Snow on the dish

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lacubs

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Oct 9, 2007
1,594
42
Erie, Pa
i was without DirecTV for a day, because Erie got a big snow storm, would a cover help, or putting Silicone on the dish?

thanks
 
Nope.. both bad ideas.. just hit it lightly with a broom. If you need to be creative cold water and soap.
yesterday , my brother was over and unfortunately my dish is to high for him to reach, unlike his dish where at his apartment where he can reach his bedroom room and clean it off, what about super soaker? can we that with hot water
 
yesterday , my brother was over and unfortunately my dish is to high for him to reach, unlike his dish where at his apartment where he can reach his bedroom room and clean it off, what about super soaker? can we that with hot water
Hot water will freeze faster outside in cold weather. Use cool water
 
Dish heater is your best option IF your in an area that gets the WET snow often.
They can be expensive ...
Generally speaking just snow on the dish won't cause it, but Wet snow will.
 
i was without DirecTV for a day, because Erie got a big snow storm, would a cover help, or putting Silicone on the dish?

thanks
No...
Notes about snow and ice..
1. a heavy wet snow will block the signal while a light powdery snow will offer little resistance to signal. Just make sure the LNB is clear of ice and snow.
2. Ice. Whether on the antenna or LNB, this is a signal killer. As the signal bounces off the antenna, the ice crystals refract the beam and make it useless.
Remedies. If the antenna is accessible, clear the antenna and LNB of snow.
In the case of ice, use of hot water to melt the ice is useless if the ambient temperature is below freezing. Use a lock de-icing spray or you can mix rubbing alcohol in some warm or even hot water and spray that on the frozen areas. Keep in mind this only works if the coating of ice is rather thin.
The idea is to keep the ice from the antenna. This can be accomplished by applying a non stick frying pan product to the antenna BEFORE the precipitation begins.
 
Dish heater is your best option IF your in an area that gets the WET snow often.
They can be expensive ...
Generally speaking just snow on the dish won't cause it, but Wet snow will.
world direcTV install a heater?, and where it plug in?
 
My dish (VT) was covered in snow the other night with zero interruptions. My buddy who has had Directv for years has never once had to clear snow off his dish to get signal... In Vermont. My parents (also in VT) lose their signal with flurries with Dish Network.
 
My dish (VT) was covered in snow the other night with zero interruptions. My buddy who has had Directv for years has never once had to clear snow off his dish to get signal... In Vermont. My parents (also in VT) lose their signal with flurries with Dish Network.
That is due to Dish's low look angle and very likely poor alignment.
 
world direcTV install a heater?, and where it plug in?

No directv will not install this for you.

As twizt3dkitty said, No D* will not do the install.

One thing I recommend for those that live in snow areas is to see if the dish can be mounted on a pole, this way you can always walk out and dust it/scrape it off if needed.

Fwiw, I have also had a lot of snow build up on the dish and still have signal fine ... when the wet snow comes is when I have to keep an eye on it.
 
I'm in the Cleveland area and we got some snow a couple days ago too. It was the fluffy kind, probably about 8-10 inches. Our Slimline DirecTV dish is mounted on top of a one story roof, and from a second story window it looked like it got about 4" of coverage towards the bottom, but I could still see the logo towards the top part of it. No problems with the reception. That was our first real snow with it.

Still I think I might get a heater too. Here is a store that carries one, they have a mailing address near Akron.
http://www.thesatelliteshop.net/per...slimline-satellite-dish-heater-kit-p-999.html

I was thinking either that or mount some sort of infrared heater or heat light up on the roof, near the satellite dish. That way I wouldn't run the risk of disturbing the dish in any way. :biggrin
 
As twizt3dkitty said, No D* will not do the install.

One thing I recommend for those that live in snow areas is to see if the dish can be mounted on a pole, this way you can always walk out and dust it/scrape it off if needed.

Fwiw, I have also had a lot of snow build up on the dish and still have signal fine ... when the wet snow comes is when I have to keep an eye on it.

That's interesting. So is it the accumulation on the dish itself that disturbs the signal, or the airborne snow (like a heavy rain)?
 
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