Rain Fade: How Weather Affects Satellite TV Reception
Rain fade is the temporary loss of satellite signal during heavy rain. It is a physical inevitability, not a fault — but you can reduce it to almost nothing with the right dish size and alignment.
Why Rain Causes Fade
Satellite signals at Ku band pass through the atmosphere. Rain droplets absorb and scatter the microwaves, weakening the signal by a few decibels during a heavy downpour. A dish with plenty of margin rides through; a marginal dish drops out.
What Counts as “Plenty of Margin”?
Aim for a signal quality reading around 9–10 dB (CNB) or 85%+ on a clear day. That gives you 3–4 dB of rain fade headroom. If you are sitting at 6 dB on a clear day, every shower will knock you out.
Reducing Rain Fade
1. Step up the dish size
The single biggest fix. An 80 cm dish collects more signal than a 60 cm one and survives rain that would kill the smaller installation.
2. Use a low-noise LNB
A 0.1 dB LNB gives you back the margin a noisier one ate.
3. Peak the dish carefully
Every millimetre of extra peak is rain insurance.
What Is Acceptable Rain Fade?
In a well-sized dish, you should not notice rain fade at all, even in heavy showers. If your picture drops out in light rain, your system is undersized for your location.
Snow on the Dish
Wet snow on the dish face is worse than rain. Brush it off with a soft broom after heavy snow. Never pour hot water on the dish — it can crack the LNB.
Why It Is Worse in Some Regions
At the edge of a satellite's footprint, the incoming signal is weaker to begin with, so rain fade bites harder. If you are on the fringe, you need a bigger dish than someone in the centre.
Rain fade is physics, but it is manageable. A properly sized dish, a quiet LNB and a careful alignment make it something you rarely think about.
