Owners of satellite dishes sooner or later face such a concept as "solar interference". This usually happens in the first year of operation of the antenna, when the provider itself warns users about the possibility of signal loss just for this reason. Let's figure out what it is and why the radio signal transmission deteriorates or disappears altogether.
What is solar interference
Any star, including our Sun, emits not only visible light energy, but also radio waves in the centimeter range. When the sun is in direct line with the satellite and satellite TV antennas, no signal can be received. All due to the fact that the Sun creates interference, and the transponder signals are tritely blocked by noise from the Sun.
When it happens
This phenomenon occurs 2 times a year - in autumn and spring. It is during these seasons that solar interference can be observed. Most often, this phenomenon occurs within 3.5 weeks from the days of the spring and autumn equinoxes. At this time, the Sun makes an annualway, crossing the plane of the equator.
In February and March, interference first affects earth stations located at northern latitudes, then covers more southern receiving stations. At the equator, the peak of this phenomenon falls on September 21 (equinox). The zone then moves to the southern hemisphere. It is the southern receiving stations that are the last to experience the influence of solar interference, which ends 3.5 weeks after the vernal equinox.
In August, September, October the situation is reversed, because the Sun begins to move in the opposite direction - to the Southern Hemisphere from the Northern. During this period, for each station, the period of interference continues for one week. Every day during this time, interference affects. Moreover, in the morning the eastern communication satellites are affected, in the evening - the western ones.
How it manifests
At first, with a weak influence, weak noises may appear on the TV screen, which become stronger during the day. At the very peak of solar interference, there is no signal from the satellite at all. Therefore, you should not worry about this and think that something has broken or the antenna has gone to the side. Everything is fine with you, and this phenomenon is completely normal.
What to do
At the very peak of the signal, in the middle of a sunny day, it is advisable to move the antenna away from the satellite line at all. This is done so that the plastic parts of the irradiators do not melt. This may threaten completefailure of converter electronics. Because of this, aluminum reflectors are very "successful" in concentrating the sun's rays at the focal point.
So if you find strong interference or a complete loss of signal from the satellite, check with your provider if solar interference has occurred or the signal is lost for another reason. If this is the effect of interference, then go up to the roof (or where you have an antenna installed) and take it to the side. And then let it have to be re-directed to the satellite. It's better than spending money on new converter electronics. Although there are easier ways. For example, you can simply cover the antenna with something opaque that does not let the sun's rays through.
Harm solar interference
First of all, due to solar interference, radio stations and television companies that relay the signal from the satellite to the air suffer. As a result of this phenomenon, they lose their signal, which is fraught with marriage on the air and loss of rating. Therefore, all self-respecting companies are preparing alternative signal sources and switching to them before solar interference fully takes effect.
The stations that receive radio signals from Express and Horizon satellites also suffer. A feature of these satellites is the movement in an inclined orbit. To receive the signal, Pansat XR4600D, Drake ESR-700 and ESR2000XT-plus receivers are used. As a result of interference, these receivers can "lose" satellites and start tracking the sun. That's whyyou have to pre-program the receivers for these satellites as stationary and turn off tracking when such a phenomenon occurs. When the interference passes, the receivers must be re-programmed to these satellites as satellites with inclined orbits. All these actions need to be done 2 times a year, and this is an extra effort. However, if the receiver's receiver is not in use, you can simply switch it to Stanby mode for the duration of solar interference.
Stations that receive signals from the satellites "Express" and "Horizont" with inclined orbits are not the last to suffer. Sometimes the watch table data may be checked for the duration of the interference. If at this time the controller is aimed at the Sun, then this will spoil the entire row of the table. As a result, a repeated disruption of signal reception cannot be avoided even if the interference has already ended on the second day. Therefore, the controller is disconnected from the network in advance and, after normal reception conditions are restored, it is turned on again. The main thing is not to miss this moment.
Ordinary users who use large diameter antennas may also suffer. In clear weather, the sun's rays are focused on the converter using this same antenna. The converter gets hot and may melt. So it will fail, and the user will have to replace it with a new one. Therefore, watch for solar interference and, when it occurs, either move the antenna to the side or cover it with cardboard or opaque film. Otherwise, the radiation of the sun withantennas will melt the receivers.
Determination of interference time
There are special programs for determining the time of solar interference. One of them is called Look, and it is distributed for free on the Web. The program is simple and even primitive, it just shows the exact date when the interference will be maximum. Also, with its help, you can find out the first and last days of the "session" of interference. To do this, from the specified date, you need to count the number of days back and forth. The number of these days is also determined by the program depending on the specified antenna diameter and range. But it is worth noting that this program only works with receiving stations in the Northern Hemisphere.
Interference Calculator
If you have not found or do not want to download the above program, you can use the online calculator. It is presented on the PanAmSat website. However, to work with it, you need to have some data.
For example, you need to know the orbital position of the satellite (you can select from the search or enter it manually), the coordinates of the receiving station (you can select your city listed in the list), frequency range, antenna diameter, season. If you have all these data, you need to enter them into the online calculator and click "Calculate". The program will show the start and end times of the interference. All data will be in HTML format, so you can print it out and hang it on the wall to always remember it.
Features of working with the calculator
Note that although this program is mostly focused on the US, it works for all receiving stations. However, there are some features of working with this program:
- When entering the antenna diameter, you must enter values with decimal places, using a dot, not a comma. Otherwise, the program will freeze and will not be able to calculate anything.
- Satellite positions are indicated in degrees west longitude from 0 to 360 W (west of the Greenwich meridian). Therefore, for satellites in the Eastern Hemisphere, you must enter values with a minus sign.
- Also, don't get confused about the dates. In the United States, the date is written like this: "month-day-year". We are used to specifying the date like this: "day-month-year".
Usually this calculator is enough to accurately calculate the onset of interference and its end. But if you can’t figure it out, then visit thematic forums on satellite television. There are usually topics for determining interference for different cities. Moreover, some providers warn users about the onset of this period and even give advice on how to "survive" it correctly.
