Losing UK TV channels during the morning ? Not to worry, its the Biannual Satellite TV Solar Outage Time Again – October 2023

It is that time of year again when the Sun / Solar Outage can affect the power of satellite signals your satellite dish is receiving, resulting in a loss of some of the more weaker UK TV channels.

This is information for people who may be experiencing this for the first time, and a nice reminder for those that have lived here before.

This occurrence happens in March and October for a couple of weeks every year, around the time of the Spring and Autumn equinox. In the northern hemisphere, sun outages occur before the March equinox (February, March) and after the September equinox (September and October).

View a video of the solar outage occurring here

 

This “satellite solar outage” happens at around 10.30 – 11.30 am and can last for upto 20 minutes.

This outrage happens when the sun passes right behind the satellites. The energy from the sun swamps out the satellite signals, resulting in a temporary loss of the weak TV channels.

Do not panic, your temporary loss of signals will resolve itself and just start working again as soon as the sun moves out of the position

 

 

 

It is also a good time for a bit of housekeeping, as you can use this outage time to see if there are any trees and shrubs casting shadows onto the dish, which means they can be reducing and blocking the signals from the satellite to your dish.

This can also have an effect on satellite signals at night, as 12 hours after the solar outage, the satellites are totally in the earths shadow, and receive no solar energy, and so rely on weak battery power, which reduced the signal output of the satellites for a few minutes.

More information on this solar outage can be found here : https://www.satandpcguy.com/uk-tv-astra-satellites/satellite-solar-outage/