Why do I sometimes get no signal or poor reception only during the day?

Sun outage may affect your digital TV reception if you receive it via satellite.

What is sun outage?

It's a technical phenomenon which typically occurs during the months of March/April and September/October, and can last as long as 15 minutes a day and take place over a period of 15 days. On these days your reception may be affected.  For example, you may see the "No Signal" message on your television for a short period of time, up to 10 minutes. Normal service will resume after this time.

Why does it happen?

It happens because the radio frequency noise from the sun is at its peak strength and can interfere with the satellite signal, resulting in a brief service interruption.

Symptoms

You may experience temporary noise or service interruptions. Different areas will be affected on different dates and times during this period.

The effects of a sun outage vary from minimal to total outage throughout the 15 day period. Once it reaches its peak, the interference will gradually decrease becoming less noticeable each day after.

Longer outages

If you are experiencing the outage for longer periods of time, it's likely a symptom that your antenna is not operating in optimum condition. The dish may be affected by corrosion or rain fade, which amplifies the effects of these sun outages.  This is especially likely if your satellite dish is more than a few years' old and hasn't had its LNB (Low Noise Blocker) replaced during that time.

We recommend contacting an installer who can address any problems on-site and prevent any future reception issues.

UHF aerial

If you’re using a UHF aerial and not a satellite dish, your aerial may not be correctly positioned or aligned, or it may be too close to high powered machinery that produce radio interference with your TV signal. It’s best to contact your installer to check the aerial and realign or reposition it if necessary.  If you don't have a trusted installer, you can find one near you in this installer directory.