Sun outage

[Jako]

Twice a year , in spring and fall, there is a short period when the sun is positioned exactly behind the satellite. That is the case this week. As the sun passes behind the satellite the noise level increases and because the signal from the satellite remains the same, the signal-to-noise ratio deteriorates and the picture might disappear. Not a big problem as it only lasts for around 10-15 minutes, depending on the dish size.

But this effect can be made to use as any object situated between the satellite and the dish will cast a shadow over the dish during this period.

A cheap and easy way to check whether that tree has grown too big...[:)]

The time is around midday, but obviously depends on the exact location. An online sun outage calculator can be used to calculate the exact time for any satellite and ground location :http://www.satellite-calculations.com/Satellite/suninterference.php

[Martin963]

The only time I've been conscious of this is in Devon where I use a 45 cm Sky-type dish to pick up Fransat.   Yes it's too small but it works 99.8% of the time.

Not last March however - for about a week the signal dropped out at about 13.25 CET (during the TF1 so-called news) and the times corresponded exactly with my location as predicted by the outage calculator.

Always nice when science is proved right!