Sun Outages?

[Bangkok Barry]

Does anyone know of anywhere other than UBC in Thailand where so-called sun outages occur on cable tv?

They state that it only occurs for a few minutes, but they have shown their message for up to 30 minutes (March 14, 07.30-08.00 when the message said the outages could occur between 12-15.00).

And why does it affect some channels and not others (BBC but not CNN, March 16 07.45)?

Any smart people out there who think they know the answer? Or is it simply TIT yet again?

[coldcrush]

This is Thailand....what was the question again...

Clever people roll up.....

[chanchao]

I noticed sun outages happen a lot more when the content being shown is actually interesting or exciting. It rarely happens during repeats of 'classic' FA cup matches or anything golf related.

[lopburi3]

All satellite transmissions are subject to sun outages at two periods each year. They normally only last a few minutes each time and for a period of several days. The reason is that the satellite you want to receive is directly in line with the sun (which has stronger radiation [noise]) and is blocked until the sun moves away a bit. As different channels use different satellites in different positions it will affect them differently.

[Disco]

All satellite transmissions are subject to sun outages at two periods each year. They normally only last a few minutes each time and for a period of several days. The reason is that the satellite you want to receive is directly in line with the sun (which has stronger radiation [noise]) and is blocked until the sun moves away a bit. As different channels use different satellites in different positions it will affect them differently.

Thanks Lopburi, I have been pondering the answer to this myself, although I had thought more likely to be TIT........

[Firefoxx]

You also have certain channels which are not transmitted by satellite, but locally produced or taped content. These channels won't be affected by sun outages. Of course, all the premium or live channels are transmitted live via satellite, so...

Although it's annoying, it only occurs a few times per year. If you use the cable system, it's not much of an interruption. If you use the DTH system, you have the sun outages and the weather to disrupt your service, and that can get annoying fast.

[astral]

And why does it affect some channels and not others (BBC but not CNN, March 16 07.45)?

Any smart people out there who think they know the answer? Or is it simply TIT yet again?

The outages occur when the sun points

1. directly at your dish

2. at the dish UBC are using to capture the signal for you.

The angles will be different for each satellite,

which accounts for the different times on different channels.

Solar outage is only twice a year.

The other outages are due to RAIN and can be cured by using a larger dish, 1 - 1.5m

Edited March 16, 2006 by astral

[lopburi3]

There is no practical cure for monsoon rain except to wait for it to pass. If you have a marginal s/n antenna a better system will help but my experience is that nothing will allow reception during some of the really heavy rains we experience here. Use the time to have a snack.

[farangconnection]

Why does IP Star get outages 12 hours a day, 5 days aweek, 49 weeks a year then?

[Joey Boy]

Why does IP Star get outages 12 hours a day, 5 days aweek, 49 weeks a year then?

because its <deleted>

[ianc66]

Why does IP Star get outages 12 hours a day, 5 days aweek, 49 weeks a year then?

because its <deleted>

I've made a modest proposal to try to improve them here:-

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=63246

I also have more accurate but hardly less depressing downtime statistics.