Sun Outages

 

What are sun outages?

Twice a year, all television customers (not just Easton Utilities customers) may experience some degree of television interference due to sun outages. Sun outages occur when the sun passes behind a satellite that transmits television programming. As with all cable systems, most of the programming on Easton Velocity is transmitted from satellites. During the mini-eclipses, when the satellite and sun are in line, Easton’s earth station receives signals from both. The more powerful sun rays interfere with the satellite signal causing anything from slight signal degradation to complete signal loss.

 

When do sun outages happen and how long they last?

Sun outages occur twice a year (spring and fall) and last approximately about a week each time.

 

What kind of outage or interference can I expect?

During the sun outage, you may experience a pixelated picture, picture freezes, or audio distortions for a brief period of time.

 

Are certain channels or frequencies more susceptible to sun outages?

On different days it could be different satellites and channels impacted. Some channels will be impacted for a few days, but the duration of the signal loss will be shorter as the week passes.

 

How do I tell if it is caused by a sun outage or something is wrong with my cable?

Sun outages happens only during the day between 11am and 5:30pm (no sun, no interference) and are brief, usually lasting around 10-12 minutes and sometimes up to 45 minutes.

 

What should I do during a sun outage?

Easton Utilities apologizes for any inconvenience a sun outage may cause. However, solar satellite interference is out of our control. Please be patient and everything will get back to normal. If you have any questions about sun outages, please contact us at 410-822-6110.