snow storm problems LNB buildup

[Trouthead]

It snowed again here in Wyoming. Last night we got about 6-8" of heavy wet snow.

As expected my voom power number went down into the mid 60's, and I lost picture.

While I was out brushing snow out of the C-Band dish I looked at the VOOM dish. There was no snow in it, but the LNB had a large buildup of snow on it.
After brushing it off I still did not get a picture consistently but I would get one for a moment and then it would fade out.

I haven't heard about the snowbuild up on the LNB before, but it looks like it will be a common problem. It needs some sort of cover or protection so the snow does not build up. Those of you with the dish on your roof will have some difficulties come winter.

I am supposedly getting a 24 or 30 inch dish from VOOM. The CSR said it would take about 2 weeks. By then even we should be done with snow.

 

[fayrich]

If there was no snow build-up in the dish to deflect signal away from the LNB, then only thing I can think of would be the weight of the snow either moving the LNB slightly or covering the receiving surface.

 

[Trouthead]

The snow was covering the receiving surface of the LNB. The weight of the snow was negligable, but I can see every snowstorm that puts more than a 1/2 inch on the LNB will need to be brushed off.

We get over 100" of snow a year.

 

[PSB]

Some people put a black plastic bad over the LNB, it will not affect the signal but as it blows in the wind the snow may not land on it, and being black it is the first thing to melt if it does land! Worth a try?

 

[fayrich]

Just another thought here---if it was snowing heavily at the time, then snow/rain fade could have been the culprit here. Poor atmospheric conditions can cause signal loss. Had that happen to me one night when it was snowing to beat the band. Sure was nice with the big dish. Never had that problem.

 

[DarrellP]

That's a typical problem with our Northern location since the elevation is so low, the LNB is facing up and collects snow, where the dish is looking down and won't collect the snow. The same thing happened to me this past Winter. It's usually just the thick, wet stuff that sticks, though.

 

[poopsie]

Just a thought, I know some installers in the north (Minnesota and North Dakota) that carry a can of Pam around and put it in the LNB, arm and Dish. Supposedly it lasts for quite a while and does a pretty good job of keeping the snow and ice off. Justa thought...

 

[Trouthead]

snow fade and snow buildup

I really had a case of both last night. Even with a fully clean LNB I would get poor reception, with signal #s in the 70-80's. With a LNB full full of snow I would get no picture and signal #'s in the 60's.

Even my C-Band needed to be cleaned out twice last night so I could watch the Avs play hockey on ESPN.

Surprisingly my DISH network dish did not have any problems with snow buildup or snow fade.

Before next winter I will have a bigger VOOM dish , and I will make some sort of shield out of plastic to keep snow off the LNB. Any place that snows and has winds would probably not have this problem, but where I live it almost never drifts or blows when it is snowing. I have seen 20" stacked up on a fence post days after a storm.

Why is VOOM more prone to snow and rain fade than DISH?

 

[DarrellP]

Here in the Portland area we get lots of wet snow and Pam does not work well with wet snow. Works great with dry snow because I used it in Yakima and never had a problem with accumulation.

You might look into the satellite hoods, I think since the Voom dish looks downward, these would work great, there would be nowhere for the snow to hang onto even if it was wet.

 

[mkm4]

Why is VOOM more prone to snow and rain fade than DISH?

Maybe because they use less error correction in their signal than Dish.