Pretty much when I have had enough of the day, I tell my wife that I am going to go watch bombs! That signals that I can’t stomach another rerun of The Golden Girls, or Married With Children. I will go watch whatever is on the History Channel or Discovery. Unfortunately both channels have run out of good Bomb programs, instead we are invited to watch reruns of Mike Rowe involved in scatological adventures, or people risking life and limb surviving a week in some place that no-one has ever heard of, or some unlikely reality tv series involving auctions of storage lockers!
All of these are fun for the first few times. But they get really old after seeing the same old stuff day after day.
I will be the first to admit that my TV range is a little limited. It starts at channel 202 (CNN) and ends at 286(Military). I know that this may seem odd. There are hundreds of channels available. But who would watch them?
Channels 1-50 seems to be Dr Phill, Ellen, and Jerry Springer. From there it gets worse. There are seemingly hundreds of channels dedicated to Ice Hockey, Football, Baseball and Basketball. I am sure that there are a few channels also dedicated to Lawn Bowls, Mah Jong and Beer Pong.
So I stay within my comfort zone CNN to the Military channel.
The decision to drop Cable and go with DirecTv was purely a monetary one. Of course, after two years of this fun, fees have met and exceeded my expectations. The monthly bill makes me cringe. Each month it gets bigger and bigger.
While it is great to have hundreds and hundreds of channels, (even if most of them are not available), I do have some gripes.
No one at DirecTV pointed out the hidden benefits. I like to sit outside and read or write. The porch has a hefty roof on it, but if the rain starts and the wind blows, well I hightail it inside.
What DirecTV does not explain when you sign up with them is that the system only works with good weather. A bit of rain, well you can bet that you will be staring at a black screen. What I find most frustrating though is that after a couple of minutes of the Black Screen Of Death, the TV then shows a bouncing DirecTV logo that reminds me of the classic video game Pong.
When it rains, we get this enchanting screen.
The TV industry, in fact the whole entertainment world is in a bit of a pickle. How do you supply a product that people want? Oh, and make money at the same time? In the case of DirecTV I have a suggestion. Maybe the addition of a small umbrella duct taped to the dish might help keep the rain off.
Update: please read this, it might surprise you.
Simon Barrett
6 users commented in " Adventures In DirecTV And Rain "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackOk. Im sorry, but this popped up as a DirecTV news feed. I’m an employee of DirecTV doing installations, upgrades, service calls, and work with several other satellite companies for various forms of receptions. 1. The signal is going to continue to degrade in poor weather. This happens to everyone, everywhere, and can not be avoided. The best way to fight the searching for signal message or “black screen with a bouncing logo”is tp have a properly pointed and peaked dish. This keans calling DirecTV, setting up a service call, and having the technician find the problem in your system. The satellite is 22,300 miles away from your house AND from the sending headquarters. So, the signal travels 44,600 miles just so you can seeany picture at all.
2. If the price is too high, call and cancel! Not being mean, but, on most occasions and especially if you have paid your bill on time for the duration of your contract, they won’t have any problems lowering your bill for a month; sometimes they will lower the bill for 6 months or a year. Try it.
3. The DirecTV logo that bounces is called a screen saver. If you have a high definition television it can get what’s called image retention, also called burned images, into the screen itself. Most times this can be deadly to televisions and you have to replace the whole set. DirecTV puts this screen saver in so when you lose signal and that picture freezes Im your screen, you don’t end up seeing Paula Dean’s face for the next 4 months.
5. Lastly, thank you for being a DirecTV customer. Without you, people like me would jot have work; however,
Please think twice before posting something many will see, few Will read, and no one cares about.
Monte,
All that you say is true. But my question is… Why do they not mention that it is a ‘fair weather’ only system in the ads?
And we do have a brand new dish that has been Peaked Pointed and Anointed. Maybe the FCC should take a leaf out of the FDA’s book and enforce the ‘side effects’ disclosure. This product works best in sunny conditions, if it is raining, all bets are off!
I’m an electronics “old guy” that has worked with cable, satellite, and over-the-air reception. It is true that all of the small satellite dishes are subject to “rain fade”, or signal degradation in the face of a heavy storm front. But DIRECTV uses some pretty high power satellite transponders, and as a result the black-screen is usually just a few minutes in the very heaviest of storms. Of course, where you live can also play a part, since a “storm” in FL is very different from one in WA. But if you are experiencing black screen on more than a *highly* occasional basis, I agree that a service call would be in order. The industry is too competitive, and none the providers want to lose their customer to poor service. Call them up!
Having seen neighbors here with DirectTv lose picture when we have fog and mist, I made the decision never to waste my money on a dish. Also have watched more than one rep come out on a service call with no result.
RE each monthly bill getting larger and larger,
Today it was reported by various news outlets that Directv is adding a $3 per month sports tax for watching local sports. Yikes!
Having been a Directv subscriber for more than 10 years you just learn to expect the unexpected added fees. What really drives me bonkers is the $5 monthly fee for each set top box (i.e. the basic non HD) $5 x 12 months x 10 years is $600. The box only cost a few dollars to manufacture. Pure profit… Double Yikes!!
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