Best solution for keeping snow off my dish

[AZ.]

Best solution I have found is living in AZ.

Unless you live in the North or East high country that is.......We get wet snow up here so if it snows dish will drop out...I have a block heater on mine on the HD side...keeps 75% clear...Plug it in 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[ChadT41]

I'm in the Valley...

 

[Stormy_2021]

We've tried both Rain-X and a flamethrower here in Maine...

I can recommend not using the flamethrower...

 

[Bob Haller]

attach a galaxy node 7, the firestarter cell phone to the back of the dish, and charge when things are frozen... that will heat fast

i firmly believe in putting dishes where they can easily be reached./

makes snow clearance and troubleshooting a snap........

that from wheni had dish....

comcast with cablecards solved all that.

tivos software tends to be rock solid. something i could never say about dish.....

 

[dishcomm]

I did some poking around and found a few threads, but nothing seemed very current. I was curious what is recommended as the best solution for heating my dish to keep off unwanted snow and ice. Last night we had our first wet heavy snow and I lost signal. I finally got a few channels back around 930 today, but still not everything. I started to looking in to heating solution and found a few that you may stick on the back of the dish, other say they use a few flood lamps when needed. I am just curious to see what others do when the dish is on the roof. I am looking to be efficient and also cost effective if possible. thanks

a broom

 

[dishcomm]

I did some poking around and found a few threads, but nothing seemed very current. I was curious what is recommended as the best solution for heating my dish to keep off unwanted snow and ice. Last night we had our first wet heavy snow and I lost signal. I finally got a few channels back around 930 today, but still not everything. I started to looking in to heating solution and found a few that you may stick on the back of the dish, other say they use a few flood lamps when needed. I am just curious to see what others do when the dish is on the roof. I am looking to be efficient and also cost effective if possible. thanks

all kidding aside. it depends on the temp. A light powdery type snow will have little if any effect on signal. A heavier wet snow is different. just a half inch on the face of the antenna and your signal is kaput.
Use as a first defense, a non stick frying pan spray such as PAM....
If snow is a challenge for you, go on line to sites such as perfect10.com and search for devices for antenna protection.

 

[Jeffrey L Milyard]

I'm still trying to decide if it's more important to clear the dish or clear the LNBs.

Dish. Lnb does not face upwards so should not accumulate

 

[ChadT41]

Dish. Lnb does not face upwards so should not accumulate

4 years a little late for that answer of assistance...

 

[Jeffrey L Milyard]

I'm still trying to decide if it's more important to clear the dish or clear the LNBs.

Dish. Lnb does not face upwards so should not accumulate

I use small black trash bag on dish, and tape a piece of acrylic plastic on lnb, the plastic extends a couple inch over the front of lnb. On rare occasions when snow sticks to bag, it is very easy to remove.
Dan

Direct TV does not recommend any sprays or covers. My Dish got covered and stopped 1 hrs after snow started broom cleared it and an hour later had to redo. I have no outside electrical outlets or I would get a heater

 

[ChadT41]

Dish. Lnb does not face upwards so should not accumulate
Direct TV does not recommend any sprays or covers. My Dish got covered and stopped 1 hrs after snow started broom cleared it and an hour later had to redo. I have no outside electrical outlets or I would get a heater

Check the years of the posts you're responding to.

 

[Inclined Orbit]

I worked part time in the DirecTV ODU lab where this topic came up a few times. DirecTV and at least one dish mfr tested all the spray on slippery options and found they might make a slight improvement in keeping snow from sticking but its very short lived. You would have to clean the dish and reapply the coating probably every few months to keep it working. Heaters can work to a certain extent but after you reach a certain temp the ones on the market around 2005 couldn't keep up. The dish is a big heatsink and it dumps whatever heat is generated from a dish heater pretty fast. There may be newer dish heaters or blankets for the back that might do better these days.

Any huge uplink antenna for Dish or DIrecTV thats located in an area that might snow has the back of the dish completely covered and sealed and is equipped with an elaborate propane heater that keeps snow from sticking. They can actually distort the reflector and modify the antenna pattern some when they fire up but that's what you have to live with in cold country. I've worked on a few smaller Ka uplink dishes in the 3.8m range that had special AC heating blankets and insulation on the back side and they pulled a horrendous amount of current at 120 volts.

 

[ChadT41]

I worked part time in the DirecTV ODU lab where this topic came up a few times. DirecTV and at least one dish mfr tested all the spray on slippery options and found they might make a slight improvement in keeping snow from sticking but its very short lived. You would have to clean the dish and reapply the coating probably every few months to keep it working. Heaters can work to a certain extent but after you reach a certain temp the ones on the market around 2005 couldn't keep up. The dish is a big heatsink and it dumps whatever heat is generated from a dish heater pretty fast. There may be newer dish heaters or blankets for the back that might do better these days.

Any huge uplink antenna for Dish or DIrecTV thats located in an area that might snow has the back of the dish completely covered and sealed and is equipped with an elaborate propane heater that keeps snow from sticking. They can actually distort the reflector and modify the antenna pattern some when they fire up but that's what you have to live with in cold country. I've worked on a few smaller Ka uplink dishes in the 3.8m range that had special AC heating blankets and insulation on the back side and they pulled a horrendous amount of current at 120 volts.

Helps that the uplink center for 61.5(or atleast the main one) is in Gilbert, AZ. That was my first introduction to dish as my friends mom was a security guard there when I was a teenager and we use to go check it out. Then I began working there.

 

[solarvic]

The FROST KING pipe heat tape works well. A friend had his dish on the roof and I glued it on the back of the dish and run a good quality outside extension cord he had. Make sure you get a heat tape with the thermostat built into it.