Airport radar, TV transmitters and mobile phone antennas situated nearby the dish can cause reception problems due to interference with the TV signal.  Other factors are more obvious, such as trees, foliage, metal and wooden structures.  They all have the potential to block the incoming TV signal.

Weather can be another factor and, because high temperatures can cause digital noise in the system, some people find that reception in winter can sometimes be better than in the summer.  Clear, dry, cloudless days will often result in better reception than damp, humid, cloudy ones. It is even possible that reception can be badly affected or completely lost in heavy rain or snow.
As the quality of reception varies widely across Madrid, due to the many possible environmental factors detailed above, we prefer to recommend a 180cm dish in all areas. And if you want to be a 100% sure to not lose any channels during bad weather, a 240cm dish is the solution.

Of course, it may not always be possible to mount a 180cm dish in every location, and although it does give great results, a 120cm can be a good compromise in those situations.

In order for us to guarantee a reception pattern like the one in the chart below, we only install the very best fibreglass satellite dishes in conjunction with premium quality LNB’s.  Although the fibreglass dishes are more costly than cheaper, but inferior, metal dishes, fibreglass dishes are worth the extra investment because they generate a much stronger, more reliable signal.