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3LNB & Rainfade ?

469 Views 15 Replies 8 Participants Last post by AntAltMike, Apr 10, 2003

aham23

Discussion Starter · Apr 8, 2003

Just recently upgraded to a triple LNB to get D*'s HD stuff. There have been two heavy rainfalls since the upgrade and both times I have lost the sat sig. I never had any sig issues with my dual lnb. Is the 3 lnb more susceptible to rain fade? If a guy cant watch tv on crappy rainy days what is a guy to do? Thanks.

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1 - 16 of 16 Posts

greywolf

· #2 · Apr 8, 2003

No difference. The problem today is ice.

aham23

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 8, 2003

Dont have any ice where I am at. Like I said, the past two heavy rainfails have resulted in my sat sig rain fading. Problem is new with the 3 lnb, so either it was installed wrong or the 3 lnb is prone to do this???

Crash_Corrigan

· #4 · Apr 8, 2003

What kind of signal strengths are you able to get on all three satellites? I've had my Hughes E86 and an RCA phase III 18" x 20" 3LNB oval dish since November. I've not had any signal lose due to rain or snow yet, knock on wood. I typically get 92 percent on SAT A, 89 percent on SAT B and 94 percent on SAT C. On my original system a Sony SAT-A2 and Sony round dish, I used to get about 85 percent signal strength and typically lost service a couple times a year for a few minutes each time, but only during the heaviest thunderstorms on snowstorms.

I did have a problem with cold weather back in January due to a defective LNB array on my new oval dish, but with a lot of hassle and no help from RCA customer service I eventually swapped it out for a more cold weather resistant array. So far, so good.

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AntAltMike

· #5 · Apr 8, 2003

The reflector gain and therefore the signal strength from a standard oval dish (18 x 24) is about the same as from a round 18" dish. Is it practical for you to try to peak it yourself? Is it located where you can reach it, and where you could move your receiver and TV so that you could observe the receiver's signal meter?

gbfish

· #6 · Apr 8, 2003

I set the strength by going to the roof with the cell phone while my son stays in the house on the land line and watches the meter & I adjust the dish. Has worked good for us during initial install, after re-roofing, after moving, and another re-roofing.

JohnDG

· #7 · Apr 8, 2003

I' ve also had this problem (heavy rain and/or wind?) with loss of signal on 110. No ice where I live, or at least during all losses.

I find that I have to reboot my DTC100 to reacquire the signal on 110. Strength on 101 is 88 (North Calif); 110: 82; 119: 81.

jdg

aham23

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 9, 2003

I am getting 90% on sats A/B and 85% on C, so I dont think its an aiming issue. The dish is accessible. So I have good ss and didnt have any rainfade with the old dual lnb. Why know am I out of luck when heavy rains fall??

Barry928

· #9 · Apr 9, 2003

Channel Master has a new product called GainMaster to prevent rainfade.

http://www.channelmaster.com/templat...icle.cfm?id=14

Babula

· #10 · Apr 9, 2003

It may improve any problems due to rain fade, but it will not "prevent" them. If you look at the PDF file for the Gainmaster, it only refers to the dish itself and the key words are "attacks rain fade". Lots of ad "hype".

Bill

AntAltMike

· #11 · Apr 9, 2003

It purportedly increases the gain by 65%, so therefore the rainfall along the transmission path would have to be 65% more intense to reach the level at which freezeups begin. It sells for about $90 without the LNBs and looks like a good value to me.

Babula

· #12 · Apr 9, 2003

Operative word is "purportedly". Anyway, my experience with rain fade here in rainy Seattle area is extensive ;-) I sincerely believe (operative word) that there would be no difference between using this $90 reflector vs what I have when rain fade occurs.

Bill

AntAltMike

· #13 · Apr 9, 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Babula
...my experience with rain fade here in rainy Seattle area is extensive

But your experience with using a ChannelMaster Gainmaster oval dish to mitigate it probably is not.

Quote:

I sincerely believe... that there would be no difference between using this $90 reflector vs what I have when rain fade occurs.

Then you must already have a reflector that has 65% more gain than a standard oval dish.

A few months back, I posted something on DBS Forums explaining the Crane rain fade model, but it didn't show up when I just searched for it. If I find it later, I'll post a link to it.

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AntAltMike

· #14 · Apr 9, 2003

A DBSForums thread in which rain fade is discussed can be found HERE and an excellent article on the subect, Rain Degradation: Its Implications For Satellite Communication, was published in the Feb 01, 2003 edition of Via Satellite , but you have to "subscribe" to have access to it (subscription is free).

aham23

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 10, 2003

My main question here was; is the 3lnb more prone then a dual lnb to rainfade? Why with same solid sig does the 3lnb suffer rainfade when the dual lnb did not?

I am guessing from the posts and my readings that one dish is not more prone to rainfade then the other. But, this seems to be my situation. Guess I will just have to send the wife outside with an umbrella during heavy rain storms. Thanks.

AntAltMike

· #16 · Apr 10, 2003

1) Confirm the peaking of the dish, both on Sat A and Sat B. They should peak at the same spot. if they do not, then the mast or skew are off.

2) Check your connections for waterproofing.

By the way, I am not impressed with the push-on LNB "F" connections on the integrated multisaiwtches. Has anyone had any problem with these?

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