Snow signal - how to heat things up?

We received 3-4" of heavy, wet, sticky snow last night and everything is completely covered. As nothing else has changed this appears to be the most likely cause of the "no signal" we are currently experiencing. This is a low-profile dish and requires multiple ladders to reach, not the best solution during a heavy storm, or if there is a lot of ice/wind - and if there is a lot of ice up there it would be difficult to break it off anyway.

I will have a request put into FM, but first I need to know what to request. A couple of options:

1. Mount a 150W floodlight a few inches off the back of the dish with a remote switch. This should generate enough heat to make the ice/snow slide off.

2. Commercially made dish heaters such as these: http://www.thesatelliteshop.net/satelli ... c-871.html or any of the items from http://www.montanasatellitesupply.com

3. Unfortunately the angles aren't right and the distance is a bit too far or I'd try the supersoaker with heated washer fluid.

Any suggestions?

(Bonus points if we can come up with something that can be turned on remotely - we have a full-blown 24/7 internet connection now and if I can start and monitor the heater remotely then so much the better).

Your FM group may have good ideas on what to do for your area, because there are likely other units with similar situations. They may already have solutions. Two of your ideas might have difficulties. On idea 1, unless the regulations have been changed recently, 150W floodlights were outlawed several years ago, so you may need to use multiple lower-wattage bulbs. On idea 3, using a chemical agent to melt the ice might run afoul of local environmental rules, so I would think it would be good to ask the FM group before attempting that.

rmrichesjr wrote:On idea 1, unless the regulations have been changed recently, 150W floodlights were outlawed several years ago, so you may need to use multiple lower-wattage bulbs.

I don't see a ban on 150W lights. But that said, one has to wonder how much longer they'll be available.

RussellHltn wrote:I don't see a ban on 150W lights. But that said, one has to wonder how much longer they'll be available.

That page is about the current round of bans on lightbulbs. The regulation I was referring to is the National Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT) that banned conventional 75W and 150W floods in favor of lower-power halogens. That 1992 one might have been repealed--I don't know.

rmrichesjr wrote:The regulation I was referring to is the National Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT) that banned conventional 75W and 150W floods in favor of lower-power halogens. That 1992 one might have been repealed--I don't know.

They still seem to be for sale.

RussellHltn wrote:They still seem to be for sale.

So they do. However, a solution that depends on a particular wattage of bulb continuing to be available would be at risk if regulatory winds change again. It may be safer to use multiple bulbs that would generate the same total amount of heat.

rmrichesjr wrote:So they do. However, a solution that depends on a particular wattage of bulb continuing to be available would be at risk if regulatory winds change again. It may be safer to use multiple bulbs that would generate the same total amount of heat.

I agree with that. But there's no guarantee that lower wattage (60-100W) bulbs will be available. Seems like a dedicated solution would be better. Typing "Satellite dish heater" into a search engine returns a number of promising links. But I'd also explore "Satellite dish snow cover" as well.

FM reports that they are under instructions from SLC not not allow either the heaters or covers. The only authorized solution to the snow problem is physical removal.

Did they say why? I can see that the church doesn't want to pay for heaters, but I'm not sure what the objection to covers are. It might make sense when you're dealing with the large c-band dishes that are usually mounted on the ground and easily reachable. But in your situation, it appears to be a hazard to the members to have to clear it. (Can the stake president pressure the FM group into cleaning it?)

You may want to call satellite support to see if you can get confirmation of this.

RussellHltn wrote:Did they say why?

No. Possibly out of concern that the heaters might damage the dish or degrade the signal.

RussellHltn wrote:But in your situation, it appears to be a hazard to the members to have to clear it.

There are more important fish to fry. This past storm had unusually wet, sticky snow (for Michigan) and happened to be blowing in from the South - directly into the dish - so things were worse than usual. It is also a new dish (the old big monster dish having been replaced by this thing) so unless it happens repeatedly I'll save the "make an issue out of it" button for more important things.