INCOMPETENCE, LAZINESS, STUPIDITY OR LACK OF CONCERN - WHERE IS THE LINE?

When something goes wrong, where does one place the blame? In most instances, people tend to blame the weather, unforseen circumstances or equipment failure long before citing human error. In each and every case however, human error - somewhere in the line of events - is to blame.

Let's take for example the loss of satellite television programming during inclement weather (we'll use snow in this case). When a satellite dish (or the horn) is covered with snow, there can be degradation of the signal below the threshold of viability to the point that programming is not available. At this point, most people argue that the weather is the culprit, and indeed, on-screen information may well inform the end-user that it's the fault of weather, trees, etc... but look further.

Had someone properly aligned the dish to the satellite, the problem may not have occurred as the signal strength may have been sufficient to overcome any amount of snow covering the dish/horn.

If the strength of the signal, due to location or other factors is so low that it could not withstand the interference of the snow, then the dish was adjusted improperly, mounted in the wrong place, or the type/design of the dish/horn was inadequate for the surroundings and desired performance. If the design of the dish was adequate and was proper in its application, then the signal strength gain of the receiver is inadequate.

If it is known that the signal strength is low, steps to prevent snow build-up (on the dish/horn) should have been taken - be that with a cover (made for the purpose), sheltering the dish, spraying the dish with Pam (brand) cooking spray a couple times a year to prevent snow from sticking to it or just getting off the couch once in awhile to brush snow off the dish before it accumulates too much.

Finally, if the signal does drop, and the receiver fails to automatically reset, don't blame the system - reset the receiver and blame yourself... it's a YOU problem.