With 30 feet of heat tape (an outdoor electrical wire made to keep water pipes from freezing), you can make a defroster for your satellite dish. Combined with a smart plug, to turn on and off, no more will you need to go out to the back of the house or climb a ladder to clear the snow from your satellite dish. With the heat tape, it took about 30 min to clear off the snow in the top photo. The outdoor temperature at the time was -15 degrees Celceus.

The orange wire is the heat tape held in place with cable ties. It was necessary to drill a couple of extra small holes in the folded back metal around the edge of the dish.

Not shown is a 1/2 inch thick waterproof, soft, rubbery type matt I bought at the dollar store and cut to the shape of the back of the dish. This is held in place and covered by a piece of hard plastic cut to the same shape. Holes are drilled in the plastic at the location of the holes on the dish. Cable ties are used in the same holes as the heat tape to hold the plastic in place, sandwiching the rubber matt and providing insulation.

Dave Lister

listerlogic.com

Note: This is an original idea by me but there may be similar products or patents already. I am not an expert, if you attempt to build always consult with an expert and check with all local codes and laws. Build at your own risk.