Thread: Rain Shield

I just tested a FANTASTIC new product designed to combat rain fade, its called Rain Shield and is PERFECT for FTA dish. I have included a few pictures here, and you can click on the link for the full review from the General satellite area. Only a matter of time until every dish has a coating of this wonder product...........

I treated my 36" dish to an application and it goes a LONG way to keeping your signal quality level up during storms.


More pictures here......


http://hometown.aol.com/installsat/m...age/index.html

http://www.psbsatellite.com/Page_3.php

With nearly 20 years in satellite I have NEVER seen a product like "Rain Shield" before. There is only one word for it AMAZING!

It comes in a spray form and is applied to your clean dry satellite dish and LNBF. I recently tried it out for myself in the back yard and the results were nothing less than stunning. I masked off half of a DirecTV dish and applied a couple of coats of "Rain Shield" leaving 20 minutes between applications.

I hooked up a water hose and started to flood the dish and LNBF with the spray, no matter what I did I could not get the "Rain Shield" side wet. Rain Shield acts as a surfactant and the water beads up and rolls off the dish acting very much like mercury, this stuff is incredible and I think its only a matter of time until EVERY satellite dish will have a coating of RAIN SHIELD.

The company that developed it in conjunction with chemists is called King Controls, and they will have a booth at the Satellite Expo 2005, they will have a live demonstration where you will be able to see it with your own eyes. Stop by and say hello and tell em PSB sent you

Please have a look at the below links for more info and the staggering results of my test. It also includes details of how to buy some of this amazing product. After my tests I gave my 36" dish a treat and coated the relector and LNBF with Rain Shield, next day we had a summer storm so I ran up to take a few pictures.............waste of time the dish and LNBF were BONE dry, this product is a god send for people living in areas prone to rain fade and it will even work with that sticky snow that can be a real pain in winter time. In my honest unbiased opinion this is a must have product to anyone serious about satellite reception.............. Still reeling after my tests! I make no money from this product but just had to share it with the members here at SatelliteGuys.US Remember where you heard of this "stuff" first!

This product is also know as "Dome Magic" for Domed satellite systems used in the RV. industry.



"What is rain fade?

Rain and snow can have a negative effect on satellite signal reception making the digital picture freeze, pixel or go out altogether. This loss of signal is commonly referred to as “rain fade” or signal attenuation. Satellite television reception is affected by two factors:



1. Water in the atmosphere

2. Water on the dish and LNB



To prevent loss of picture due to attenuation, satellite service providers transmit signals down with extra power in areas where it rains frequently. This extra power is called the rain fade margin. In many cases, the loss of signal strength due to rain is not more than the rain fade margin, so you can still be watching TV when it rains. You lose picture when there is enough water in the atmosphere to completely block the signal, or more likely when the signal loss caused by a combination of water in the atmosphere and water on the dish and LNB exceed the rain fade margin.



How does Rain Shield prevent rain fade?

King’s Rain Shield eliminates the negative effects of rain and snow on the dish and LNB. While it does not prevent the reduction in signal due to excessive water in the atmosphere, it prevents rain on the dish and LNB from dropping the signal any further. In other words, when you eliminate the effects of water on the dish and LNB, the rain fade margin only needs to overcome the loss of signal in the atmosphere. It is very seldom that water in the atmosphere alone is enough to make you lose TV picture.



Snow has a similar effect on satellite signal when it starts to melt. Water or melting snow on the dish and LNB cause signal loss much the same as rain will. Without King’s Rain Shield, wet snow can stick to the dish and LNB. When the snow melts, the resulting water will run off in sheets that cause signal strength to be reduced. With King’s Rain Shield applied, snow and water will not stick to the dish and LNB. Water just rolls off in balls rather than spreading in wide sheets and therefore does not have any negative effect on signal reception.





How long will it last?

One application of Rain Shield will last about a year when applied as directed



How many applications per can?

Each 5 oz. can provides 4-7 applications on average. Customers in climates where wet snow is common will want to apply a thicker coat of Rain Shield on the dish, LNB and LNB arm to prevent snow buildup. In areas where snow is not expected, a thinner coat can be applied.



How is this different than other stuff I’ve tried?

Satellite installers have tried just about everything imaginable to prevent rain and snow from causing signal loss. While vegetable sprays and lubricants offer modest protection from snow buildup on the dish, the greasy surface attracts dirt and bugs, discolors the dish and eventually does more harm than good. Other rain repellants work on glass but will harm the plastic LNB lens. Dish covers made of waterproof materials work in certain types of weather conditions but not others. Only King’s Rain Shield works equally well in all types of weather. It’s also self cleaning, so you don’t need to worry about negatively changing the appearance of the dish.



Where can I get Rain Shield?

Call King Controls at (800) 982-9920 (Tell em PSB sent you)

Adding some snow pictures..........
Guess what side of the dish has Rain Shield on (hydrophobic)

"Rain Shield" in action..........

Had to cancel an install yesterday because of ice then snow on a roof! Gave me a chance (last ?) to take some more snow pictures......

Snowing pretty heavy right now!

The 36" dish has been treated with rain shield, half the DirecTV dish and the C-Band dish have not.

2' of snow and still 80+% signal quality

C-Band signal has went out due to the weight of snow on the dish!

Here is a comparison view of the 36" dish front and back, of course only the front has the Rain Shield.....

Here is a sample letter from a local "NICE" customer I JUST received.....

"Pete,


After all the blowing, heavy snow last night and this morning we have no
satellite reception. I checked, and the whole surface of the dish is covered
by maybe five cm or more of the nasty staff. I guess the best and safest
thing to do is wait for the snow to melt which will probably happen during
the next few days. !

"Laz"

More close up pictures..............


http://hometown.aol.com/installsat/m...age/index.html

STOP PRESS :

Now available in single packet applications!


http://www.kingdom2.com/Accessories.htm

Adding some recent comments on Rain Shield (Dome Magic)


Tony / ICEBERG
SatelliteGuys.US

"Other than the really dark clouds, it does work when it rains. I have it on 3 of my dishes and the one that isn't covered (StarChoice dish) went out before my G10 dish did

We get lots of snow here in Minnesota so I'm kinda looking forward to see how it works in snow"

------------------------
DMSi
Tim Hienrichs

"While it's true that it doesn't help prior to a rain when the signal is blocked by water laden clouds, what it WILL do is allow your signal to return much sooner. If the signal stopped before it started to rain, it will return before it stops raining. Using a product that doesn't allow water to bead up on the dish and LNBF makes a huge difference when the signal starts to return. Water beads on the LNBF lense is critical and it really doesn't take too many to make your picture pixel and/or freeze. Over the years we've used many products to try to avoid this problem.

Rain Shield is by no means a perfect solution, but it will definately cut the aggravation factor way back."

--------------------------------

SatelliteAV
Brian Gohl

"Add one more endorsement ......

A year and a half ago I was a non-believer and thought that Rain Shield was a joke. Then .... at the 2005 Satellite Expo I saw a demonstartion. I am totally amazed by the advantages of this product!

Water streaming across the face of a reflector is not a major issue, but water streaming across the LNBF cap is! Simply applying the Rain Shield to the LNBF lens then streamig water across brought a 90% dry signal from below threshold 50% signal on Dish Network signal to a 75% locking signal. While water streaming on the reflector seemed to only affect the signal less than 10%.

The major demonstration of abilities of Rain Shield is on a mobile dome satellite system. These systems are known for loss of signal in any medium downpour as the streaming water on the dome surface reflects the signal and does not allow adequate signal to pass through the dome. Application of Rain Shield almost eliminates this problem. Demonstrations showed that the signal on a dome without Rain Shield dropped from a 85% to 30%, but with Rain Shield the signal dropped to 70%.

Of course a larger reflector will maximize the gain resulting in reduced outages caused by signal attenuation, but reducing the amount of standing water on the LNBF cannot be addressed by the dish size."


------------------------------

drhydro
SatelliteGuys.US

"I am testing rain shield on a couple of my dishs. So far it seems to make a difference as to how the rain beads and comes off of the dish. Cant wait to see how well it works this winter"

Gave my 36" SatelliteAV dish an application of Rain Shield (Dome magic) using one of the single wipes! More than enough, and goes on REAL thick! With the remnants I had some fun with my dish farm!

POURING rain right now and I am seeing the best results EVER with these single wipe applications! Remember the below dish are inverted and with a regular off-set dish the beads of water would roll right off!

I wiped PSB on each untreated side of my black dish. Have a look at the picture of my 36" dish BONE DRY in POURING torrential rain, did not lose any Ku channels during HOURS of rain!