roof satellite

butterfly610 · Dec 8, 2014

Can anyone who has a rooftop satellite tell me if they work during winter? We are sitting with barely any snow out and can't get the signal to work. If it does, and you have to clear it, any suggestions on a way to clear it off?

Dynamite 1 · Dec 8, 2014

Do you have a dome or a dish and what service provider do you have.

butterfly610 · Dec 8, 2014

I have a dome. It's an in motion satellite and we have dish network.

Turtle · Dec 8, 2014

It could be a little snow on the dome, coupled with clouds, is enough to do it.

I don't have a dome, I have the Tailgater from Dish, and I rarely have problems. Only during heavy downpours, really. Can't recall any snow problems I've ever had, even with the snow sticking to the side of the enclosure, which I found surprising, since I expected to not get a signal.

I've read of people having to use some kind of repellent spray on the domes to deal with water on there, so the domes may be problematically sensitive, I dunno. Wish I had some advice for you.

Dynamite 1 · Dec 9, 2014

Sorry I didn't get back to this sooner. Hopefully it's fixed itself, if not, here are a few things to try but snow should not be a problem unless it is actually snowing outside then that can disrupt signal. We have the exact same set up as you.

Try turning the the dome off the back on to let it search again.

Do the same but reset the receiver first.

In some places we have found we have to face the truck south or west in order to get signal especially when in the north. We are in Maine now and if not facing south we can't get signal.

Make sure you are not parked to close to a line of trees or building directly to your west or south.

Finally, after you turn the dome off then on and it starts it will make certain sounds you should be able to hear. First it will spin free in a circle in each direction. You should be able to identify this by a, for lack of a better description, humming noise that lasts for about 30 seconds or so then a few other short noises that sound like continuous short bursts of humming. If all this is happening then the dome itself should be ok. If you don't here the short bursts at the end that can last as long as 5 or 10 minutes before they stop then there could be a problem with the GPS locator in the dome, but I doubt it, unless it works setting still but won't work running down the road then that is the problem.

Check out these fixes and see if any work and let us know. Hopefully it fixed by now. No tv, no good.

tknight · Dec 9, 2014

You didn't paint it did ya paint will kill it so will a dirty rain I had one on my Mh and had to keep it clean

butterfly610 · Dec 9, 2014

Thanks for the info. It finally started working. The HD channels wouldn't come in for some reason though. Well, 1 did...but it was 1 we didn't want to watch lol. We drove to the store down the street in hopes any buildup would fall off, and it did. Started working after that. Usually we don't have to face south, so maybe we are just too far up north NOT to face south. Will try that next time.

Turtle · Dec 9, 2014

The HD channels are mostly on satellite 129, which is really low in the sky if you are in the northeast. I don't think you can even pick it up in Maine, for example. So the farther north you get, the weaker the signal will be, and any little thing like rain, snow or clouds can exacerbate it.

Now, that's if you are using the western arc satellites 110, 119 and 129.

If you are using the eastern arc satellites of 61.5 (HD), 72.7, and 77, then nevermind.