ratbastid

Tully is wise in the ways of all things wire; listen to him.

It's funny, though, that you talk about snow. That's not usually the failure mode of digital signals like DirecTV. When my signal is on the edge of failing (due to extremely heavy rain--the only time it drops out), I don't get snow, I get dropouts and blockiness and picture freezes. Snow is an analog signal weakness; digital signal weakness looks entirely different.

So if it really is Poltergeist-style snow, then I think the first place I'd look is between the A/D converter (which is in the set-top box) and the TV--where the signal is analog. I'd replace the cable between the box and the TV, or at least look closely at the connections. One very simple test would be to see if the signal quality changes if you move that cable around.