On Thursday, January 20, 1994, Anik E1 and Anik E2 suffered problems due to solar activity. Anik E1 failed first at 17:50 UTC, knocking out satellite-delivered television signals in Canada. After a few hours, Telesat managed to restore normal functions on Anik E1 at 00:15 UTC, on 21 January 1994. At 01:00 UTC, both the primary and redundant Anik E2 momentum wheels failed, thus eliminating the gyroscope effect that helps keep the satellite pointed correctly towards Earth. The exact problem lay with the circuitry having to do with the stabilizing momentum wheel. Anik E2 was not restored to service for five months; users had to relocate services to Anik E1 and reposition satellite dishes; for some users, such as Northwestel in northern Canada, it meant days of flying technicians from one community to another to reposition the dishes.