The sun’s presence is felt less when winter sets in, but, regardless of the cold, solar rays still affect objects in the sky — and can even cause cable television outages.
Sun outages, as noted online by both Optimum and Time Warner Cable, are satellite signal interruptions due to solar radiation interference.
They occur — in periods between February and March and September and October — when rays from the sun “overwhelm” a satellite signal, according to Optimum.
“During this time, you may experience interference with picture quality and sound when watching television. Sun outages do not affect internet or phone service,” Optimum says on its FAQ page.
Optimum published times that outages may occur this fall — the affected dates span from last Sunday, Oct. 4, to Tuesday, Oct. 13.
The times on each day vary but all range from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. In a spreadsheet available for download on Optimum.net, subscribers can even look at time the company believes specific channels will have issues.
Time Warner — while pleading with customers online to not contact customer service “regarding these intermittent outages” — informed users about potential problems in more scientific terms than Optimum.
“The arc of the sun crosses the Earth’s equator and traces a line that places it directly behind the satellites from which we download much of our video programming,” Time Warner’s FAQ page on solar interference reads.
“This causes a phenomenon known as a solar transit fade, or sun outage.”
The cable company has not yet listed specific times to be on the lookout for outages this fall, but back in March Time Warner was able to narrow affected times down to a four-day span starting March 5.
Regardless of when it happens, Time Warner doesn’t expect to solar interference to ever affect all channels at the same time.
“Your TV service would never be completely out as a result of sun outages,” it said regarding the first period in March.
