Dish out of allignment

[Kraven]

High winds from last weekend blew the dish out of allignment. Normally I'd hop ont the shed roof and fix her..BUT now we're in a middle of a cold front (ie- -17degrees, schools are closed) for the next few weeks...

This really sucks man!

Cheers, K

 

[FaT Air]

Only 17 below, and schools close for a few weeks???????????
Wow, around here it's not the temps that will close a school for a day or two. Gotta be snowin' and blowin' pretty good for 'em to get a day off. Like 'official' blizzards only. Or a busted water main.

Yep, it sux when your system is 'down'.
Suggestion: Next time you get it aligned, drill thru the mount and pipe and bolt it.

 

[Larobpra]

Is your dish fixed or on a motor? I have had to adjust longitude setting a tenth or two (or three) after high winds. In fact just did it this week after the same high winds you got. Might be worth a try.

 

[Anole]

Might be good to have a fixed dish on your favorite satellite.
Perhaps closer to the ground where it would be more protected from the wind?

Those DirecTV World dishes are surprisingly robust (for non-S2).

 

[Kraven]

When I set the motor to reference (back to O), I noticed the dish was no longer pointing to where it should be... seems the motor/dish swung 2-3 inches to the right because of the high winds. I did a blind scan out of sheer boredom.. I got a signal from 11810/H/10000 @ 75% but there was nothing on it and have no clue which bird this was.

As per the forcast, it should be 0 to -5 on Saturday so I might try to correct it then.

You're right Anole, this is the last season the dish is on the shed roof as its just too much of a pain to get on whenever it needs adjustements.

Cheers, K

 

[Kraven]

Weather warmed up to positive digits and winds died down. Got on the roof and realligned the dish (the winds shifted it East by 50 degrees).
Horsed around w/ usuals and diseq. and got all the sats from 72w to 123w, but cant lock into 125w anymore.

The dish is about 20 feet from the neighbours 2 story home, and they recently put up a pizza dish on their roof. When am positioned at 125w, it seems the dish aimed directly at their dish... it be pretty bad luck than am getting blocked by it.

Cheers, K

 

[AcWxRadar]

Kraven,

I seriously doubt that your neighbor's pizza dish has obstructed your LOS. That is just far too unlikely and too coincidental here in this case.
Especially since you found your dish azimuth to be off somewhere near 50° from the wind. I am betting that it is still off just a tad or there is
another dish angle that has also been affected that you have not addressed yet. If the wind pushed it 50° out, you had some serious winds
or you didn't have your clamps secure enough.

I have had some stiff winds here on occasion (35-45-55 mph with 70 mph gusts) and I have never had my dish go off more than a degree or two at the most.
Typically, after a hefty windstorm, I have had to do the same as Larobpra did... Just tweaking the longitude entry in my USALS setup to fool it a little bit, but
I was only tweaking it one or two tenths of a degree. That wouldn't have fixed your ordeal here.

You are going to have to find some way to really lock this dish down more securely or relocate it as Anole said, closer to the ground or somehow better sheltered.

RADAR

 

[rv1pop]

Bolting to the pole sometimes fails to save it....
Mine broke 2 of the 1/2 inch stainless steel bolts, pulled the post up out of 4 plus feet in the ground, broke the mounting angles and took the dish 500 feet away. It also bent the J-Pole and destroyed the LNBF.
Yeah I lost a building in that one, also.
We were driving last week in the mid-west and Rockies and my wife and I both laughed at the warning sign: "Extreme Winds 35 to 40 MPH with gusts to 50". That sounds like a normal day in the Columbia Gorge. But those winds at -9 degrees F, and heavy snow, took a toll on the motor home.

 

[SatelliteAV]

When aimed at 125w, sight up the LNBF support arm while behind the dish. Does the arm aim at or below the neighboring dish?

The LNBF support arm is typically aimed several degrees lower than the actual look angle.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Bolting to the pole sometimes fails to save it....
Mine broke 2 of the 1/2 inch stainless steel bolts, pulled the post up out of 4 plus feet in the ground, broke the mounting angles and took the dish 500 feet away. It also bent the J-Pole and destroyed the LNBF.
Yeah I lost a building in that one, also.
We were driving last week in the mid-west and Rockies and my wife and I both laughed at the warning sign: "Extreme Winds 35 to 40 MPH with gusts to 50". That sounds like a normal day in the Columbia Gorge. But those winds at -9 degrees F, and heavy snow, took a toll on the motor home.

WHOA! That was a strong one Pop! Sometime last winter, not sure of the day, there must have been one heck of a north wind at my cabin. Not as bad as you experienced though.
It blew my 34 ft camper off the blocks and pushed it south about 2-3 feet as it dropped. I was lucky that it didn't blow it over on its side. A wind like that could have done some
serious damage to a dish. Since I plan to set up a dish there in the future, I will have to create some sort of shelter or windbreak for it to block the north winds.

It is a fair location for LOS since there are no trees or buildings or anything at all to the southern horizon exposure, it is all open field. However, there is a 100+ foot bluff just 300 feet or so due east, so Hispasat at 30.0°W will certainly be out of the question. The bluff angles away to the southeast, so I believe that AMC 9 at 83.0°W will be good as well as every sat west of this to AMC 21 @ 125.0°W.

RADAR

 

[waylew]

Gotta go out and turn the Winegard back on the pole,todays 50/60 mph buffeting gusts had there fun with it.

 

[Bongu]

Im waiting for spring to get my winegard back in alignment. 60 to 70 mph winds have moved it at least 10° off. It was close when I stopped working on it in December, but not even a blip of quality on anything now. A bigger sail brings with it more problems....

 

[waylew]

That's why I put marks anywhere it might move,just go out loosen the bolts and turn it back.Of course if I'd ever finish installing it,it might not move so much.
You shoulda seen the 12' Paraclipse dancing around,but that didn't move.

 

[Kraven]

Something weird is going on w/ this set up (90cm offset, sg2100 motor, installed on top of shed, using diseq). About 5-6 times a year I have go get up there are re-adjust it. Figured the ground shifts because of the frost...

I normally get 72-125w no problem. 2 days ago, I added 15w and 30w in the list and did a full scan up to 125. aftre the scan the dish is out of allignment again...

Trying to keep a positive attitude but this really blows.

Cheers, K

 

[FaT Air]

About 5-6 times a year I have go get up there are re-adjust it. Figured the ground shifts because of the frost...

That would make me, in short order, plant a proper pole.
Yeah, if that shed is on a floating slab, it will be shifting around all the time. Temps and soil moisture will move anything lying on top of the ground.

 

[AcWxRadar]

I wish to second Fat Air's comments.

I would dig a 16-24 inch diameter hole right next to the shed.
Drop in a 1 1/2 - 2 inch galvanized pipe with a a few bolts stuck through the lower end to prevent the pole from turning.
Fill the hole with ready-mix concrete and stake the mast pole down to keep it level/plumb until the concrete is fully cured (give it 4-7 days).
Then move your existing dish off the roof of the shed and mount it on the mast that you just set in the concrete.
You can use your shed roof for access to the dish to align it, but get the dish mount OFF the shed roof.

RADAR

 

[Kraven]

Agree 100% The dish on shed experiment has run its course. If the roof was easilly accessible and I didnt have to rely on the wife-o-meter when adjusting it.. it wouldnt be so bad. New problem is I have limited space w/ a property full of trees and high hedges plus we're redoing the pool desk so..anywho I'll figure it out this summer. Now am taking it down and shoving a pole in a snow bank....can't be anywhose. Bonus, w/ the dish accessible when im standing feet on the ground, ill be able to try to get those elusive NBCs on 103w

Cheers, K