12FT Mesh Dish Repairs - Need Advice

[jsattv]

Yesterday I discovered a tear in the Wire Mesh of my 12 Footer where the wire mesh had detached itself away from one of the Ribs right in the middle of the Dish. We had 2 Blizzards here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada last winter and I think wacking the dish with a long broom to clear the snow may have caused the problem.

Went to the local hardware store and purchased some very wide washers and screws a bit longer than the original ones. Original screws were almost welded down (my Dewalt Driver Drill wouldn't budge them) but I finally managed to loosen them using WD-40 Spray and a hand screwdriver. I was able to install 6 screws / washers combo and will attempt to upload the before and after pics. My question is I can't reach any higher without almost falling into the Dish and it looks like 1 more screw and washer up high would likely help. Does this repair look okay i.e. is it good enough? I'm also wondering if this repair will improve reception as I have been having trouble with many Tp's on 127.0W. Any comments / advice would be very much appreciated.

 

[phlatwound]

Your repair job looks good to me.

I would be surprised if you notice much difference in reception, the area of the parabola affected negatively by the damage is such a small percentage of the total area, especially on a 12 footer.

 

[wvman]

Yesterday I discovered a tear in the Wire Mesh of my 12 Footer where the wire mesh had detached itself away from one of the Ribs right in the middle of the Dish. We had 2 Blizzards here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada last winter and I think wacking the dish with a long broom to clear the snow may have caused the problem.

Went to the local hardware store and purchased some very wide washers and screws a bit longer than the original ones. Original screws were almost welded down (my Dewalt Driver Drill wouldn't budge them) but I finally managed to loosen them using WD-40 Spray and a hand screwdriver. I was able to install 6 screws / washers combo and will attempt to upload the before and after pics. My question is I can't reach any higher without almost falling into the Dish and it looks like 1 more screw and washer up high would likely help. Does this repair look okay i.e. is it good enough? I'm also wondering if this repair will improve reception as I have been having trouble with many Tp's on 127.0W. Any comments / advice would be very much appreciated.

Never hit the dish with broom or otherwise. To clean mine, I bought one of those telescopic poles you can buy at Home Depot and added a long bristle broom to it. One of the longer poles will reach the top of the dish and you can easily slide the snow down the dish and onto the ground without damaging the mesh. Never hit the mesh from the back side while trying to get the snow off. This will bend the screen out of shape or rip it loose from the ribs.

This kind of screen is hard to find and expensive too boot. My neighbor's dish had several panels messed up, and we took off the old screen, measured it, and had a local fabrication shop cut aluminum used to make seamless gutters to the right dimensions. Since it comes in a roll, you don't have to worry about the length, only the width. Worked quite nicely and made it a solid dish. He uses it on Ku band too and the signal screams in. Those telescopic poles work great scraping snow off the dish or your house roof.

 

[jsattv]

Never hit the dish with broom or otherwise. To clean mine, I bought one of those telescopic poles you can buy at Home Depot and added a long bristle broom to it. One of the longer poles will reach the top of the dish and you can easily slide the snow down the dish and onto the ground without damaging the mesh. Never hit the mesh from the back side while trying to get the snow off. This will bend the screen out of shape or rip it loose from the ribs.

This kind of screen is hard to find and expensive too boot. My neighbor's dish had several panels messed up, and we took off the old screen, measured it, and had a local fabrication shop cut aluminum used to make seamless gutters to the right dimensions. Since it comes in a roll, you don't have to worry about the length, only the width. Worked quite nicely and made it a solid dish. He uses it on Ku band too and the signal screams in. Those telescopic poles work great scraping snow off the dish or your house roof.

Thanks a lot for your replies Phlatwound and Wvman. You can be assured I won't ever be hitting the Dish again with my snow broom and will definitely check with Home Depot re those Telescoping Poles and Broom combos. Think I'll pass on trying to add a 7th screw and washer at the high end of the Dish as a second look at the Dish shows almost no gap left re the wire Mesh separation from the Rib. Thanks.

 

[wvman]

Thanks a lot for your replies Phlatwound and Wvman. You can be assured I won't ever be hitting the Dish again with my snow broom and will definitely check with Home Depot re those Telescoping Poles and Broom combos. Think I'll pass on trying to add a 7th screw and washer at the high end of the Dish as a second look at the Dish shows almost no gap left re the wire Mesh separation from the Rib. Thanks.

Last evening, I fired up another dish I added to my collection in order to bring another satellite online to avoid having to move one of my dishes to get certain satellites. I was a little concerned over hail damage to the screen that is pretty common in the area this dish came from. I fixed as many dents as I could by pushing them back in place, and decided to put the dish in operation. To my surprise, I got a 75/69 signal level on H&I, Decades, Movies and H&I West, and an 80/76 signal level on Grit and the Luken MUX.

However, I must admit, I did pull a classic rookie mistake Sunday when I tried to install the new LNB. I was in a hurry and gave it a quick shot at getting it working. I set the polarity completely wrong, which gave me zero signal level. After thinking about it all that evening, and all day at work Monday, It came to me. I went home, reset the polarity and it's working like a champ. This is a 71/2 foot Perfect 10 dish.

I had forgotten that Perfect 10 welded the mounting ring on these dishes slightly off center, and didn't put the saddles where the double ribs come together on center of the dish axis like most manufacturers, so the polarity actually sits between the single ribs on a quarter section. I have one more pole on the truck that needs planted, and then I can go after the 10 foot Unimesh I found last month. With it and the 12 foot Prodelin I have behind my out building, I should be good on dishes.

I'm going to keep collecting in case someone in here needs a dish. Right now, I know where three others are at, and will probably get those. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Keystone7]

Looks like you did a good job in repairing. I had a long split on my screen also and carefully used small plastic zip ties like I was a doctor...Hey, but it looks very good and my signals remained the same as before the tear which was 10 inches.It work for me. Just throwing it out there. Mine is a 10 foot mesh dish.

 

[jsattv]

Looks like you did a good job in repairing. I had a long split on my screen also and carefully used small plastic zip ties like I was a doctor...Hey, but it looks very good and my signals remained the same as before the tear which was 10 inches.It work for me. Just throwing it out there. Mine is a 10 foot mesh dish.

Great idea Keystone 7 yes zip ties would also work well. I managed to add a 7th washer and screw combination at the upper end of the dish and can see no more openings. With your zip tie idea you could just walk up to the back of the dish and insert the tie in from the back without having to climb up on the front of the Dish - great idea thanks for the valuable info.