How much is Freesat affected by weather (rain, etc)?

John_Gray

This question is really about FreeSat (not FreeSat from Sky, although I understand both systems use the same satellite).

Could someone with as much experience of FreeSat as possible please tell me how often they get problems where rain, wind, snow (if any!) affects the TV pictures and sound quality? Is it ordinary rain that has an effect, or does it have to be a downpour before problems occur? Presumably strong wind will distort the dish slightly, or make it point in a slightly different direction. Any other comments on reliability of signal?

The reason I ask is that an installer suggested that it would be a good idea to keep the Freeview 'digital' aerial when having FreeSat installed, because if the satellite dish has weather problems, then the good old Freeview aerial would still work. "Hmmm," I thought...

Thanks!

gjchester

We've had it since November last year and had no problems. The only advantage to a Freeview aerial is some channels (five US / Dave come to mind) are not on Freesat but are on Freeview.

Snow and rain have not been any problem, but like any Sky install if you take the time to allight it in the first place it's fine, do a sloppy job and get it out then bad weather will make it worse.
Wind who knows, we've never had it get to a point where the signal breaks up but we live in a town and 60MPH winds are not too common, where as in a exposed / remote location they may be more prevalant

Pokerlad

It dosnt matter if it's FreeSat, FreesatfromSky or Sky itself, they all use the same dish set up and point to the same satalite. A well mounted, well alligned dish will have no problems during normal weather conditions. Extreme weather like torrential rain, or the heaviest of snow could cause the signal to drop. However, as an example, the heavy snow we had at the biggining of the year, some of the worst I remember, did not effect my sky one bit. Rain is usually the major culprite.

savemoney

Had mine since November too no problems other than glitches only on BBC HD, other channels seem fine.

Weather isnt the only factor on problems other than technical, high buildings or trees nearby can effect it if they are close by

scotsbob

If correctly installed none. I have a 1 metre dish and in winds which destroyed fencing and even ridge tiles, neither reception or dish were affected.

Rain can have an effect on satellite reception but highly unlikely on the satellite you are aimed at. Rain occasionally affects reception on weaker satellites but when it does the Astra (Sky/Freesat) is never affected.

If the dish was correctly aligned you shouldn't have a problem

Inactive

scotsbob wrote: »

If correctly installed none. I have a 1 metre dish and in winds which destroyed fencing and even ridge tiles, neither reception or dish were affected.

Of course, everybody that receives Sky or Freesat will have a one metre dish.:rolleyes:

scotsbob

Inactive wrote: »

Of course, everybody that receives Sky or Freesat will have a one metre dish.:rolleyes:

Not everyone, only those living above the central belt of Scotland. In the south of the UK they can be 65-80cm therefore even less chance of being affected. The smaller the dish the less chance of being affected by wind as there is less surface area to offer resistance. My point to the original poster being that if a correctly installed 1 metre dish is not affected then even less chance of that happening to a smaller dish.