Birds affecting Sky reception

Apologies if this is not under the correct forum. Wasn;t sure whether to put it here or under Phones, DVDs etc.

Recently, a bunch of crows/magpies have started to congregate on my Sky dish, which is affixed to the chimney of my house. They perch on the receiver arm - thereby messing up the reception. They fly off when startled, and the reception becomes perfect again.

This has resulted in me having to go outside, clap my hands at my chimney to scare them away, and generally look like a complete nutter to anybody passing!

I would be delighted if anyone could advise of a simple way to get rid of them for good. Unfortunately i don't think either a scarecrow or shotgun are viable options!

Thanks

Bad one. I ran into Google and got some sites-can't recommend anything, but might throw up some ideas.

What I've seen on Italian gutters and balconies may be of use.

It is a long piece of wood or metal with a row of needles in it pointing upwards.

The needles stop the birds from landing on the balcony/gutter.

You would be able to make something up with a length of thin wood and some small brad nails. Just predrill the wood first as the nails would probably split it. A nail every 1/2 inch would do the trick.

And hopefully it will not interfer with the reception.

Another option is the bottom off one of the plastic rakes used to rake up leaves. As long as the tines are longer than the birds legs then the birds cannot land.

how about a scarecrow....................??

just kiddin'... what about putting a loose circular cover slip (wavin pvc etc) over the bar, something like they have on security bars on windows to prevent cutting of them... therefore when the bird land on them they wont be able to grip and will slip off???

Buddyboy said:

You would be able to make something up with a length of thin wood and some small brad nails. Just predrill the wood first as the nails would probably split it. A nail every 1/2 inch would do the trick.

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Doubt that this would work for the dish's LNB arm and fitting it would probably screw up the arm/dish alignment and maybe also cause interference with the signal focused from the dish onto the LNB.

ClubMan said:

Doubt that this would work for the dish's LNB arm and fitting it would probably screw up the arm/dish alignment and maybe also cause interference with the signal focused from the dish onto the LNB.

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It would have to be very light wood. I think I'd try the plastic rake first. Hopefully no interference, and it should be lighter.

Another option is some plastic chickenwire over the dish. Any garden store should have some.

I'd be amazed if this isn't a common problem, and the answer is somewhere out in Googleland.

Cover the LNB arm in grease?

Hang a plastic bag close to dish ie hanging out of window sill. Wind will rattle bag and noise will deter birds from landing!

I would go along with buddyboy's suggestion, but would use weatherproof mastic and bed the nails in that along the arm. I would use long galvanized nails and keep them reasonably close together (so there's no chance of the bird gripping the side of them).

Get some plastic cable ties and tie them round the "arm" in such a way that the ends stick up vertically. Put on enough of them to make it awkward for the birds to land. Alternatively a few lengths of nylon tied from the end of the LNB to the outside of the dish.

bankrupt said:

Get some plastic cable ties and tie them round the "arm" in such a way that the ends stick up vertically. Put on enough of them to make it awkward for the birds to land.

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I like it - very creative!