Bent Fortec dish?

[giraffejumper]

I went to go help a friend of a friend today to try and set up an FTA motor system.
30 something inch Fortec dish with an sg2100.
I figured I could learn more about other equipment so I could better learn mine.
His True South is AMC3 and we could not get ANYTHING on ANY transponder.
He is from Morocco and mostly wanted M2 Morocco on galaxy 25.
Since we were running short on time (after hours of work) - we decided just to remove the motor and at least have galaxy 25 for him until we had more time to figure out what was going on.
Here is what happened.
We lined up the dish where g25 should be - set the elevation to get it close - and used my Viewsat extreme as a Signal Meter (a GREAT signal meter!) to move it around until we found it.
12053 was the strongest signal.
But the most quality we could get was 15 to 20%.
I reached up to pull the dish back from the top to slowly raise the elevation - and the quality meter went up to 60.

As soon as I let go - it went back.
Even with the elevation bolts tightened.
So in our logic - we should have been able to just lift the elevation a little higher and get the same reading.
Wrong.
The dish had to be pulled down from the top to get a signal.
So we started looking at the dish to see if we could figure out what might be wrong with it.
The bolts on the front were put on backwards - so we turned them around.
Same problem.
We checked everything else and it all seemed ok except for what looked like 2 small indentions in the front left as if something had hit the dish or pressed up against it in shipping.

And that is when we noticed that when we pulled it back from the top while tightened that it pulled the sides of the dish in and focused it correctly on the lnb.

We could get clear channels as long as someone stood there and put pressure on the top of the dish - but as soon as we let go it was over.
And the elevation setting did nothing to fix this.
If anyone knows what this might be - please let me know.
I am hoping it is just something we have overlooked.
Otherwise I need to tell him to get a new dish because I think it might have been damaged in shipping or something.
Thanks,
-phil

 

[gabshere]

if you remove the dish reflector from the elevation mount ( and lnb arm) and place it on a flat surface you can probably see if its warped. if so there is a chance that you can twist / spring it back into proper shape and re install.
or contact the seller and return it.

 

[N4ST]

If you don't want to take your dish off the mount and remove the LNB arm, you can also do the "string test". Tape two taut strings across the face of your dish. One running top to bottom and the other running side to side. The strings should just barely touch in the middle. If there is a gap, or if one string is pressing hard against the other, your dish is warped (bent) at a gross level. If your lucky, you may be able to apply pressure to reshape your dish, but do so slowly and carefully.

 

[techno935]

(DO NOT BLAME ME FOR FAILURE OF THIS PROJECT, THIS IS INFORMATIONAL ONLY!)


Now that my disclaimer is out of the way. I took my old Fortec that was bent and slammed the reflector itself face first into the ground. (Upon the soft grass).


That SEEMED to straighten it out. Again, don't do this and blame me if your dish is messed up ok? Do this at your own risk. It sort of fixed my bent dish.

Again, slam it straight down onto a flat bed of soft grass. NO CONCRETE!

 

[giraffejumper]

Thanks for the help guys.
It turns out he ordered ALL of his stuff off of ebay and it was ALL either fake or damaged!
No returning it!
He ordered a new one today from Satellite AV (I think).
So unless ups or whoever delivers it bends it, he should be ok.
Then back to the start and hope he has a real sg2100!
It has a latitude indicator so maybe it is good!
-phil

 

[gabshere]

well i hope it all works out for him . i can tell you i've had nothing but good service from the sponsors here and the others that are frequently mentioned. they are all a cut above.

some that sell on ebay are also reputable , have him send an e-mail to the person he bought it from. maybe they will fix the problem.

 

[stogie5150]

I'd beat on it with a hammer, but then I was a shipfitter in another life so long ago....:dev

 

[Tron]

(DO NOT BLAME ME FOR FAILURE OF THIS PROJECT, THIS IS INFORMATIONAL ONLY!)


Now that my disclaimer is out of the way. I took my old Fortec that was bent and slammed the reflector itself face first into the ground. (Upon the soft grass).


That SEEMED to straighten it out. Again, don't do this and blame me if your dish is messed up ok? Do this at your own risk. It sort of fixed my bent dish.

Again, slam it straight down onto a flat bed of soft grass. NO CONCRETE!

Techno, did you do this to fix the dish or were you mad and venting steam?

 

[SatelliteAV]

(DO NOT BLAME ME FOR FAILURE OF THIS PROJECT, THIS IS INFORMATIONAL ONLY!)


Now that my disclaimer is out of the way. I took my old Fortec that was bent and slammed the reflector itself face first into the ground. (Upon the soft grass).


That SEEMED to straighten it out. Again, don't do this and blame me if your dish is messed up ok? Do this at your own risk. It sort of fixed my bent dish.

Again, slam it straight down onto a flat bed of soft grass. NO CONCRETE!

Since most people will probably not have good success with the blunt force method, try this more gentle approach.... :up

 

[techno935]

Oh no! No steam dude! I actually had the replacement dish standing by and ready to go. I was bored and thought I'd try it. How much worse could it get??? It did work though.

 

[Anole]

good one (either way)

I'd beat on it with a hammer, but then I was a shipfitter in another life so long ago....:dev

Oh, beat in "it" with a hammer...
Okay, okay.... the dish.

I thought you said, "beat on HIM with a hammer"!
...for buying everything on @Bay.

I was going to high-five you for that one.

 

[stogie5150]

Oh, beat in "it" with a hammer...
Okay, okay.... the dish.

I thought you said, "beat on HIM with a hammer"!
...for buying everything on @Bay.

I was going to high-five you for that one.

Ebay has its uses, you know. To sell stuff you aren't using to buy more FTA stuff....

 

[lumpkin666]

Ebay has its uses, you know. To sell stuff you aren't using to buy more FTA stuff....

not to turn this into an eBay thread, but I've bought and sold at least a thousand items on eBay - for awhile every gadget I bought for myself and every unique present I bought came from eBay (and every gadget I got tired of got sold on eBay). It's a unique outlet to buy/sell items that you could not find at your local vendors - at prices that can't be touched (in most cases) by local stores.

The key to being successful in eBay is to study the seller and/or product before buying. People get burned when the see something they want and don't research it enough to know the questions to ask, or they buy from the lowest priced seller without checking their feedback. I know there exceptions to that rule, but I've never been burned from an eBay purchase, and wouldn't think twice about buying from there. Although I normally do buy FTA stuff from vendors and regulars of these forums first.