C-Band dish blanket

IntelPennny4

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Oct 28, 2016
326
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USA
im looking for a dish blanket. something that covers the dish and dont stick to the blanket. i have seen them around on some headend dishes. if anyone knows where to buy them or has any ideas thanks
 
Buy some Tyvek from Lowes or Home Depot, and stretch it over the dish, and use some lengths of clothesline type rope to tie it to the back of the dish like you'd tie the corners of a tarp. Nothing will stick to it, so you can't tape it.

Get creative.
 
I've often wondered if the stuff they heat shrink over large boats for Winter storage would work. However, I suspect if it would work at all it would be on solid dishes only. Perforated dishes would allow wind to blow in from the backside creating a funnel shaped sail and if the wind were strong enough it could distort or damage the dish. Dunno. :what2
 
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What is the goal, to keep snow off the dish? Many dishes in our network have dish covers to keep snow off but they are very robust and heavy. A lightweight cover is going to get abused by the elements and whip around a lot.
 
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What is the goal, to keep snow off the dish? Many dishes in our network have dish covers to keep snow off but they are very robust and heavy. A lightweight cover is going to get abused by the elements and whip around a lot.
yes to keep the snow off. they are all mesh dishes. i had to brush off 9" and 1/2" ice this morning. would a heating system be better to use?
 
Most materials you would use will not block signals. However, talking from experience you are not likely to get anything to last long on the dish. Heating it is not practical, and when snow starts falling it will collapse any but the most robust covers. This is what our covers look like on a 4.5 meter dish, they probably weigh over 100 pounds. And our look angles are very low in Alaska, it will be worse where you are for snow weight, snow will not slide off like it does here they have to be taut like a drum.

S8006476.JPG
 
Most materials you would use will not block signals. However, talking from experience you are not likely to get anything to last long on the dish. Heating it is not practical, and when snow starts falling it will collapse any but the most robust covers. This is what our covers look like on a 4.5 meter dish, they probably weigh over 100 pounds. And our look angles are very low in Alaska, it will be worse where you are for snow weight, snow will not slide off like it does here they have to be taut like a drum.

View attachment 141684
i think if the cover used the arms to support it the snow would slide better?
 
i think if the cover used the arms to support it the snow would slide better?

For sure that would help, how much snow do you get and how often? What size dish? Can't hurt to try but I am not optimistic unless you get strictly dry, fluffy snow in very cold weather. Wet snow, a big problem.
 
those are the covers im looking for yes. i still thinking i may have problem with wild coming from back due to dish being mesh

Quite expensive for what they are get someone make you one and see who you go with it, what size dish/s are you covering.
 
10ft got 5 of them. im not a motor kinda person :cool: i would like to just try it and see how well it works. i get a lot of dry snow. we just got about 11" in the last 4 days. there was a little bit of ice say at most credit card thick. but i feel having the cover on there would get rid of that problem. i think its from the dish melting the snow away when it warms up and then gets cold again so it freezes on the dish again
 
Spraying the dish with something slippery, like silicone, and rotating the dish down in a snowstorm will allow the snow to slide off. In the past I've used a really slick car polish but off hand I can't remember what brand it was. You only have to do the bottom half of the dish.
 
10ft got 5 of them. im not a motor kinda person :cool: i would like to just try it and see how well it works. i get a lot of dry snow. we just got about 11" in the last 4 days. there was a little bit of ice say at most credit card thick. but i feel having the cover on there would get rid of that problem. i think its from the dish melting the snow away when it warms up and then gets cold again so it freezes on the dish again

Any pictures please :), its going to be a lot of messing around covering and uncovering five 10ft dishes, personally I would get something like a blow heater and go and defrost them as and when needed.

blow heaters - Bing images
 
yes to keep the snow off. they are all mesh dishes. i had to brush off 9" and 1/2" ice this morning. would a heating system be better to use?

When I worked for Harris Corporation, they used either electric heat blankets attached to the back of the dish or forced heated air to the back of the dish. I don't recall how much that cost but I don't think it would be cheap considering these dishes were 6 meters or larger and they had elaborate electronic systems to control when the heaters turned on and off. If you're using a 1 meter dish for Ku you might be able to get an inexpensive heat blanket for it.
 
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