<html><head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head><body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">The email I received from
Astound/RCN said these outages would affect "TV service", but didn't
mention Internet.<br>
<br>
These cable channel solar outages have got to be affecting all local
cable providers equally.<br>
<br>
Cable channels are distributed via geosynchronous communication
satellites. During a period a few days before the spring equinox and
after the fall equinox, for a
few minutes each day the sun appears directly "behind" the satellite a
cable provider's receiving antenna is pointed at, and the solar
radiation overwhelms the receiver. A cable provider's "head end" site
in a given region will have a small cluster of receiving antennas
pointing in slightly
different directions at the various satellites; each will experience
slightly different solar outages.<br>
<br>
There may be "landline" backups for the several major television
networks (I don't know), but the so-called Multichannel Video
Programming Distributors offer so many channels that satellite is the
only realistic/economic way to distribute them.<br>
<br>
The Wikipedia article <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_outage">Sun
outage</a> offers more detail, including the following:<br>
<br>
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">Sun outages occur before the March
equinox (in February and March) and after the September equinox (in
September and October) for the Northern Hemisphere, and occur after the
March equinox and before the September equinox for the Southern
Hemisphere. At these times, the apparent path of the Sun across the sky
takes it directly behind the line of sight between an earth station and a
satellite. The Sun radiates strongly across the entire spectrum,
including the microwave frequencies used to communicate with satellites
(C band, Ku band, and Ka band), so the Sun swamps the signal from the
satellite. The effects of a Sun outage range from partial degradation
(increase in the error rate) to the total destruction of the signal. The
effect sweeps from north to south from approximately 20 February to 20
April, and from south to north from approximately 20 August to 20
October, affecting any specific location for less than 12 minutes a day
for a few consecutive days.<br>
</div>
<br>
Ken Pogran<br>
<br>
<span>Mitchell I. Wolfe wrote on 2/28/22 1:05 PM:</span><br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:cbbedba41eef8a942fecf951c14dc3e2@vinebrook.com">
<p><a href="https://www.astound.com/support/tv/sun-outages/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" moz-do-not-send="true">Here</a> is the
RCN (Astound Broadband) explanation. It includes the following:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>"The sun outage happens only during
the day between <span class="shortcode-brand-content rcn none">10:30 AM
and 5:30 PM ET</span> (no sun, no interference) and is brief, lasting
for a few minutes—from 5 minutes, up to 15 minutes."</em></p>
<p>-- Mitch</p>
<p id="reply-intro">On 2022-02-28 11:23, Robert Primak wrote:</p>
<blockquote type="cite" style="padding: 0 0.4em; border-left: #1010ff
2px solid; margin: 0"><div id="replybody1">
<div>
<div class="v1ydpafe3c785yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family: Helvetica
Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<div> </div>
<div dir="ltr">Comcast/Xfinity has not made such an announcement. Maybe
we on Comcast have a better backup system? Something to consider when
choosing a provider? </div>
<div dir="ltr"> </div>
<div dir="ltr">Or maybe Comcast is simply not telling us something? </div>
<div dir="ltr"> </div>
<div dir="ltr">I haven't had any scheduled recordings yet since Feb.
27th, so I'll just have to stand by and stay tuned.</div>
<div dir="ltr"> </div>
<div dir="ltr">-- Bob Primak</div>
<div dir="ltr"> </div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div id="v1yahoo_quoted_6406982207" class="v1yahoo_quoted">
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
font-size: 13px; color: #26282a;">
<div>On Monday, February 28, 2022, 11:06:14 AM EST, Martin Kafka
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:mpkafka@rcn.com"><mpkafka@rcn.com></a> wrote:</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div id="v1yiv5347932207">
<div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;">I received
this message from my Internet Provider, RCN, recently re-names as
Astound Broadband.</div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;"> </div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;">There could
be some brief internet ser4vice disruptions between Feb 27th and March
9th.</div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;"> </div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;"> </div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;">
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal;
font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85);"><strong
class="v1yiv5347932207">Astound Broadband Powered by RCN <<a
class="v1yiv5347932207" href="mailto:astound@connect.astound.com"
rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true">astound@connect.astound.com</a>></strong></div>
</div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;"> I am
posting to our group in case other provider satellites could be affected
as well.</div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;"> </div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;"> </div>
<div class="v1yiv5347932207" style="word-wrap: break-word;">Marty Kafka</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br>
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