Wind, wind and more wind

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TRG

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Jul 19, 2007
4,978
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Albuquerque, NM
My dish is taking a beating in the typical springtime wind we have here in New Mexico. No matter what I do I cannot keep it aligned. Right now my motor has been removed and my dish is fixed on AMC3 @87W. I was up on the roof Saturday tweaking and tightening everything and now it’s out of alignment again. It’s most likely azimuth, it always is.

I gotta tell ya this up and down from the roof stuff is killing me. I can sink a pole in the back yard but my LOS will be limited. I’ll be able to hit most of the satellites that interest me so that shouldn’t be a problem. My only restriction will be some of the eastern sats and I can’t get that far east anyway due to a 10,500 foot mountain in the way. I still manage to get to about 79W fairly easily.

My question is this. Would a commercial type dish provide me with more reliable signals? From the looks of things the commercial dishes have much larger pipe diameter requirements (3” vs. 1 5/8”) when compared to a standard residential setup. I assume this means that the associated mounting hardware is “beefier” and would hold the dish more rigid? Or is the larger hardware to support the weight of the heavier dish, or both?

Also, I seem to remember someone, I think it was rvpop, mention that his dish will “clamshell” in the wind and he has to take it down and straighten it out every couple of days (or something like that). That seems a bit extreme doesn’t it? Does anyone else have to do that? I’m asking this because my signals on 87W are a lot lower than they used to be even when the dish is peaked for maximum quality. I had been blaming the bird for fluctuating transponder power but now I’m starting to question my reflector integrity.

Comments?
 
I get a lot of wind too, but so far I have not had to adjust any hardware. I just make fine motor adjustments using my remote control.

It seems like the wind forces the dish to put a steady pressure back into the gears to make the motor go a tad off target. I don't think these HH motors have brakes to keep the motor on target.

Is your hardware actually slipping? If so, I wonder if pinning the mounting hardware would help. ie. drilling holes to add a set screw, or bolt, or pin would help?

I do get a little dish wobble from time to time, but not excessive.
 
Yes a commercial dish would be sturdier on a larger pipe. They also weigh more so it may not be as easy to mount one on your roof. You would have to be extra careful not to hurt yourself.

If you can find a used Prodelin dish somewhere. Some businesses are not using satellite broadband anymore and you can find them on the roof of car dealerships, gas stations, stores.
 
My temporary dish (FS 90cm), pole set in a 5 gallon bucket of cement, blew over night before last. Was tinkering with it last Friday, and again on Sunday. Friday = G10 @ 50-55%, G27 @ 30-35% at dish and no picture in house. It was very cloudy and raining hard at times. Sunday = G10 @ 65-70%, G27 @ 43-48%. Yesterday after setting the blown over dish back upright and re-adjusting = G10 @ 85-90% (and in the Green), G27 @ 55-60%. Overall a much improved signal. I guess these dishes need a slapping around sometimes? I know I do.....
 
Yep, I was the one who had the warping and moving problem. Our strongest winds seem to have died done a little. Only about 35 MPH Tuesday, 23 yesterday and 19 MPH so far today.

The GEOsat 90 cm does seem to want to distort. I have two primestars and they do not distort. My dish warped so that the center of the side (long way) was over 5/8 inch total gap. (Top, bottom and one side against mirror and measured just over 5/8 " between edge and mirror.

Since I removed the second LNBF, it has not been a real problem! So I wonder if the arm with the side braces would take care of that! I wonder, also, if the two LNBF's were catching the wind, like a wing, causing the whipping. One does not whip! I also saw a post of a dish with a larger edge flange. I am going to try to cut a strip of sheet metal about 2" wide and screw it around each edge and see if that solves to problem.

If you are getting rotation on the mount-to-pole itself, I took care of that by getting it set and then drilling a hole (5/32) through the lower part of the mount and through the post. I then put a #10 sheetmetal screw through that. They do rust and breack off. Someone else suggested putting a drill or drill stock through the hole.That would not rust so quickly and I will try that on my next project.

I wonder why some of my friends say I over analyze and give $20 explaination to 50 cent problems....
 
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rv1pop, I take it your GEOsat 90 is one of the older models without the side braces for the LNB arm?
 
east anyway due to a 10,500 foot mountain in the way.

I say we blow up the mountain. :D it would probably help with the wind, too. :)

Unfortunately I don't have any other advice for you. :(

Most wind we have down here is a hurricane, and they can tell me when those are coming...:cool:
 
goto homedepot or lowes and buy a few short pieces of L iron/aluminum. that'll help sturdy the arm up alot. now for the rest of the dish... sorry I got no idea's
 
I took a thick piece of pipe that would slip over my mount pole and welded it on. I found I couldn't really tighten the motor down properly without crushing the top of the thin pole that comes with a factory mount. Its stood steady, but the dish still vibrates and bounces in strong winds and really degrades signal strength with the lnb jumping around.
 
RV1POP
As I recall the CSRs research on this order several months ago..... due to a shipping delay by the manufacturer, the arms were not yet shipping when this order was placed. Since there seems to be some confusion about this order, I will be glad to authorize replacement LNBF support arms if you will drill the hole in the LNBF arm and supply the appropriate hardware to secure to your current reflector. Give us a call and mention my offer to correct this misunderstanding.
Yes, and that has been a problem. Supplier said in August all were shipping with side braces. I asked the sales rep in September to be sure mine came with them -- it did not.
 
THANK YOU, Brian! I'm glad I got to talk to you and get that completely straightened out. I realy have enjoyed working with your company in the past, also, and this really seals it. I enjoy working with a company that exudues integrity! When I get the braces on, Iwill go back to the dual and see if I get the whipping so we all will know.

The Columbia Gorge Wind is like nothing else, so I will not blame the equipment! Two trucks blown off the road this week, and one of my sheds had more roofing blown off again.

Thanks again
POP
 
The Columbia Gorge Wind is like nothing else, so I will not blame the equipment! Two trucks blown off the road this week, and one of my sheds had more roofing blown off again.

That's why the windsurfers like it. :) I lived in Oregon for 6 years. Loved the gorge, hated the wind.
 
Resurecting old thread, but thought I shold post the good news. I got the new LNB arm (Old WAS bent) and new arm braces from SatelliteAV. I put them all together and everything works well now. The dish has not warped or hardly even wobbled in any wind. The arm does not bounce even with the two LNBs on it and the dish has not rotated at all - and I fogot to tighten the bottom bolt down! I figure, since the arm does not bounce, the normal friction IS enough to hold the dish in one place. The wind has not been much over 40 MPH, buit it was shifting at 20, so I say PROBLEM SOLVED. Thanks Brian!
POP
 
The side LNB arm supports really do make a big difference, especially if you're using multiple LNBFs (or one heavy one such as the Invacom QPH-031) :)
 
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