Satellite Rain Fade?

one of the funniest things i’ve seen is that cable tv ad where the dude is on his roof trying to install some kind of umbrella thing over his satellite dish to prevent rain fade…

it’s nonsense for two reasons - first the sheer silliness of trying to do such a thing, but second, rain fade is not a result of the dish getting wet and it’s a shame that tv ad people propigate such a fallacy…

rain fade is cause by UPPER ATMOSPHERE moisture, not water on the dish. it’s the same principle involved when a tree poses no problem in the winter but causes problems in the summer - leaves on a tree interfere with a traditional dish signal - the water in the leaves messes up the signal. your dish doesn’t do anything other than try to centrally redirect as much of a signal as possible so that the feedhorn (that thing on a stick in the middle of the dish) can tune a real signal. water in the dish will not usually hamper this process. however, water in the atmosphere WILL - it mucks up the signal before your dish ever captures it. consequently, it is possible to experience rain fade when it’s not actually raining on your dish. go figger!

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