Wireless Service Providers → Keeping ice off antennas

In relation to this post - »Towercicle
We are trying to determine a way to keep ice from forming on antennas at tower sites and customer premises. Has anyone been successful in preventing ice build-up on antennas?

You could apply good quality hydrophobic spray in the fall. There have been a few threads on them in this forum and also in the home improvement forum. Beware of hype and check chemical composition/source for any brand.

I am testing PTFE film (used for solar panels) as a longer term solution for both off-the-shelf antennas and plastic radomes.

For new Yagi and grid designs, the best solution so far is a Teflon-based permanent coating. But they will double the cost.

»www.rollersandcoatings.c ··· teel.pdf

Have you used any yagis or grids with the Teflon-based coating? If yes, how effective was it? Do you know where the antennas can be purchased or who can apply the coating?

Some folks are using neverwet.
»www.neverwet.com/
»www.rustoleum.com/produc ··· wet-kit/

Be a pain to have to reapply coatings.

After the fact Teflon based solutions are at best Band-Aids, if one wanted to apply a Teflon based solution it would require the coating to be applied during manufacture and would also require a yagi boom design that would inherently not provide a surface for moisture to collect upon. Think round.

Going a step further maybe DC over coax for in boom heaters.

Yes. A few coated antennas are deployed in climate monitoring projects. They were pre-tested in a cold chamber.

I am not aware of any commercial products but the link I provided earlier is among the very few companies who could do the job in USA/Canada.

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· 8OR6W6WE

nice I need that stuff for my car windshield

Except this stuff dries as a white frosted haze Unfortunately, AKAIK none of these dry clear.