Hurricanes

[shankle]

Going to have to take a working dish down and put it in the garage.
God help me.
Run the dish to the ground(west). Take cap off the LNBs. Remove
wires and pull them through the button hook. Paint on the actuator
where the clamp is connected. Remove wires from the actuator.
Remove the actuator. Remove dish from pole. Tape wires to pole
so they won't bang in the wind.
Now if I can only remember where the wires went I guess I can
reverse the process.

 

[primestar31]

Don't forget to line up and make a mark between the mount and the pole, so you can put it back exactly where it belongs for aiming!

 

[rv1pop]

I try to take picture of the wiring before I move anything - of course that was for heat pumps and furnaces to begin with, with print film! Take a bunch of pictures, esp. if you have a digital camera and save them to a labeled card (SatSetUp or something) If you are like me --- you will need it, and be glad you have it -- in a year or two!

 

[Lone Cloud]

I don't see how you can avoid taking it down. I live in a canyon in Southern California, and have had winds of up to 60 mph. But there in Florida, in the Autumn especially, that wind speed isn't near the highest you might experience.

There are two tricks I know of. The first is not honking down on the bolts that hold the dish mount on the pole. The second would be pointing the dish straight up and tightening .

Florida storms, in my view, make either of those tricks foolish, dangerous. You don't want to have nightmares about your dish flying at 100 MPH directly at a kid or something.

It's a good hobby, but Florida isn't the easiest place to pursue it.

 

[rv1pop]

I have had 2 C band dishes ripped out of the ground, one broken off the mounting ring and 2 KU dishes ripped off the mounts on the building wall. Our storms come with little warning. Also lost 2 anemometers (wind gauges).
I do not envy you.

 

[cracklincrotch]

I shudder at the thought of having to take mine down. 260lbs and 11' to the mount from the ground. Nasty.

If you're hurricane prone it's bound to happen sometime. Sucks though there's nothing anybody can do but move.

 

[Corrado]

For smaller dishes it may be possible to just remove the reflector and leave the mounts. I have a 6' Fortec Star dish that comes down in minutes.

 

[Comptech]

During the canes of 2004 and 2005 were I took direct hits, I would just split my 10 foot channel Master in half and store it in the house.I would leave the actuator and mount in place, unsrew the F connetors from the lnb's and tie wrap the coax to the pole, separate the dish from the mounting ring in two places and be done.The reporting station at the end of the street from me recorded 143MPH gusts and all was fine. Well at least with the dish mount and pole, the house was another story!

 

[digiblur]

I anchored one down with straps and grand auger anchors.. It lived with no issues. Just be careful not to bend it.

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

[shankle]

Satellite dish is now in the garage. 9' door and 10' dish - fun.
Took my pictures of the wires. Left mount on pole and taped
wires to pole. One of the connectors came off and a novice will
have to put it back on. One mistake I made by being so cheap.
I tried to unscrew the 8 bolts holding the dish to the mount.
Wrong should have just hacksawed them off and bought new ones.
1 1/2 hours versus 20 minutes.
So now the hurricane will turn due west and all is for nothing.

 

[Anole]

Not for nothing.
Put it back together with new stainless bolts & anti-seize compound.
Next time, it'll be a breeze! -

iPhone 4

 

[rv1pop]

AND -- the pictures will be a help if ever something pulls loose, or if someone else needs help later. And, with that in mind, it the wires are color coded, be sure to take pictures of the indoor wiring.

A funny thing happened at an RV campground a few years ago. An "experienced" RVer (AKA know it all) was having problems with his refrigerator, (again)! He KNEW what he was doing and refused help. I watched him for a few minutes - something looked wrong - so I went and got my laptop with my pictures on it. He suddenly got interested in the pictures in the pictures, spotted the problem and said, "I don't need that stuff, I know what I am doing." He pulled off the wrong connections and told me he was taking care of it. As I walked away, he put the wires where they belonged and closed up the cover. Later that night they invited us over for 'sMores.

 

[FaT Air]

Nuts and bolts out in the weather? Never-Seez®, don't ever put anything together without it.
Hoping it misses ya.

 

[rv1pop]

What part of Florida are you in? Sounds like Issac is expected to head up along the west coastand hit the panhandle.

 

[shankle]

I'm in the N Central part of FL. Specifically the Ocala/Dunnellon area.
Could veer more easterly and I would get the full brunt of it.
If it veered W I would be most grateful. Latest is 105 MPH in my area.
Other people around me are doing nothing which is a big mistake IMHO.
Old Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared" is good advice.
Final shutters going up today and I am ready for it except for tornadoes.
Got gas for my "NEVER USED" generator and am all set.
Usually what happens in one of these is the power goes off and everything
spoils in the frig. Last time I could have bought the generator for what I
lost in the refrigerator.

 

[primestar31]

Satellite dish is now in the garage. 9' door and 10' dish - fun.
Took my pictures of the wires. Left mount on pole and taped
wires to pole. One of the connectors came off and a novice will
have to put it back on. One mistake I made by being so cheap.
I tried to unscrew the 8 bolts holding the dish to the mount.
Wrong should have just hacksawed them off and bought new ones.
1 1/2 hours versus 20 minutes.
So now the hurricane will turn due west and all is for nothing.

You should be praying that will be true. Better than the alternative, and everything gets wiped out!

 

[rv1pop]

one (GFS?) show it going into NOLA!

 

[shankle]

I put my dish back up today. Still taking a chance. Should wait another 30 days.
I swear I didn't change any settings. The click count is off about 15 clicks.
I didn't losen the clamp on the actuator. So in my opinion nothing changed.
Hey it works and I am happy. Will deal wth it. But would like to know why.

 

[FaT Air]

If you took the dish off the mount, that washer, that was on the left, is now on the right. (or vice versa)
If you took the whole dish and mount off the pole, it's probably just a tad off in azimuth. 15 counts in a quick estimation is maybe around 3/4° to 1°. Hope the rest of 'the season' is quiet.

 

[shankle]

Thanks Fat Air for answering.
I left the mount on the pole and didn't losen anything on the mount.
Just removed the 8 screws holding the dish to the mount.
Signal seems to be good though.