Will a zone 2 dish help my problem.

[wiztaff]

Hi,

I installed a zone 1 dish to receive FreeSat a few years ago and it has served me well. I do however suffer the problem of "weather fade" whenever its raining and I have to switch over to terrestrial TV when this happens which is frustrating because there are some channels not repeated on freeview and I can't get local programming (welsh news etc) as I have to tune the terrestrial to another area due to being in a mountainous area.
I have been told that even though I live in a zone 1 area, a zone 2 dish might help alleviate my "weather fade" and minimise the effect.
Is this true? If so I will invest in one and also upgrade my LNB and wiring at the same time.

 

[Terryl]

A larger dish will help with weather fade outs, however the Ku band is highly susceptible to heavy rain and snow, I dont know the size differances for your zone 1 and 2 dishes, so a zone 2 dish may or maynot help, but the bigger the dish the better the signal if you have weather fade outs.

At my location I need to use a 1 meter dish for a satellite thats suposed to be recived on a 22 inch dish, the signal is a bit weak for my location due to a dip in the footprint, so a larger then normal dish was needed.

As to the LNB, if it's quite old (8+ years) the a new one would not hurt, and coax does degrade over time, I use the best I can on installs, less problems down the road, coax with a pure copper center and quad shielding helps quite a bit.

 

[rolfw]

Yep, bigger is better where rain fade is concerned, also check that the original is in perfect alignment. May even want to consider an 80cm, that or a zone 2 would improve your chances of maintaining a watchable signal, also check you are using good cable.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Align first and check there are no obstructions front of the dish, a hedge, branch or even the neighbours washing on certain days.

If you post a picture or two somebody here should be able to tell if the dish is warped or the LNB bracket is straight and true (older models distort after a few years, and the wall bracket can sag or move on the brickwork behind it has Ivy or other creeper)

Your location should be OK for a zone 1 dish in most weathers.

 

[wiztaff]

Thanks for your reply guys. Just for your information, I fitted a zone 2 dish and had to wait until tonight to see if it solved my problem as of course we haven't had any rain.
Well I am more than pleased to report that it has indeed cured my rain fade problem !
Thankd again guys!