Explaining Rain Fade
The most reliable satellite
communications technology can
sometimes be overwheimed by the
forces of nature. However, efforts are
being continuously carried out to
minimise such disruptions, and our
technicians have been working hard
to improve signal strength. They are
still subiect though to the condition
known as "rain fade" - a weakening
of the satellite signal as it passes
through raindrops.
The Causes Of Rain Fade
Any satellite communications system network operator using a Ku-Band system (12/T4 Gigahertz or higher frequencies) will face the effects of rain fade. Two of the most common causes are:
1. Absorption
When a radio wave strikes a rain droplet. it is converted into heat energy and absorbed by the droplet.
2. Scattering
A non-uniform transmission medium (the raindrops in the atmosphere) causes energy to be scatttered from its initial travel direction, either by refracting or diffracting the wave.
These different reactions ultimately have the same effect — they cause any satellite system to lose some of its normal signal level. Rain fade occurs both in the transmissions from the Astro broadcast centre to the satellite (uplink) and from the satellite to your home (downlink) so. very occasionally. you will get a service outage even when it is not raining near to you. Don’t expect to lose your satellite signal every time it rains, as rain fade will only occur during the heaviest rainstorms, with only a small portion of the transmission path experiencing disruption. The normal result is a momentarily loss of signal until the heavy rains subsides.
Here are a few tlps to minimise rain fade affecting your reception at home
1 - Have your dish alignment and LNB (the receiver-amplifier in the centre of the dish) performance checked by an installer once every 2 - 5 years. Dishes do move away from optimum pointing after a few years of usage, and LNBs do degrade over time.
2 - Make sure the down-lead cable running between the ODU (Outdoor Unit) and DMT (Digital Multimedia Terminal) is the original Astro installed one - standard VHF /UHF antenna coaxial cable is not suitable - and is not kinked or significantly damaged.
3 - Try to keep this down lead as short as possible. Make sure the downlead oonnection on the DMT is still tightly in place and the cable securely clamped, especially if the DMT had been taken out for servicing since the first installation.
4 - Don’t try to split a single ODU feed between more than 2 DMT unless you use an 'active’ splitter that has an internal amplifier. Even this requires a qualified installer to achieve optimum results and the correct type of amplifier must be used
Any satellite communications system network operator using a Ku-Band system (12/T4 Gigahertz or higher frequencies) will face the effects of rain fade. Two of the most common causes are:
1. Absorption
When a radio wave strikes a rain droplet. it is converted into heat energy and absorbed by the droplet.
2. Scattering
A non-uniform transmission medium (the raindrops in the atmosphere) causes energy to be scatttered from its initial travel direction, either by refracting or diffracting the wave.
These different reactions ultimately have the same effect — they cause any satellite system to lose some of its normal signal level. Rain fade occurs both in the transmissions from the Astro broadcast centre to the satellite (uplink) and from the satellite to your home (downlink) so. very occasionally. you will get a service outage even when it is not raining near to you. Don’t expect to lose your satellite signal every time it rains, as rain fade will only occur during the heaviest rainstorms, with only a small portion of the transmission path experiencing disruption. The normal result is a momentarily loss of signal until the heavy rains subsides.
Here are a few tlps to minimise rain fade affecting your reception at home
1 - Have your dish alignment and LNB (the receiver-amplifier in the centre of the dish) performance checked by an installer once every 2 - 5 years. Dishes do move away from optimum pointing after a few years of usage, and LNBs do degrade over time.
2 - Make sure the down-lead cable running between the ODU (Outdoor Unit) and DMT (Digital Multimedia Terminal) is the original Astro installed one - standard VHF /UHF antenna coaxial cable is not suitable - and is not kinked or significantly damaged.
3 - Try to keep this down lead as short as possible. Make sure the downlead oonnection on the DMT is still tightly in place and the cable securely clamped, especially if the DMT had been taken out for servicing since the first installation.
4 - Don’t try to split a single ODU feed between more than 2 DMT unless you use an 'active’ splitter that has an internal amplifier. Even this requires a qualified installer to achieve optimum results and the correct type of amplifier must be used
Tips
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