Satellite Domes and Rain--Grrrr

[PP]

I've been dealing with the frustration of losing signal everytime it rains. I've tried waxing the dickens out of it on the advice of several others, but it only helped marginally. Is there anything else a person can do? I would normally set up the tripod at this point, but this park is very small and sights are limited on space. My awning is less than 2 feet from my neighbors slide.
Help, Will

[busguy01]

It's not the rain on the dish -- the sat signal can not penetrate the rain.clouds.snow if it too thick overhead. Only thing you can do is  set up for the highest number signal as you can when you first setup.. - or move to a drier climate!
JimH

[Utahclaimjumper]

RAIN X will do an exellent job on your dome.>>>Dan

[Ace]

Yea exactly what Dan said but another iption that had worked is drape some clear plastic over the whole dish. Put weights on the corners so it won't blow off and it will keep the rain off directly and prolong your signal loss!

[luvrbus]

You won't believe this one guys but I see some in Quartzsite that belong to the Escapees use a onion to prevent loss of signal in the rain I never tried it hell I can't make ours work on a clear day and never knew if they used a red,white or yellow onion lol and never wanted to ask

good luck

[Chopper Scott]

Onions!!?  I wonder if they'll help cell phone reception?  You already know we are going to try it Cliff!!

[Dreamscape]

We also have the same issue when it rains, when we get some that is!

Onions, now I've heard of everything!

We just moved further south, seemed to have solved our problem.

[bevans6]

Satellite is over the equator so moving south would logically improve signal strength, not to mention it doesn't rain (or snow) much down in the desert...  Changing to a larger dish will improve results as well.  As I understand it the dome dishes are quite small compared to a typical home dish.  I lose signal only when my home dish is covered with sticky snow, or if there is a severe thunder storm cell in the path of the signal.  Normal rain doesn't do anything to it.

Brian

[robertglines1]

observation only :::   during a sever storm our sat goes out.  we switch to our weinguard hd antenna and watch local tv.

[jjrbus]

I've had satellite TV for many years. I still remember the warm fuzzy feelings I got when I canceled the monopolistic cable co.

You can wax the dome, rainex, rub it with onion, garlic maybe some snake oil from Ebay.

There is no dome on my home dish, I still lose the signal to cloud cover, it does not have to be raining on me.

The only option to losing a signal to weather is to learn to live with it. Resistance is futile. Books, DVD's, crossword puzzles, conversation. There was life before TV.
                                                          JIm 

[luvrbus]

Heard from a old Trailways driver about the onion post he told me the drivers used the onion on the inside of the old buses to stop fogging and the outside to shed water you never know what people used before all the stuff sold today,he couldn't remember the color of the onion lol but I like the red onion ( to eat)

good luck

[PP]

As the government has a hold on me for the next 4 months, moving south isn't an option. Sure is tempting though LOL. An ONION? Seriously? I've heard of using a potato, but never an onion. Fortunately, it doesn't rain much here in the deserts of Eastern Oregon, but if it does, I'll have to find a place to set up the tripod and the standard dish. We rarely had a problem with weather affecting reception with it, unless a large storm cloud passes over.

Yea exactly what Dan said but another iption that had worked is drape some clear plastic over the whole dish. Put weights on the corners so it won't blow off and it will keep the rain off directly and prolong your signal loss!

And prolong your signal loss? Uh, Ace, we're trying to achieve the opposite.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Anyone up for a friendly game of 5 Card Stud?

Will

[artvonne]

  I looked at the dish under one of those domes. Its so small your lucky to get any signal at all. There is a reason all the telecom companies have 18 foot and larger dishes. Those Sats are up 23000 miles over the equator, shining down with all of about 40 watts. Think how much a 40 watt bulb would light up North America at night from 23000 miles away. Your dish is only able to draw something like 1/10 billionth or less of a watt. And its high frequency with a very short wavelength, dust will even fade it. Fog, rain, its all going to cloud the signal.

  Double the diameter of your dish, youll pull in 4 times the signal.

[belfert]

This is getting a bit off topic, but does satellite really save over cable?  My cable bill is up to $95 now and the only special feature I have is the DVR,  The prices look good up front for satellite, but I have no idea what it costs when the promo is over. 

[rusty]

When I built our bus I put a KVH in-motion satellite on it. If there was heavy dew or rain the thing didn't work. If I got within 50 foot of a tree the thing didn't work. I had some other problems with the thing so I changed to a Winegard ( I can't remeber the model but it was not a dome). We have not lost a signal since I put it on. We have even been in some spots with trees and been able to get out. Yes the things are butt ugly but they work. I will say I painted the KVH dome that didn't help things.

Wayne