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Walton De-Ice: Protecting Ka-Band ESA performance

With the summer that much of Europe has just had, the difficulties caused by bad weather seem like a distant memory. Exhibitor Walton De-Ice, however, is looking to ensure that IBC visitors are prepared for when, inevitably, it gets cold again.

The company is showcasing its latest Ka-Band satellite ESA weather protection solutions: Ice Quake, Rain Quake, and Snow Shield.

“New Ka-Band satellite networks in Europe and elsewhere offer huge capacity for 4K and future media services, but the potential signal degradation due to rain, snow, and ice pose new challenges at Ka-Band,” said Walton De-Ice’s David Walton. “Antenna de-icing and weather protection systems from Walton De-Ice can reduce signal loss through Ka-Band dishes, and improve the reliability and quality of content delivery services.”

Snow Shield consists of architectural fabric virtually invisible to RF. Snow Shield covers can be passive or actively heated using electric or gas heaters. Ice Quake enhances the performance of Snow Shield by vibrating the fabric cover, preventing snow and ice accumulation.

“Ice Quake enables huge, up to 100x energy savings, versus competing anti-ice systems,” continued Walton. “Only Walton De-Ice, with our patented solution, offers the ability to add vibration to a satellite dish cover to prevent ice and snow buildup.” By eliminating the need for high power conduit, trenching, and electrical switch gears, it is also said to save costs compared to electrically heated anti-ice systems.

For rainy climates, the Rain Quake prevents water from sheeting on an antenna surface, which causes Ka or Ku-band rain fade. The Rain Quake helps minimise bit error rates and antenna noise temperature increases, improving signal quality during rainstorms.