Bent T90

[cracklincrotch]

My T90 fell last fall in a hurricane. I set it up again since but I haven't been really happy with the signal levels since. It's been cold so I haven't played with it until the last few days again.

The secondary reflector is out of level when placing a level across the two front supports, even when the mast is plumb. When it fell it landed on the right side of the secondary reflector. I question the main reflector's condition as well but the secondary supports are out of alignment. The right support is out by 3/8" from the left. Neither support shows any sign of stress cracks in paint finish or bulging due to being bent.

My BEV sub doesn't notice any signal problems but any FTA sats are around 25-35 on my Viewsat's meter and 35-45 on my Twinhan which is MUCH lower than they used to be.

My question is, which support arm on the secondary reflector should be straightened or should I bother?

Where the support arms are vertical at two places (top of the end where the secondary reflector attaches and after coming out from behind the main reflector) is there a specific distance between those two vertical sections that I could tell just how bent one or both of the supports are, or aren't?

 

[cracklincrotch]

As you can see, the supports don't quite line up with each other when looking down over top of them.

 

[jerryt]

Ask someone on this forum who has an unassembled T90 to trace the secondary reflector bracket onto a piece of cardboard, and then mail you the cardboard. Or if you are sure the second bracket is not bent, then you could straighten the bent one to match the good one.

If the reflectors are bent, time to shop for a new dish.

 

[cracklincrotch]

The secondary reflector doesn't look bent. I'm going to lay the main one down on the floor and see if it might be clamshelled one way or another.

I'm only making what I would call an educated guess, but I'd imagine that the support on the left is fine. I say that because the sats in the lower orbital slots always give me a higher SQ than higher ones on the dish.

If that is the case I could trace both (just in case I get it backwards) mark which one was on what side. Then bend the one on the right to the same shape as the one on the left.

Does this seem reasonable?

 

[Acelon]

When you say fell, how did you have it set up before? Reason i ask, is because I live in Hurricane Alley as well and was wondering how well it would hold up. Looks like it would catch a lot of wind. My plan was to take it down every time a hurricane comes up, but this thing is a pain to aim and am curious what tolerances it might have. AKA at what expected wind strength i should consider taking it down.

I currently have it pole mounted in my back yard. 3 foot above ground, 4 foot under, with 150 lbs of concrete.

 

[cracklincrotch]

First off, I got the dish straightened out. I bent the right arm to look like the left. I also un-clamshelled the main reflector. And bam! SQ on the Viewsat doubled on everything. The birdog shows VBERs of 0 on most lnbs now.

Hurricane Noel ripped off the house with 110MPH winds. The concrete expanding bolts that came with it I believe were too small. In fact, they pulled right out of the foundation and took some cement with it. I used 5/8" ones when I put it back up. I believe the ones that came with the T90 were 5/16" making the new ones are twice the size. I also replaced the 3" screws I used to mount the bracket to the house frame studs with 4" lag bolts.

As for bringing it in I guess it would depend on the storm. Wave Frontier says it should survive up to 200kph, or 125MPH. So anything expected over that, I'd bring it in. Tad expensive to chance and not worth an insurance claim being less than a deductible.

 

[Tron]

Alternatively, you could remove the main and secondary reflectors, leaving just the frame and LNBs up if a hurricane threatens. That way, you could easily re-bolt the reflectors back without disturbing the azimuth or elevation settings. Still a lot of unbolting, but probably not as much work as re-aiming.

I unbolted my 1M Channel Master reflector for Katrina (140 mph winds with gusts to 180!!!), leaving the non-penetrating roof mount and AZ-EL mast mount on the roof. When I bolted the reflector back on, the aim was still dead on

 

[cracklincrotch]

Actually it wasn't that difficult or time consuming to dismantle it right from the mast. In fact, it was pretty easy, even doing it by myself. (I'm not patient enough to wait for help, and my wife wants nothing to do with it, like most people's here). It probably took about 10 minutes.

That's definitely a consideration for when a storm comes by.

 

[thisBUDsforyou]

First off, I got the dish straightened out. I bent the right arm to look like the left. I also un-clamshelled the main reflector.

How could you tell that the main reflector was clamshelled and how how did you un-clamshell it?

 

[cracklincrotch]

I laid it down flat on my livingroom floor. If I pushed down on it on one side, it would wobble back and forth.

I took my fingers around the rim of the dish until I felt a bend (it landed on it's side last fall) and bent it to match the areas before the bend. Soon as I did, it wouldn't wobble on the floor anymore.

 

[thisBUDsforyou]

Nice job on repairing that dish.

 

[Acelon]

Sounds like the dishes are a littel more resilient than i gave them credit for. I did pole mount because I didnt want these things pull my roof off with it. After Katrina, Ivan, and Dennis, I am a little gun shy. Now watch me pull it off the pole, store it in my shed, and a tree hits shed. LOL. That would be my luck.

 

[cracklincrotch]

That'd make my wife's day, having that dish squished.

Though I've been working hard on her about getting another dish up on the house. I suggested an elliptical SC dish and strap a couple more LNBs on it. Might work too. I told her other people have them on their houses and they don't look all big and offensive, and therefore a lower WAF.