Can shortwave radio (HAM) affect my satellite tv service?

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Question by U O: Can shortwave radio (HAM) affect my satellite tv service?
Satellite TV has been dropping 3 or 4 channels on and off for about a year. In the last week it cuts off entirely for hours (up to 12) at a time. I notice a new strange antennae (about 7 feet tall) next door. Could this be affecting my signal? I asked my neighbor but he says he only listens and it should not affect my dish. Is this true?

Best answer:

Answer by percival.sweetwater
True enough. I’ll let a ham operator give more info, but essentially there is shortwave radio frequencies all around. An antenna for listening only picks up the existing waves and directs them to a receiver in his home. If those waves were to affect your tv service, it would do so, whether or not anyone had a receiving antenna.

Now, if he’s nearby and using enough power, when he transmits, it’s possible (but not likely) that he could disturb your reception. But it would be across your entire channel line-up, not just 3 or 4. And they would not surreptitiously drop out, but rather they’d distort, splatter, and go crazy with lots of buzz, static, distortion, and probably even some ham conversation.

So I seriously doubt it’s your neighbor’s ham setup. More likely your dish needs to be repositioned or something may be obstructing your LNB. Your best bet is to contact your provider about it.

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