Satellite Sun Outage

woofy

woofy

The Master of Disaster
Staff member
Administrator
If anyone is losing signals these day's it probably due to the October sun outage period.

Important Information About Your TV Service Due to Satellite Sun Outages

Twice a year, during the spring and fall, you may experience some degree of television interference due to a phenomenon known as "sun outages." This Q&A will help you understand what they are and how it will affect you.

What is a sun outage?

A sun outage is an interruption in satellite signals caused by interference from solar radiation. The interference is caused when the sun is in direct line with a communication satellite and the sun's radiation overwhelms the satellite signal.

How long do they last?

Interruption in TV service due to sun outages can last up to several minutes a day.

How do they affect watching TV?

During this time, you may experience interference with picture quality and sound when watching television. Sun outages do not affect internet or phone service.

When do they occur?

This fall, sun outages are expected to occur between October 4 and October 12 during the following times:

Date Start End

Thursday, October 4, 2012 8:16 AM 4:33 PM
Friday, October 5, 2012 8:13 AM 4:34 PM
Saturday, October 6, 2012 8:12 AM 4:34 PM
Sunday, October 7, 2012 8:11 AM 4:34 PM
Monday, October 8, 2012 8:10 AM 4:34 PM
Tuesday, October 9, 2012 8:10 AM 4:33 PM
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 8:11 AM 4:31 PM
Thursday, October 11, 2012 8:12 AM 4:11 PM
Friday, October 12, 2012 9:11 AM 1:35 PM
 
tis the season again for spring outages..

A sun outage, sun transit or sun fade is an interruption in or distortion of geostationary satellite signals caused by interference from solar radiation. The effect is due to the sun's radiation overwhelming the satellite signal.

In the northern hemisphere, sun outages occur before the March equinox (February, March) and after the September equinox (September and October), and in the southern hemisphere the outages occur after the March equinox and before the September equinox. At these times, the apparent path of the sun across the sky takes it directly behind the line of sight between an earth station and a satellite. The sun radiates strongly across the entire spectrum, including the microwave frequencies used to communicate with satellites (C-band, Ku band, and Ka band) the sun swamps the signal from the satellite. The effects of a sun outage range from partial degradation (increase in the error rate) to total destruction of the signal. The effect sweeps from north to south from approximately 20 February to 20 April, and from south to north from approximately 20 August to 20 October, affecting any specific location for less than 12 minutes a day for a few consecutive days.
 
Sublime said:
Good time of year to do a visual site survey of where to place another dish.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

That's an awesome idea Sublime, been thinking of installing something bigger for the Atlantic sats with a wide band corotor-wifey will kill me.
 
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