View Full Version : Is a clean dish a better dish?
tkrandall
08-04-08, 10:14 AM
While tweaking the dish this weekend, I noticed it has gotten a bit grimy the past year. It's on a porch roof with a big white oak towers over it so it 's subjected to a lot of tree realted debris, rain splatter, acorns, etc through the seasons. I got to wondering if keeping a dish washed clean would have any measurable impact on reception.
Just a random thought...... :)
bhelton71
08-04-08, 10:33 AM
While tweaking the dish this weekend, I noticed it has gotten a bit grimy the past year. It's on a porch roof with a big white oak towers over it so it 's subjected to a lot of tree realted debris, rain splatter, acorns, etc through the seasons. I got to wondering if keeping a dish washed clean would have any measurable impact on reception.
Just a random thought...... :)
I don't know the technical aspects of the reflection - I imagine it could - not sure if that wavelength is affected by debris? But you have to believe a clean dish is a happy dish at the very least :D.
curt8403
08-04-08, 11:11 AM
While tweaking the dish this weekend, I noticed it has gotten a bit grimy the past year. It's on a porch roof with a big white oak towers over it so it 's subjected to a lot of tree realted debris, rain splatter, acorns, etc through the seasons. I got to wondering if keeping a dish washed clean would have any measurable impact on reception.
Just a random thought...... :)
A clean dish is a more reflective dish. perhaps as much as 5 pts
Mertzen
08-04-08, 11:22 AM
I don't think it makes a difference really. I've seen dishes with years of soot; other with half a bucket of cement or even graffiti and no problems with signal.
curt8403
08-04-08, 11:24 AM
I don't think it makes a difference really. I've seen dishes with years of soot; other with half a bucket of cement or even graffiti and no problems with signal.
Mertzen, I have seen a difference. However Soot, and Spray Paint are normally transparent to Microwaves. Not sure Cement is.
paulman182
08-04-08, 01:29 PM
I have crows that sit on my AT9 and crap on it when I'm not home. (They might be working for "Ec-CAW-star.")
It looks bad, but it's a long way from a water source, so I've never cleaned it.
It might just be time for an experiment, since my 99c signals are not as strong as I would like.
Steve Robertson
08-04-08, 01:45 PM
I would think the LNB'S might be a good thing to clean as well
I have crows that sit on my AT9 and crap on it when I'm not home. (They might be working for "Ec-CAW-star.")
:rolleyes:
Well, let us know how it turns out. :)
I have crows that sit on my AT9 and crap on it when I'm not home.
So when you are at home, they just sit there smiling at you like little angles? Must be the same two magpies that are in the Windex commercial. :)
I would say that a very, very dirty dish may slightly lower signal quality, but we'd have to be talking about a really dirty dish. Enough dirt on there could slightly impact reflection off the dish onto an LNB. When cleaning the dish, if doing so, be very careful to not move it out of alignment.
curt8403
08-04-08, 03:08 PM
I have crows that sit on my AT9 and crap on it when I'm not home. (They might be working for "Ec-CAW-star.")
It looks bad, but it's a long way from a water source, so I've never cleaned it.
It might just be time for an experiment, since my 99c signals are not as strong as I would like.
we once had a cat..... HE liked the windows. We did not like the cat. We put down HO scale railroad track on the window ledge. One rail connected to ground. the other connected to an electric fence unit. Cat got the point. Too bad you cannot do the same for Crows.
Anyone that has had a BUD and had to sweep snow out of/off the dish knows that stuff on the dish can affect signal quality.
Anyone that has had a BUD and a wife/girlfriend who would do the sweeping knows they found themselves a keeper.
I have crows that sit on my AT9 and crap on it when I'm not home. (They might be working for "Ec-CAW-star.")
It looks bad, but it's a long way from a water source, so I've never cleaned it.
It might just be time for an experiment, since my 99c signals are not as strong as I would like.
We have this same problems with birds :eek2: They seem to love our D* dish :rolleyes: Our dish is up high so we would have to get out a ladder to clean it so we never have :nono: Plus bird droppings can led to disease so we would have to be very careful how we cleaned it!
I don't know i don't do dishes so i never cleaned mine but what i do is before winter i spray it with silicone,it helps keep the snow off. I also have problems with birds they like to use the dish for target practice.But remember a clean dish is a happy dish.
curt8403
08-04-08, 07:49 PM
I don't know i don't do dishes so i never cleaned mine but what i do is before winter i spray it with silicone,it helps keep the snow off. I also have problems with birds they like to use the dish for target practice.But remember a clean dish is a happy dish.
yes, and a bird that roosts on the dish and then gets shocked is less likely to roost next time. (assuming that birds act simular to cats...The cat never came back) (Read my earlier post)
rudeney
08-04-08, 08:42 PM
I guess it would take quite a bit of voltage to keep birds off the dish. 110 volts is generally not enough to keep them off the power lines. :)
Thaedron
08-04-08, 08:48 PM
I guess it would take quite a bit of voltage to keep birds off the dish. 110 volts is generally not enough to keep them off the power lines. :)
Birds can sit on 10,000 volt or higher power lines so long as they don't ground themselves or touch both lines simultaneously.
:D
curt8403
08-04-08, 11:18 PM
I guess it would take quite a bit of voltage to keep birds off the dish. 110 volts is generally not enough to keep them off the power lines. :)
two lines (railroad track) one grounded, the other hot. 12 volts on a set of capacitors will pop them right off. This would also cure Squirrel and owl fade.. I have also seen rather large birds land on three phase lines, accidently touch one of the other three wires (top wire, and brush a side wire with their wings or tail feathers) and Bang, the bird is charcoal and the power company has to come out and replace all the breaker fuses.
zamzickles
08-05-08, 12:14 AM
A kinder and more gentle method requires a trip to you local hobby store to buy a roll of double stick servo and radio tape. Place it along the top edge of your dish. It does have to be replaced from time to time but it's VERY EFFECTIVE. It resembles tar, very sticky.
Hey Curt where can i apply for the job taken care of the cows? I don't smoke or drink so i wont be a bad influence on them.
rudeney
08-05-08, 10:23 AM
Birds can sit on 10,000 volt or higher power lines so long as they don't ground themselves or touch both lines simultaneously.
:D
Yeah, I know - hence the smiley - it was a bad joke. Besides, I’m not going to wire anything up on my dish at any voltage just to keep the birds off. It’s just easier the clean the thing every few year or so if needed.
curt8403
08-05-08, 11:27 AM
Hey Curt where can i apply for the job taken care of the cows? I don't smoke or drink so i wont be a bad influence on them.
It is the cows that do not smoke or drink. I do not think it matters whether you do or not, as I recall the Job is in China
It is the cows that do not smoke or drink. I do not think it matters whether you do or not, as I recall the Job is in China
Cow calf born to China's first cow cloned from frozen cells
There not looking for any more help they also cloned their first employee.:eek2:
Thaedron
08-05-08, 02:46 PM
Yeah, I know - hence the smiley - it was a bad joke. Besides, I’m not going to wire anything up on my dish at any voltage just to keep the birds off. It’s just easier the clean the thing every few year or so if needed.
Sorry, I took your smiley more along the lines of a scheming "mmm, we're having grilled bird for dinner tonight"... :D
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