Head's up! Sun outage time near

[moonman]

Just a reminder...it's that time of year again...it may or may not happen...
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Please be advised of a potential interruption to satellite broadcast services in the 101-degree oribital position.

Interruption Window Start Date and Time: Friday September 29 2006 8:00 AM PDT

Interruption Window End Date and Time: Friday October 20 2006 12:00 Noon PDT

Approximate Duration: 3 Weeks

Text of announcement: This is to advise you of the upcoming Fall Sun Outage period for geo-stationary communications satellites in the 101-degree oribital position. A Sun outage refers to the time when both the satellite and the sun are in direct alignment with the receiving antenna’s field of view. When this happens, the RF energy from the sun overpowers the signal from the satellite manifesting itself in a loss or degradation of communication traffic from the satellite. The Fall 2006 Sun Transit interference times for the 101 degree orbital position are forecast to occur between Sep 29 and Oct 20, 2006. The peak periods are between Oct 2 and Oct 14 proceeding from West Coast locations to East Coast. The peak civil times (not daylight time) for the Pacific time zone is 10:25 AM, Mountain 11:30 AM, Central 12:35 PM and Eastern 1:40 PM. The interference starts approximately 10 minutes prior to, and lasts about 10 minutes after, the peak times.

This is a semi-annual natural solar event occurring in the Spring and Fall of each year

[ebonovic]

So where do I file a law suit against the Sun for interfearing with my TV viewing?

[willardcpa]

So where do I file a law suit against the Sun for interfearing with my TV viewing?That's a totally moronic statement. Any idiot knows you cannot sue the Sun. You sue directv for not putting the satellite "where the sun don't shine". :eek: :D

[willardcpa]

Does seem a little ironic that a thread about problems with the sun was started by "moonman". :cool:

[ECEGatorTuro]

I'm pretty new to satellite TV and Tivo so I'm just curious as to what channels the 101 satellite carries. Does this satellite cover the entire country or is this for a specific coast?

Which reminds me, is there any basic guide or webpage that describes the D* satellites and where they point to and which areas they serve?

[stevel]

101 carries almost all of DirecTV's programming for the US, but there are also spot beam transponders at the 101 position.

[moonman]

That's a totally moronic statement. Any idiot knows you cannot sue the Sun. You sue directv for not putting the satellite "where the sun don't shine". :eek: :D
----------------- :D :D :D

[moonman]

101 carries almost all of DirecTV's programming for the US, but there are also spot beam transponders at the 101 position.
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http://www.lyngsat.com/america.html

[ECEGatorTuro]

101 carries almost all of DirecTV's programming for the US, but there are also spot beam transponders at the 101 position.

So this means that ALL of us are going to have crappy reception during this time period?

[moonman]

No...but it is possible

[JoeSchueller]

I heard they're planning on changing the resolution on every channel to 20x20 and squeezing them all on to another sat that day. Just a rumor... ;)

[oosik77]

Also it would only be for a few minutes on any given day while the satellite is directly between the sun and your dish.

[ECEGatorTuro]

Also it would only be for a few minutes on any given day while the satellite is directly between the sun and your dish.

Oh ok, gotcha.... I thought this was a continuous thing. Either way, most of the shows I watch are at night so there shouldn't be a problem.

[Lee L]

Usually the outage is very brief. You can actually use this time of year to check for a good dish mounting location by observiung the areas the sun hits at the right time. There are calculators on teh web that can tell you the exact time. Check www.dbstalk.com or www.dbsforums.com

[litzdog911]

Usually the outage is very brief. You can actually use this time of year to check for a good dish mounting location by observiung the areas the sun hits at the right time. There are calculators on teh web that can tell you the exact time. Check www.dbstalk.com or www.dbsforums.com

I've posted step-by-step instructions here
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=314458
to use the sun's location on key dates to help you site the best dish locations on your house.

[Lee L]

Excellent.

[Seminole]

I think a new name for the sun should be HD Light

[Sir_winealot]

The forecast here is for a lot of cloudiness over the next week, so I shouldn't have a problem....

;)

[sgndave]

You could also get a large pair of sunglasses fitted to your dish so the sun won't be in its eyes. Hey, I could start a business selling those... :D

[drew2k]

So this means that ALL of us are going to have crappy reception during this time period?I've been with DirecTV since March 2003, so this is my 8th "sun outage". I can honestly say I have never noticed any disruption or receptions issues due to the sun overpowering DirecTV's signals.

[morgantown]

I've been with DirecTV since March 2003, so this is my 8th "sun outage". I can honestly say I have never noticed any disruption or receptions issues due to the sun overpowering DirecTV's signals.

Yup, been with DTV since 97/98 and I've yet to notice. Still fun to talk about though...

[litzdog911]

It's unlikley to ever knock out your entire DirecTV reception because their satellites are very powerful. But sometimes the network satellite feeds are briefly affected because their C-band satellites use much less power.