Fortec 36" vs Winegard 76cm
I got my 90cm Fortec Star 90P this past weekend and was curious to see how it compared in terms of construction with my other dish, the 76cm Winegard DS2076. My measurement results are summarized in the following table with the dimensions given in inches and the nearest even number gauge in parenthesis. The name of the parts correspond with the assembly instruction sheet on the Sadoun.com site for the Fortec. If you get this particular dish, print out a copy of this instruction sheet, as my dish came with the 80cm instructions and it is of a different design. The hardware box was labeled "80cm," but was in fact the proper hardware for the 90cm.
Component Fortec Winegard
Reflector .045 (18) .045 (18)
Reflector Bracket .085 (14) .072 (16)
LNBf Arm .052 (18) .052 (18)
B/Mast Bracket .040 (20) .062 (16)
F/Mast Bracket
(Calibrated in deg) .069 (16) .072 (16)
Pole .053 (18) .062 (16)
Foot .086 (14) .087 (14)
The Fortec compared very favorably with the Winegard except for the mast bracket (the round part with 2 bolts that attaches the elevation indicator to the pole) and the mounting pole itself, which are of noticeably thinner metal. As a result, when tighetening the two mounting bolts, the metal deformed and I could not get the bolts to sit in the square cut out which made it difficult to tighten. Because of the thinner metal of the pole, it may get crushed when tightening the mast bracket, so be careful. I had no special problems during assembly, it was no more difficult than the Winegard.
Two other items worth mentioning:
The dish was shipped loosely in its box, with no packing protection whatsoever. The hardware was wrapped in bubblewrap so it would not bounce around, but there was no styrofoam to stop the dish from shifting around inside the box during shipping. I will give them credit for the box, though, it was of double wall construction. Keep in mind that some suppliers do not cover damage to the dish during shipping and neither does UPS (given the poor packing), so you can potentially be on your own if there is damage due to the fact that it was poorly packed. Mine arrived fine, I laid it on a flat surface and it was proven not warped.
The dish and components are claimed to be powder coated, and they may very well be, but the painted finish is not as durable as that on the Winegard and other dishes I have owned. Several chips of paint were missing off the mounting tube straight out of the box and the finish around the elevation indicator came right off during the first elevation adjustment. The finish is perfectly serviceable, just not at the quality of the Winegard.
Overall, the dish met expectations, and given the performance improvement being reported by others here, the additional $20 over a 76cm is a sound investment. If the Fortec .4 universal lnb (FSKU-V) is available as a combo deal, all the better.
I got my 90cm Fortec Star 90P this past weekend and was curious to see how it compared in terms of construction with my other dish, the 76cm Winegard DS2076. My measurement results are summarized in the following table with the dimensions given in inches and the nearest even number gauge in parenthesis. The name of the parts correspond with the assembly instruction sheet on the Sadoun.com site for the Fortec. If you get this particular dish, print out a copy of this instruction sheet, as my dish came with the 80cm instructions and it is of a different design. The hardware box was labeled "80cm," but was in fact the proper hardware for the 90cm.
Component Fortec Winegard
Reflector .045 (18) .045 (18)
Reflector Bracket .085 (14) .072 (16)
LNBf Arm .052 (18) .052 (18)
B/Mast Bracket .040 (20) .062 (16)
F/Mast Bracket
(Calibrated in deg) .069 (16) .072 (16)
Pole .053 (18) .062 (16)
Foot .086 (14) .087 (14)
The Fortec compared very favorably with the Winegard except for the mast bracket (the round part with 2 bolts that attaches the elevation indicator to the pole) and the mounting pole itself, which are of noticeably thinner metal. As a result, when tighetening the two mounting bolts, the metal deformed and I could not get the bolts to sit in the square cut out which made it difficult to tighten. Because of the thinner metal of the pole, it may get crushed when tightening the mast bracket, so be careful. I had no special problems during assembly, it was no more difficult than the Winegard.
Two other items worth mentioning:
The dish was shipped loosely in its box, with no packing protection whatsoever. The hardware was wrapped in bubblewrap so it would not bounce around, but there was no styrofoam to stop the dish from shifting around inside the box during shipping. I will give them credit for the box, though, it was of double wall construction. Keep in mind that some suppliers do not cover damage to the dish during shipping and neither does UPS (given the poor packing), so you can potentially be on your own if there is damage due to the fact that it was poorly packed. Mine arrived fine, I laid it on a flat surface and it was proven not warped.
The dish and components are claimed to be powder coated, and they may very well be, but the painted finish is not as durable as that on the Winegard and other dishes I have owned. Several chips of paint were missing off the mounting tube straight out of the box and the finish around the elevation indicator came right off during the first elevation adjustment. The finish is perfectly serviceable, just not at the quality of the Winegard.
Overall, the dish met expectations, and given the performance improvement being reported by others here, the additional $20 over a 76cm is a sound investment. If the Fortec .4 universal lnb (FSKU-V) is available as a combo deal, all the better.
