...and learned a lot of lessons along the way 
The first obstacle was to support the weight of the Invacom QPH-031 on a Winegard DS-2076 76cm dish. A big thanks to AcWxRadar for his suggestion to use the "feed arm braces" from a Winegard 1m dish. These are very inexpensive and can be ordered directly from Winegard. Once this one weak spot addressed, the DS-2076 is transformed into a really great dish. Somewhat heavy with a good build quality, durable finish, and great reception capability for it's size.
Second obstacle was finding the right spot for the J mount. In what was probably not one of my brighter ideas, I bolted the J mount on the 6" side of a 4x6 porch swing post facing West. Once everything was up, and it came time to turn the dish to my due South satellite, you guessed it ... the dish wouldn't clear the top post of the frame.
The only other option was to mount the 8" wide J mount bracket on the 4" (3.5" actual) side of the post facing South. For those that are wondering, this can be done. Take a 2x4 and liquid nail it to the side of the post to add additional width. Secure it using (2) 5/16" x 3" stainless lag bolts ... one at the top and one at the bottom. This gives you enough total width so that the four of your holes are mounted in the post, and the remaining two are mounted in the 2x4.
Last obstacle was finding the right bolts to use. Many thanks to the community here for excellent posts on the subject. I started out with left over 5/16" x 3" (brass?) lag bolts left over from the kid's outdoor adventure playset. It didn't take long for me to break one while power driving it in with the Dewalt. Got rid of that junk in short order and ended up using Hillman stainless steel lag bolts from Lowes. Used (2) 5/16" x 3" for the center of my J mount ... and (4) 5/16" x 2" for the outer corners. For any newbies out there like me ... trust me when I say you don't want to cut corners on the bolts.
To get the J mount perfectly plumb ... using a Stanley self centering screw hole punch, and pre-drilling with a 3/16 drill bit, did the trick. Started with the top middle, then did the bottom middle, after which you're pretty much going to stay plumb no matter what you do. The Johnston angle locator that Sadoun sells is worth it's weight in gold for this task, especially since it's magnetic and sticks to the post. It ended up being one of those must have tools.
The last thing that I found indispensible was the Digisat II meter (LED) that I picked up off eBay. I never had a lot of success with the SF-95, and ended up returning it to Rat Shack, but the Digisat worked great. It'll put you on a satellite, after which you can use your FTA receiver to figure out what satellite you're on. Once you determine that you're on your due South ...the Digisat can be used (pretty much by itself) to peak the signal.
The first obstacle was to support the weight of the Invacom QPH-031 on a Winegard DS-2076 76cm dish. A big thanks to AcWxRadar for his suggestion to use the "feed arm braces" from a Winegard 1m dish. These are very inexpensive and can be ordered directly from Winegard. Once this one weak spot addressed, the DS-2076 is transformed into a really great dish. Somewhat heavy with a good build quality, durable finish, and great reception capability for it's size.
Second obstacle was finding the right spot for the J mount. In what was probably not one of my brighter ideas, I bolted the J mount on the 6" side of a 4x6 porch swing post facing West. Once everything was up, and it came time to turn the dish to my due South satellite, you guessed it ... the dish wouldn't clear the top post of the frame.
The only other option was to mount the 8" wide J mount bracket on the 4" (3.5" actual) side of the post facing South. For those that are wondering, this can be done. Take a 2x4 and liquid nail it to the side of the post to add additional width. Secure it using (2) 5/16" x 3" stainless lag bolts ... one at the top and one at the bottom. This gives you enough total width so that the four of your holes are mounted in the post, and the remaining two are mounted in the 2x4.
Last obstacle was finding the right bolts to use. Many thanks to the community here for excellent posts on the subject. I started out with left over 5/16" x 3" (brass?) lag bolts left over from the kid's outdoor adventure playset. It didn't take long for me to break one while power driving it in with the Dewalt. Got rid of that junk in short order and ended up using Hillman stainless steel lag bolts from Lowes. Used (2) 5/16" x 3" for the center of my J mount ... and (4) 5/16" x 2" for the outer corners. For any newbies out there like me ... trust me when I say you don't want to cut corners on the bolts.
To get the J mount perfectly plumb ... using a Stanley self centering screw hole punch, and pre-drilling with a 3/16 drill bit, did the trick. Started with the top middle, then did the bottom middle, after which you're pretty much going to stay plumb no matter what you do. The Johnston angle locator that Sadoun sells is worth it's weight in gold for this task, especially since it's magnetic and sticks to the post. It ended up being one of those must have tools.
The last thing that I found indispensible was the Digisat II meter (LED) that I picked up off eBay. I never had a lot of success with the SF-95, and ended up returning it to Rat Shack, but the Digisat worked great. It'll put you on a satellite, after which you can use your FTA receiver to figure out what satellite you're on. Once you determine that you're on your due South ...the Digisat can be used (pretty much by itself) to peak the signal.
