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PART SIX - How does the environment affect my big dish system? Environmental factors are certainly an issue concerning your big dish satellite system. Much of your system is, after all, located outdoors, allowing exposure to the elements. Stormy weather can cause problems with your satellite dish. High winds during hurricanes, tornadoes, and other storms can cause your dish to be blown out of alignment. Worse, unusually high winds can, under the worst circumstances, even knock your dish over. If you live in areas subject to extreme wind conditions, consider the Paraclipse Classic Series satellite dishes mentioned earlier in the FAQ. Satellite dishes are also subject to periodic lightning strikes. Equipment such as a TVRO-specific surge protector (like the one made by Panamax) will help protect your satellite system from unexpected power surges. As far as rain goes, TVRO satellite dishes are not subject to rain fade the way DBS dishes are. Perhaps the worst environmental enemy of your satellite dish involves winter weather. Cold weather can damage or at least slow down the operation of the servo motor. Significant build-up of snow or ice can pull your satellite dish out of alignment or even warp the dish itself. The actuator arm can also freeze, which will prevent you from being able to move the dish out of its current position. Although there isn't a lot you can do about severe winter weather, keeping snow and ice from building up inside your dish will help insure quality signal reception and reduce the likelihood of your dish become misaligned. Use a broom to *carefully* sweep out your dish. Do not use an ice scraper on ice and DO NOT use hot water (or water of any temperature) to melt snow or ice, as this can warp your dish. The sun can also cause problem with your satellite system. Twice yearly, during the beginnings of spring and fall, satellite systems are subject to solar outages caused when the sun, the earth, and satellites over the equator are directly aligned. This can outages between 5 and 10 minutes per day and can occur for up to two weeks. Fortunately, solar outages are not a severe problem and only affect daytime reception. Wildlife can also cause problems. Nesting creatures such as birds, bees, and other insects can build nests in different areas of your satellite dish. This is especially problematic if the nest is located around the LNB and feedhorn, as this can cause reception problems. Carefully remove any nests located on your dish, taking special care in combating bee, wasp, and hornet nests. Underground animals such as gophers and moles can chew through unprotected satellite cables, causing outages. It is recommended that underground cables be protected with PVC pipe conduit.