Solar Outages 1-11 April for OPTUS D1

[Freeviewshop Administrator]

Due to the position of the sun we can expect to have solar outages on OPTUS D1 at about 1:30pm from the 1st until the 11th of April. Here are some calculations for the expected outages for a correctly lined up dish for OPTUS D1 around NZ:

Solar Outages on a 65cm dish for Optus D1 - Auckland         

Predicted Outage    Duration    Start           End
mm/dd/yyyy         mm:ss       hh:mm:ss    hh:mm:ss 
--------------------   -----------   ------------   ------------
4/01/2012    08:55        13:27:26     13:36:21
4/02/2012    11:25        13:25:53     13:37:18
4/03/2012    12:45        13:24:54     13:37:39
4/04/2012    13:15        13:24:23     13:37:38
4/05/2012    13:05        13:24:12     13:37:17
4/06/2012    12:10        13:24:21     13:36:31
4/07/2012    10:20        13:24:59     13:35:19
4/08/2012    06:50        13:26:26     13:33:16

Solar Outages on a 65cm dish for Optus D1 - Hamilton         

Predicted Outage    Duration    Start           End
mm/dd/yyyy         mm:ss       hh:mm:ss    hh:mm:ss 
--------------------   -----------   ------------   ------------
4/01/2012    07:54        13:28:08     13:36:02
4/02/2012    10:55        13:26:16     13:37:11
4/03/2012    12:30        13:25:13     13:37:43
4/04/2012    13:15        13:24:32     13:37:47
4/05/2012    13:15        13:24:16     13:37:31
4/06/2012    12:30        13:24:20     13:36:50
4/07/2012    10:55        13:24:53     13:35:48
4/08/2012    08:05        13:26:01     13:34:06

Solar Outages on a 65cm dish for Optus D1 - Napier/Hastings         

Predicted Outage    Duration    Start           End
mm/dd/yyyy         mm:ss       hh:mm:ss    hh:mm:ss 
--------------------   -----------   ------------   ------------
4/01/2012    05:10        13:30:05     13:35:15
4/02/2012    09:35        13:27:35     13:37:10
4/03/2012    11:50        13:26:11     13:38:01
4/04/2012    13:00        13:25:17     13:38:17
4/05/2012    13:20        13:24:51     13:38:11
4/06/2012    13:00        13:24:44     13:37:44
4/07/2012    11:55        13:24:58     13:36:53
4/08/2012    09:45        13:25:46     13:35:31
4/09/2012    05:50        13:27:28     13:33:18

Solar Outages on a 65cm dish for Optus D1 - Nelson         

Predicted Outage    Duration    Start           End
mm/dd/yyyy         mm:ss       hh:mm:ss    hh:mm:ss 
--------------------   -----------   ------------   ------------
4/02/2012    07:24        13:26:38     13:34:02
4/03/2012    10:40        13:24:44     13:35:24
4/04/2012    12:25        13:23:32     13:35:57
4/05/2012    13:10        13:22:51     13:36:01
4/06/2012    13:20        13:22:30     13:35:50
4/07/2012    12:40        13:22:34     13:35:14
4/08/2012    11:15        13:22:58     13:34:13
4/09/2012    08:35        13:24:01     13:32:36
4/10/2012    02:15        13:26:56     13:29:11

Solar Outages on a 65cm dish for Optus D1 - Christchurch         

Predicted Outage    Duration    Start           End
mm/dd/yyyy         mm:ss       hh:mm:ss    hh:mm:ss 
--------------------   -----------   ------------   ------------
4/03/2012    08:50        13:25:03     13:33:53
4/04/2012    11:25        13:23:29     13:34:54
4/05/2012    12:45        13:22:30     13:35:15
4/06/2012    13:15        13:21:59     13:35:14
4/07/2012    13:10        13:21:43     13:34:53
4/08/2012    12:15        13:21:57     13:34:12
4/09/2012    10:35        13:22:30     13:33:05
4/10/2012    07:25        13:23:49     13:31:14

Solar Outages on a 65cm dish for Optus D1 - Invercargill         

Predicted Outage    Duration    Start           End
mm/dd/yyyy         mm:ss       hh:mm:ss    hh:mm:ss 
--------------------   -----------   ------------   ------------
4/03/2012    04:40        13:24:50     13:29:30
4/04/2012    09:25        13:22:10     13:31:35
4/05/2012    11:40        13:20:47     13:32:27
4/06/2012    12:55        13:19:53     13:32:48
4/07/2012    13:20        13:19:22     13:32:42
4/08/2012    13:05        13:19:11     13:32:16
4/09/2012    12:05        13:19:25     13:31:30
4/10/2012    10:10        13:20:08     13:30:18
4/11/2012    06:40        13:21:36     13:28:16

Satellite solar outages occur because the sun which is a powerful broadband microwave noise source passes directly behind the satellite and the satellite receiver’s loose reception for approximately 5-15 minutes per day for a little over a week.

The actual part of the world undergoing solar outages at any time of the year is directly related to the latitude which is directly in line with the satellite and sun. Solar outages always occur within 3 1/2 weeks of the equinoxes, when the sun crosses the equator during its annual journey north and south.

[satboy]

Due to the position of the sun we can expect to have solar outages on OPTUS D1 at about 2:30pm from the 1st until the 11th of April.

Isn't the duration of this based on predicted flare activity and is as accurate as predicting atmospheric weather conditions?  ie, computer modeling of historical data.  Also the same thing should happen witth other Optus birds but at a delayed time based on their positions.

[Freeviewshop Administrator]

Isn't the duration of this based on predicted flare activity and is as accurate as predicting atmospheric weather conditions?  ie, computer modeling of historical data.  Also the same thing should happen witth other Optus birds but at a delayed time based on their positions.

No neither the flare activity or atmospheric conditions will make much difference, it is just simple geometry when the sun is within beam width for the dish the microwave noise from the sun will drown out the signal from the satellite. Yes it will happen with the other satellites also e.g. outages for OPTUS D2 will occur approx 35 minutes later than the ones for OPTUS D1

[Wild Bill]

Hi Lars,

Thanks for all that info and times. - Also the times for D2. - That will be valuable info for our customers, especially if it's a wet Easter and they're all sitting inside in the afternoons watching TV!

One question, since daylight saving ends on 1st April, are those times our standard time or "Summer time"?

Cheers,    Wild Bill.

[Freeviewshop Administrator]

One question, since daylight saving ends on 1st April, are those times our standard time or "Summer time"?

Hi Bill, Yes you are right I have updated the times to reflect the time being GMT+12 (forgot about that whoops) it will all be an hour earlier. Thanks for finding that mistake.