing dates; Upon reflection I have had DishNetwork since '96 meaning some 13yrs of service. Sorry, as I didn't mean to be misleading in my sincere post above.

/ Gosh-dang Lyme Disease mind fog

 

[grawk]

If your signal strength is sufficiently high (a good installation with a clear view of the birds), you should only experience outages in really bad storms. I more frequently get some pixelization due to bad weather than complete outages.

 

[ericj]

"rain fade" is largely a function of how far north you are.

The bird is near the equator, and you are very far from the equator, so the signal is at a lower angle for you than it is for me here in Utah, so there's more weather for it to pass through.

OTOH, my friends in Canada say they don't have much of a problem with rain fade either.

It's probably a bigger problem if you live north of the great plains area, where huge storms can build up.

I've never experienced 'rain fade'. I *have* experiended "crapton of snow and ice built up on the dish" fade. I've heard that this can be prevented by spraying down the dish with PAM cooking spray, or perhaps with spray silicone lube, or something.

I just wait for the sun to get higher in the sky. It doesn't bother me because we have brutal daily freeze/thaw most winters here, and i don't watch much TV in the morning anyhow.

 

[MCC]

Storms aren't really a problem if your dish is pointed correctly. In my experience Dish Network is significantly susceptible to rain fade than DirectTV at the same residence but YMMV. In fact, the last time I remember having a problem with Dish Network was due to heavy snow accumulation on the dish. No amount of rain ever seems to cause a problem w/ Dish for us.

 

[dan1son]

I switched from Time Warner to DirecTV about 9 months ago after they kept dropping channels randomly and for random lengths of time. I also had DirecTV for about 5 years when I lived in St. Louis.

Dropouts only happen for me with SEVERE weather... hailing, downpours, huge winds, etc. Normal rain and storms is no problem at all. It's been out for maybe a total of 10 minutes since I got it here, and when it was out only some of the channels (mostly the HD) were out.

Time Warner was out far more often and for much longer stretches. If they went out, it could be days... with DirecTV it's back when the weather fades away in a few minutes.

Install is much easier now that they have the single wire multi-switch (SWM) dishes and boxes. Basically it wired straight into my existing wiring for the house and only needs one wire to every box (even the HD DVR), instead of multiple to DVRs as before. The only thing I miss from Time Warner was the fact that local HD channels were sent over the wire so I didn't need to buy HD boxes for other TVs.