While it was raining heavily in Chennai for couple of days I just thought of comparing some of the DTH connections which worked best during rain. My neibourgs in the apartment had Tatasky and Videocon and myself Airtel. Videocon was the worst affected here. The picture was choppy even before it started to rain and once it rained the picture completely went off. As for Tatasky and Airtel the transmission did not get affected even during a moderate rain.
DTH connections and Rain
- Thread starter mathan
- Start date
All of it depends on dish alignment and adjustment of proper LNB Skew. Tata Sky would be most prone to signal loss in rains as they have lower FEC of 5/6 or 7/8 for most transponders while Videocon d2h would be least prone as they have High FEC of 2/3 for most transponders
My personal experience is that Videocon picture goes off even with a drizzle where as for Airtel the sky needs to be really overcast with heavy rain before it goes off
baijuxavior
Well-Known Member
Observation about Videocon is correct, the signal goes off even before it starts raining. Didn't have that problem with Reliance HD.
Not in my case. Only heavy rains disrupt.
ukjeyaraj
Well-Known Member
I have used Zee Dish TV, Sun DTH and Airtel DTH in heavy Mumbai rains. All goes off when there is rain. Sometimes even before rain starts. But there is no uniform pattern.
Airtel does suffer from the same problem, at times I have had to do with almost an hour of signal loss. I suppose the vendors in such scenarios can not really be blamed.
On the other hand even with a sunny sky if I experience signal loss I can tell my family to get prepared for bad weather, because I know something is amiss in the stratosphere!
On the other hand even with a sunny sky if I experience signal loss I can tell my family to get prepared for bad weather, because I know something is amiss in the stratosphere!
raj29shenoy
Member
Rain fade according to this source: DTH comparison:
Other than Tata Sky, all operators perform well in monsoon showers but it is Reliance Digital TV that reports minimum loss of signal even in heavy rains. In most DTHs, loss of signal or black out exists for the entire period of rain while in Reliance Digital TV, it is only for 6-7 seconds. Airtel Digital TV comes with a wide dish antenna for effective signal reception in monsoons and works quite well but Reliance leads the race in this area.
Other than Tata Sky, all operators perform well in monsoon showers but it is Reliance Digital TV that reports minimum loss of signal even in heavy rains. In most DTHs, loss of signal or black out exists for the entire period of rain while in Reliance Digital TV, it is only for 6-7 seconds. Airtel Digital TV comes with a wide dish antenna for effective signal reception in monsoons and works quite well but Reliance leads the race in this area.
My personal experience with tatasky is that rain rarely, if ever, disrupts the signal. My office tv stays on tata sky pretty much all day, ie over 10 hours. I don't think I've ever gone for more than 5 minutes due to rain. Most of the times the signal gets interrupted for a minute max before it picks up again. If tatasky is the worst affected dth during rain, I'd say rain is a non issue for dth nowadays.
just4kix
Well-Known Member
Indeed not. Tatasky is (probably) the least affected by rain. Cannot speak for Airtel and Reliance (no experience) but DishTV used to get severely affected. My friend's D2H connection is also affected by rain.
But in TS, even small rain affects the HD feed while SD works fine.
But in TS, even small rain affects the HD feed while SD works fine.
theironhorse
Well-Known Member
cover the transponder with half cut 2 L coke/thumbs up bottle. it will work little better durin rains. remove the sticker around.
Airtel does suffer from the same problem, at times I have had to do with almost an hour of signal loss. I suppose the vendors in such scenarios can not really be blamed.
On the other hand even with a sunny sky if I experience signal loss I can tell my family to get prepared for bad weather, because I know something is amiss in the stratosphere!
As for Airtel the blackout was for couple of minutes only when it rained heavily. There was no problem when it was raining moderately. Even the HD channels works good when it rains moderately. Maybe if there is a heavy rain continuously for over a hour then there might be a problem. I think even the location also plays a part. Mostly down south it is not affected but up north or east there might be a problem. I am not sure about this but someone could enlighten if location plays a part in receiving good/bad signals.
Jesus! If you wanna advertise for Videocon at least get your facts straight! Signal quality and strength has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Anyway, I live in Calcutta and I found that AirTel went out when thundering started, then it came back, then when rain started it went out again, and there was total blackout for almost 90 minutes, which scared the hell outta me, then it came back and the rain was still falling. Afaik, at first it'll go, but when it's settled down it'll be there.
These rain issues should be taken into account a lot more seriously now. Any natural disasters/problems are normal, that doesn't mean the connection has to go.
There seems to be a lot of diverse views on this. I started searching the Net after I got fed up with my Tatasky and rain related disturbance. What I see is people not understanding the need to create a pattern from the feedback of the subscribers. Seriously, gone are the days of chest thumping bred out of the loyalty towards an Indian Service Provider (I don't remember any). Tatasky working in rain, mild drizzle, a draft...what a joke :lol: I had to say that
I live in North Bangalore...here I am worried shit about Dogs urinating...it might cut off my Tatasky feed
That said, I am observing a lot of positive feedback about Airtel and its ability to "not lose" signal in rain. I still have a lot of forums and feedback to cover though. It is possible that geography, topography has a lot to say in this matter. I live in a 6 level Apartment with clear access to sky, no obstruction. Apart from my dish (last 6+ years, Mega HD connection, 2 LED Bravia 3D), Tatasky has installed, what they say, a powerful dish (slightly bigger) with a transponder that requires electricity to work. Sadly, due to the state of power in this area, that kind of transponder hardly works...I am yet to go figure with the other flat owners. But, I have redundant power sources (more for my nature of work)...so no power issues here. Now, to find a good configuration of Dish+Transponder which will not be acting like a sissy. I guess I should also map the base/sub stations in and around Bangalore, Karnataka too...to understand "maamla kya hain?"
BTW, over the last 2 years I have seen more and more of Airtel, Videocon Dishes coming up in my apartment, locality... hardly any DishTV...while Tatasky tapering off Or slightly reduced in numbers. I am so surprised to see Videocon dishes increasing in numbers! Then again, I was going through another forum related to technology and DTH and the SPs...and Videocon came up in the Top 2...would you believe it?! Airtel was first...Tatasky was 4th going down to 5th. Anyway, I wouldn't be rushing to change my Tatasky for another DTH...(a known devil is better than an unknown one) till I get a solid config and SP for DTH HD feeds that is a lot less in headache.
I live in North Bangalore...here I am worried shit about Dogs urinating...it might cut off my Tatasky feed
That said, I am observing a lot of positive feedback about Airtel and its ability to "not lose" signal in rain. I still have a lot of forums and feedback to cover though. It is possible that geography, topography has a lot to say in this matter. I live in a 6 level Apartment with clear access to sky, no obstruction. Apart from my dish (last 6+ years, Mega HD connection, 2 LED Bravia 3D), Tatasky has installed, what they say, a powerful dish (slightly bigger) with a transponder that requires electricity to work. Sadly, due to the state of power in this area, that kind of transponder hardly works...I am yet to go figure with the other flat owners. But, I have redundant power sources (more for my nature of work)...so no power issues here. Now, to find a good configuration of Dish+Transponder which will not be acting like a sissy. I guess I should also map the base/sub stations in and around Bangalore, Karnataka too...to understand "maamla kya hain?"
BTW, over the last 2 years I have seen more and more of Airtel, Videocon Dishes coming up in my apartment, locality... hardly any DishTV...while Tatasky tapering off Or slightly reduced in numbers. I am so surprised to see Videocon dishes increasing in numbers! Then again, I was going through another forum related to technology and DTH and the SPs...and Videocon came up in the Top 2...would you believe it?! Airtel was first...Tatasky was 4th going down to 5th. Anyway, I wouldn't be rushing to change my Tatasky for another DTH...(a known devil is better than an unknown one) till I get a solid config and SP for DTH HD feeds that is a lot less in headache.
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I was a DishTV user till 3 years back and I shifted to Videocon D2H not for the sake of reception problems during the rain but because of more HD channels. If you ask me I think the rain related disruption of the service is there in each of the service providers. I had it when using DishTV and now the same case even with VDH D2H as well and in my apartment there are more TataSky users who also face the same problem during the rain. I am not sure about Airtel but I think it will also be the same case with may be slight disruption instead of a prolonged 
reubensm
Well-Known Member
When I was using Airtel DTH, it would go off for a minute and come back after a heavy down pour begins. Otherwise it was fine. I later switched to cable and never knew what it was to have a black out after that.
For info: the wavelength of microwave downlink frequency used in DTH broadcast is comparable to the diameter of rain drops, and therefore the wave cannot just pass through it without being substantially attenuated. Hence the loss of DTH signal during rains. Users may complain but there are no easy ways out. Its the laws of physics at work here.
One possible way out is for the DTH operator to increase power, but there are difficulties there too. First of all, every satellite transponder has a fixed maximum amount of power it can radiate in its linear region. Pump out too much power and it goes into its non-linear region and produces intermodulation products which can interfere with other transponders on the same satellite, or even other nearby satellites (remember satellites have a spatial separation of about 2 degrees ONLY).
Second, even if a satellite owner allows you to use more power, it comes at a premium price.
For those really bothered, use larger dish with higher gain. It won't completely eliminate the problem but will reduce the occurrence.
One possible way out is for the DTH operator to increase power, but there are difficulties there too. First of all, every satellite transponder has a fixed maximum amount of power it can radiate in its linear region. Pump out too much power and it goes into its non-linear region and produces intermodulation products which can interfere with other transponders on the same satellite, or even other nearby satellites (remember satellites have a spatial separation of about 2 degrees ONLY).
Second, even if a satellite owner allows you to use more power, it comes at a premium price.
For those really bothered, use larger dish with higher gain. It won't completely eliminate the problem but will reduce the occurrence.
gurumurthal
New Member
I have been using Airtel digital TV and the reception goes out only during heavy rains.
Read somewhere that Airtel has a bigger dish than Tata Sky and because of this Airtel has lesser rain outages. Is this correct? How much is the difference?
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