Snow and DirecTV are not playing well together

[carbonel]

When I first got DirecTV, I was warned that the weather might have some effect on my reception. And indeed, during the worst snowfall accumulation, my picture went, well, snowy. That was the worst that ever happened.

But now that I have HD, the signal seems to go out ever time there's a serious snowfall. I don't have easy access to the dish on the roof. I don't even know for sure if that's the problem, though I'd really like to clear the snow out as an experiment. The last time this happened, I had no signal for three days. So far, it's just one evening, but there's more snow predicted for tomorrow.

I wonder if the 5-LNB oval dish that I have now is more susceptible to weather-related problems. It's my current hypothesis, at any rate.

Comments

[also-huey.livejournal.com]

There are potentially two issues at work here. The first is snow accumulation on the dish itself, and for folks in places where significant snow is an issue, they sell little dish-warmers (http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&source=hp&q=satellite dish heater) that you clip to the back of the thing, and it keeps the snow from accumulating on it. The second is a huge mass of weather somewhere between you and the satellite, and for that second thing there ain't no cure besides 'wait'.

[erikvolson.livejournal.com]

What he said. The new 5-LNB slimline dishes also have less gain, so that may be a factor. Another would be pointing -- if the aiming isn't solid, you might have enough signal in good weather, but drop below threshold in bad.