Snow and Satellite TV

[countryguy]

Ok it is snowing here and once again I am having a problem with the snow sticking to the satellite dish and thus not be able to receive the signal. I just went out and knocked the snow off the dish. Anyone have any suggestions for keeping the snow off the dish?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[NYCWriter]

Spray the dish ...

... with Pam.

 

[wayupnorth]

Rustolium makes a Never Wet product that works great I've been told.

 

[vintagekitchen]

Seasonal answer...

I second the Pam suggestion.

Winter-- Pam on dish, Rain-X on masthead

Spring, Summer, Fall-- Rain-X on both.

 

[kb0nes]

I always used a dry Silicone spray lube, usually only had to do it once or twice a season. It helped that my dish was mounted low too so I could brush it with a broom easily. Probably only ever had to do it about three times over 13 years or so.

You have both an advantage and a disadvantage due to your latitude. Being high on the globe your dish is more vertical which helps shed the snow. But you have a longer path to the bird making signals weaker and the system can't tolerate as much dish obstruction.

Some people in heavy snow areas do well to cover the entire dish and LNB feed arm with a tightly stretched plastic trash bag. Then the snow just slides off. This is also good for areas of icing as it tends to break off the plastic bag easier then the metal dish too.

 

[mattl]

Pam will just make a gooey mess over time. Either pick up a dish heater, or use the Rustolium product.

 

[retropia]

We have a super soaker, and we fill it with low-temperature windshield washer fluid. It seems to do a good job of melting any ice or snow causing problems.

Our dish is attached to our roof, on a ranch, so it isn't too far off the ground. Still, when we re-shingle the roof, we're going to have the satellite dish remounted to a pole on the ground. It's in the back yard, there are no trees in the way, and it will be much easier to service.

We thought about the Pam suggestion, but I was concerned about it attracting dirt over time.

 

[mattl]

Pam certainly will attract dirt.  One other option is to put a large plastic bag over the dish.

 

discussion here:

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www.dbstalk.com

 

[mrb627]

Dish Warmer

A dish heater will do the trick!

Malcolm

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www.satpro.tv

 

[countryguy]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Does covering the dish with a plastic bag have any affect on the reception?

 

[kb0nes]

Covering the dish doesn't cause any problems as the majority of plastics are invisible to RF. I know people that live in places where they can't have a satellite dish so they ground mount them and cover them with a large fiberglass bolder! The only issue with covering the dish would be if the cover allows snow to accumulate on it obstructing the aperture of the antenna.

Google search satellite dish cover and you can see various commercial products. I have seen people just use heavy black plastic trash bags. The trick is installing them tight enough that they don't sag. Some of the commercial products appear to be the heat-shrinkable film like they use to cover boats which I bet would work great.

I wouldn't consider a heater unless I had a indoor switch for it. I have only ever had about 3 snow-outs over 13 years here in MN so its just not a big enough problem to warrant the use of the electricity.

 

[danemodsandy]

Satellite - Rhymes with Right:

"I know people that live in places where they can't have a satellite dish so they ground mount them and cover them with a large fiberglass bolder!"

Actually, under most circumstances, having a satellite dish is a Federally protected right, under Federal Communications Commission jurisdiction. There are a few, narrowly defined circumstances where a landlord can restrict a renter from putting up a satellite dish, but those are expressly defined, and are designed to be no more burdensome than necessary.

The existence of Federal regulations does not, of course, stop some landlords and homeowner's associations from trying to act like jackasses, but people subjected to such treatment do have recourse:

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/installing-consumer-owned-antennas-and-satellite-dishes

However, requiring homeowners to install a satellite dish under the disguise of a fiberglass boulder probably does not abrogate their right to install a dish. I can state unequivocally that I'd much rather look at an honest satellite dish than the visual horror of a fake rock.

 

[whirlcool]

Pam will just make a gooey mess over time. Either pick up a dish heater, or use the Rustolium product.

If you want to test this theory, just spray some PAM on a sheet of aluminum foil, set it aside and come back the next day to look at it. It will be very sticky and is hard to wash off.

As for ground mounting the dish, that's the best idea yet. When this house was built it had an early Echostar dish mounted on a 4' pole in the back yard. The cable from the dish ran in an underground conduit to the house. I liked it because you couldn't see the dish from anywhere around the house. And reception was great. This way you could have access to the dish for cleaning.

 

[kb0nes]

Hey Sandy, Thanks for the link to the OTARD rules. I remember some changes in 1996 regarding this but I never read the ruling.

As a Ham I have always payed closer attention to the PRB-1 ruling that effects transmitting antennas. In the Minneapolis area I don't know of any restrictions on broadcast receiving antennas or DBS dishes.

The locations that I was aware of people stealthing dishes was outside of Salt Lake City in a planned retirement community. I'd assume that it was a local CC&R that banned the DBS dishes. A friend that moved there and his neighbors had them hidden under a fiberglass half shell boulder. In the case of these dishes these were early DirecTV adopters that were installed prior to the 1996 communications act, perhaps they are allowed now.

I too am a big fan of ground mounted dishes, they are just too easy to service when they are within reach. The couple extra feet from the bird is immaterial

 

[tolivac]

Out here at the transmitter-our sat dishes that carry our programming get the snow problem with the heavy,mucky,snow we sometimes get here.Have to switch to the backup lines.than have one of the riggers get out our JD utility tractor-loader on the front,bush hog on the rear.Have him drive the tractor to the dish-I stand in the bucket with a broom-he lifts me up so I can sweep out the dish!Works everytime.Radomes-the plastic covers over sat or other dishes.Used on broadcast FM and TV antennas,too-saves having to use the "antler warmers" deicers on the antenna.These can use 6 or more Kw of power.So the radomes can save power.Our SW antenna structures are just too big to use any sort of electrical deicing equipment.Just use the old CEMCO transmitters and melt it off with the RF!!Other transmitters here trip off from the high VSWR.

 

[whirlcool]

I am surprised that large dish television stations don't use a deicing system like they do on aircraft. You spray Etheline Glycol on the surface you want deiced and it melts the ice very quickly. You put in a gutter collection system underneath the dishes for recovery of the extra deicing fluid and it can be used again, over and over.

They even could use fixed nozzles around the parameter of the dish and then just press a button to deice it.

 

[wiskybill]

Now that we've had snow..

I picked this up at the local Menards. $3.99 I haven't used the
snow blower yet but it's ready to go.

This may serve this purpose for a dish too.

 

[goatfarmer]

Move to Key Biscayne, Fla?

 

[wayupnorth]

Here we go again. Our 3rd dump of heavy, wet cement the snowblower cant handle so far this season. NOT looking forward to shoveling my 150 ft. driveway tomorrow AGAIN. I have had no issues with my satellite so far...