Dish Satellite reception in bad weather

[Boborc]

I have the Dish set up for my trailer. Now I'am thinking of adding it to my home so I get the discount for adding the RV as an extra tv instead of paying 50 a month. How is reception in inclement weather. I'am in the NE and get plenty of wet snow and even Ice storms from time to time. Never had Satellite or do I know of anyone so looking for some honest answers before I sign a 2 year contract. Thanks in advance

[TowPro]

Originally Posted by Boborc

I have the Dish set up for my trailer. Now I'am thinking of adding it to my home so I get the discount for adding the RV as an extra tv instead of paying 50 a month. How is reception in inclement weather. I'am in the NE and get plenty of wet snow and even Ice storms from time to time. Never had Satellite or do I know of anyone so looking for some honest answers before I sign a 2 year contract. Thanks in advance

if your in NE USA you will probably have your house pointed at satellites 72.7 and 61.5. This means the satellites will be higher in the sky and the dish will be a little more flat. in Central PA I might loose reception 10 minutes during a heavy thunderstorm (only a couple times per year), but in a snow storm you can loose reception for a day unless you can brush the snow off your antenna. Because the dish angle wet snow can stick to it, until the sun comes out and it falls off and this snow will stop reception.



Now the cable TV salesman will tell you "no rain fade with cable" but anytime a tree falls I loose cable for days, with dish it only depends on electric which they restore pretty quick.


something else you need to know, when you leave your local area you might be able to receive your local stations because the satellite can aim stations like a beam from a flash light. this allows them to use the same frequencies for other metro areas locals. I think for phila I was running about 200 miles in any directions from Phila before I lost the locals. Now if you call them and ask they to change your locals to were you are in your RV, your home satellite receiver locals will also change, and since your home may be more than a couple hundred miles from where you are it might not be able to get locals (affects recordings).

or you just stream your locals over internet (mydish) from your home to your RV location.


I have been a customer since 1996. When I first joined there was only one satellite.

[DougW]

In really heavy snowfall or summer thunderstorms the signal will be blocked out. Ours is usually off for no more than 5 minutes at a time as it takes a really heavy rain to bother it. Snow on the dish itself can be a problem, Put a good car wax on the dish in the fall and keep a broom handy so when a heavy wet snow falls you can brush the dish off. Ours only needs the snow brushed off maybe twice a year.

[HappilyLost]

I’ve had directv and dish. I switched to dish because of the better RV options. My opinion is my signal, for whatever reason, with dish is better. It takes a pretty good storm for me to lose reception. I’ve even used my playmaker looking at only one satellite through trees, in a decent rain and signal never fell. We do clean the dish at home off in the winter. Directv I remember having people over for sports, and occasionally it seemed like even a light rain would scramble the picture, which sucks when ten of your buddies are over. Could be coincidence, just my experience.

[Oaklevel]

We are further south and had the big dishes first........ and have had Dish Network ever since......... over 20 years. As has been mentioned you might loose signal for 5 minutes or so during a thunderstorm, and in the winter a small broom is needed when the snow builds up. But maybe because being a long time customer we never had to have a contract.

[Max the Mini]

We have Dish network at home and for the camper. Our issue is not so much weather, but too many trees in the campgrounds we go to. We are in the South.

[sailtrkr]

We have been using our Dish Wally and Tailgater Pro at the house in in NE GA mtns. Take it with us when we csmp

[satdog01]

Had Direct for years, did my own self install. When Direct became rv unfriendly switched to Dish at home using the $5 a month rv option. I went with the Winguard X2 due to the larger reflector. Seems to cut down on loss of reception in heavy downpours. Glad I went with portable as have seen roof mounted owners very unhappy under thick overhanging trees.

[MaineCampingFan]

Following this. I'm considering Dish for home....tired of the Spectrum run around and adding a RV dish. All I really want is local news....DW thinks differently....so will probably make that move next spring. At least for the camper.

[cboss]

We live in the country and had DirectV (for the house) for years. Dumped them for Dish when we got the RV. I wish I had done it years earlier.
As others have stated we do lose reception occasionally during bad weather, but it only last a few minutes. Snow for us has not been a big problem, mount your dish to a pole in the yard rather than on the roof if you can.
Dish technology is fabulous! The Hopper receiver is heads above anything DirectV has to offer. If you have internet access Dish works great with Google Assistant (change channels with voice commands). Dish for the RV works very well, we use a Tailgater with a Wally. With a good view of the southern sky you will have no problems. In a forested area it is hit and miss.
Bottom Line: DISH IS THE WAY TO GO FOR HOME AND RV!

[SJB]

We have had Dish at our house at 8,700' in the Colorado mountains for about 10 years. The reception is excellent. However, we have had to clear snow off the dish a few times when we have had really heavy snows. Having to clear the snow off is the exception rather than the norm here. However, our snow is generally not dense wet snow like you might get in the NE so you might want to position the dish where you can reach it "just in case."

[Boborc]

Originally Posted by cboss

We live in the country and had DirectV (for the house) for years. Dumped them for Dish when we got the RV. I wish I had done it years earlier.
As others have stated we do lose reception occasionally during bad weather, but it only last a few minutes. Snow for us has not been a big problem, mount your dish to a pole in the yard rather than on the roof if you can.
Dish technology is fabulous! The Hopper receiver is heads above anything DirectV has to offer. If you have internet access Dish works great with Google Assistant (change channels with voice commands). Dish for the RV works very well, we use a Tailgater with a Wally. With a good view of the southern sky you will have no problems. In a forested area it is hit and miss.
Bottom Line: DISH IS THE WAY TO GO FOR HOME AND RV!

What kind of pole do you use? Just some galvanized pipe laid in concrete? Do the sell satellite dish set ups?

[formerFR]

we've been all over the country with both our portable KingTailgaterII and our original 'manual' open-faced antenna, and used both or either in many differing situations, depending on how long we stay, the trees and obstructions in the area, and how far 'north' we are : )

We're at a private lot for now. When we first arrived last month, I simply used the portable on the rear of the roof of the motorhome, which worked fine, but only serves one tv fully, and has to 'reset' on a minute-by-minute basis, unless you fully unplug the receiver, or remove the coax from it.
I finally got the manual antenna out and positioned it in the far corner of the lot, which has it's pole down in the ground just enough to keep it steady. After a little time 'positioning' the right angle to pick up the satellites, it now serves all three tvs and receivers, if I wish, all on different channels at the same time.

Now, I can put the portable up for the time being and keep it out of the sun all day, and use it when doing some short traveling to the folks, leaving the manual antenna set up at the lot.

We just have a good 'ol regular 'Dish' account. They don't know or care whether we are a motorhome, or a house, as long as I pay the bill, which is all the time, since we have Dish anywhere we are, or anywhere we go, and even used it at our cabin in the Blue Ridge mountains for several years, taking the portable antenna and a receiver in the motorhome when we traveled.

[CHICKDOE]

we're in the mountains of arizona. we lose direct tv for a few minutes occasionally due to heavy thunderstorms. even a good storm cell with lightning and no rain can cause disruptions as it blows over.

probably twice a year we have to take the broom out to brush the snow off the dish.

to be honest direct tv is more reliable than cable. we only have one fiber cable coming into town and it goes down several times a year for a variety of reasons. when that happens it is down for hours. and it carries all cable, internet, and phone service into the town.

[Villagerjjm]

Great information here!!! I have been seriously considering switching to Dish to be able to watch at home and take on the road. Keep those comments coming? What are the best channels to get? Best antenna!! DVR???

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by Villagerjjm

Great information here!!! I have been seriously considering switching to Dish to be able to watch at home and take on the road. Keep those comments coming? What are the best channels to get? Best antenna!! DVR???

We have the King Dish Tailgater antenna and a Wally receiver.

We like the Tailgater antenna because it locates the satellites automatically, eliminating the hassle of locating them manually each time we move to a different location.

We like the Wally receiver because you can add an external Hard Drive and record movies for future viewing. We too live in the south and visit State Parks frequently. The trees often prevent good satellite reception so the recorded movies come in handy.

[cboss]

Originally Posted by Boborc

What kind of pole do you use? Just some galvanized pipe laid in concrete? Do the sell satellite dish set ups?

The installers have poles with them. Ours is maybe 5 ft high so you can easily clean the dish off if need be. I've maybe had to clean ours 3 or 4 times in 10 years.

[rjshiflet]

We have dish and last night during a torrential rain (about 2" in one hour) we lost our signal for about 10 minutes during our local news. I simply grabbed my phone - opened their app and continued watching there...no problem.

I am sold on Dish after horrendous experiences with DirecTV after "at&t" bought them and are running them into the ground. I had been a DirecTV customer for 17 years, but no more - I will never deal with "at&t" in any shape, form or fashion in the future.

[TowPro]

Best dish?
For years I used manual aim tripods with a VU meter. First started with one LNB systems, than dual for 110/119, than Eastern Arc which is 61.5, 72.7, 77. the more satellites you can see the harder they are to aim. I used to use foil over 2 of the 3 LNB's when I started so I could get the right satellite in the right LNB.

Next I bought a:
Pathway X2 if you want portable. This auto aim dish its not the smallest dish, but that also helps with less rain fade. You can't mount it permanently but I used to set mine on a platform on top of ladder and hold it down with bungy cords.
this dish allows you to move it to where ever you need to to see through trees (I preferred to lock mine to something with a cable lock).
It can do the dishnetwork eastern or western arc (61.5° (SD/HD) 72.7° (SD/HD) 77° (SD/HD) or 110° (SD/HD) 119° (SD/HD) 129° (SD/HD)
one advantage with Eastern Arc (71.5, 72.7, 77) is they are higher in the sky so you can be closer to trees and still see the satellites in NE USA. It can also run 2 receivers, as long as both are looking at the same satellite.

when we got our new MH I added a
Dish playmaker. this is also an auto aim dish (will not work driving).
this is smaller than the X2, and you mount it direct to roof (or other mount). It can only use 61.5° (SD/HD) 110° (SD/HD) 119° (SD/HD) 129° (SD/HD. This one comes in either single or dual receiver mode, again both receivers have to be viewing the same satellite.

I still have both. Most times I am heading to somewhere without trees so I leave the X2 at home, but if heading somewhere for several days where I feel I will need the portable dish I take the X2

[Boborc]

Thanks for the replies so far. A lot of good info here. Definitely easing my fears. Not as bad as I thought but like anything not perfect.