BCSTech - 10-1-2011 at 09:40 AM
Started this last Thursday Sept. 29, residents in Baja will begin to experience short periods of satellite TV interference and Internet service
disruptions as the sun passes behind the belt of communications satellites on its journey south for the winter. These outages will affect
satellite-based services in Mexico, Canada, and the US, including Dish Network, DirecTV, Shaw Direct, HughesNet, Starband, SKY, and also many cable TV
channels. No need to call your service provider; the outage will pass.
For Baja California Sur, these outage periods will occur each day for about 8 days, beginning Sept. 29 in the Los Cabos region and eventually reaching
Tijuana on October 03. Depending upon which satellite you are using, these interruptions may begin anywhere from 9 AM to 3 PM, and last from 5 to 12
minutes per satellite. This twice-yearly outage cycle will be repeated in March 2012 when the sun once again returns northward.
Here is a link to a Sun Outage Calculator you can use to compute outages in your area:
http://www.satellite-calculations.com/SUNcalc/SUNcalc.htm
[Edited on 10-1-2011 by BCSTech]
El Jefe - 10-1-2011 at 01:46 PM
Thanks for this Alan. Was just going back and forth with my neighbor over the outages and we saw this. Back to relaxation mode.
By the way, Carpe Manana. 
Dish Net Outage Last Night
MrBillM - 10-5-2011 at 12:12 PM
Having nothing to do with Sun spots or the like, but since the thread is Dormant WTF :
Sitting and waiting to watch the final segment of "Prohibition" on PBS, suddenly my receiver shows a "Smart Card not authorized" Blah, Blah, Blah and
the receiver shifts to one of the "garbage" channels (as I described them to the tech), 71 (IDEA). So, I pull the card, reboot, same thing. Check
another receiver, same thing. Another, same thing. However, my two oldest receivers working fine. ???????????
Call Tech support and have to listen to a longer and longer recorded "Help" before being given the opportunity to actually talk to a Tech.
Then, the Tech wants to go through the same BS "test" routines at which point I say " Look it's happening on THREE receivers, it HAS to be a Common
problem and not related to a receiver".
THEN, the guy looks at the records and says "Oh, those three receivers are shown as disabled on your account. Did YOU have them taken off" ? "Like
10 MINUTES ago and now I'm calling because they are" ? I ask.
So, he says "I just don't understand this. Your account is up to date and there is nothing in the comments section to indicate why they're disabled.
I'll reactivate them IF that's what you want".
GEE, You Think ? Or, am I calling just for fun ?
After everything (almost everything as it turned out) was restored, I thought "Just in time" when the DVR switched to PBS only to find it wasn't
there. All of the L.A. stations were still missing in action.
Once again on the phone (15 minutes later) slugging my way through the recordings, the wife yells that those are back.
fortunately, the program repeated at 10 p.m.
While the whole thing "could" simply be some glitch in program uploads, the cynic and paranoid in me wonders if it's a new tack trying to catch people
with multiple receivers having them in different locations (not me) for whatever reason. Cut off the service and wait for them to yell.
BCSTech - 10-5-2011 at 12:28 PM
DN's EVT (Equipment Verification Team) can and will audit accounts that they suspect as being "stacked," where several receivers are on the same
account but are suspected as not being in the same location.
They will typically shut down all but the primary receiver on the account, and then wait for the account holder to call in. At this point, you are
transferred to the EVT department where they ask you to go to each receiver and read off some unique codes from within the receiver. Nasty bunch to
work with. Red Flags Include:
Multiple Receivers Not Connected to a Common US Phone Line
Subscription To The Top Package (America's Everything)
Purchased (non Leased) Receivers
Dirty Dealings with the ESBI
MrBillM - 10-5-2011 at 03:55 PM
The EchoStar Bureau of Investigation.
As I refer to them, was like being investigated as a RICO suspect by the FBI. OR, virtually any secondary inspection with ICE.
They enter into the inspection with the attitude that you're Bent and end with the (frustrated) attitude that you're Dirty, but they just didn't catch
you.
It's been about 4-5 years since THAT nonsense and I still relate it with anger.