Is adjusting your dish every 6-9 months "normal"?

[penguinsix]

Hi

I live on the top of a cliff so I have a bit of wind and weather (which might be the cause) but it seems every 6-9 months I've got to go out to the pole and twist things a bit. Today the whole dish 'assembly' had shifted about 1/2 inch to the west (i.e. with the wind) following a big storm and by sheer 'chance in hell' my manual shift with my hands 'popped' back to a nice quality signal on G3 (and then I tweaked it a bit).

But it got me wondering is this normal? Should I plan for a dish tweak every 6 months or so, or should I consider some other method to connect it to the pole once things are 'in sync'. Maybe one big rod that runs through the bracket and the pole and is not going to move no matter what?

 

[turbosat]

What kind of dish/pole are you talking about here? If it's c-band, the long bolt/threaded rod might work if you can get it locked down where you want it before you drill the hole. Or maybe a spot weld in a couple of places to hold the mount to the big pole. KU band would be more exacting when it comes to drilling holes and placing bolts, you'd have to be sure there was no play in the hole/bolt, or very little.

 

[Larry1]

You need to find out where the movement is taking place and why. Are the brackets bending in the wind therefore allowing it to move. On my dish the weak point was where the dish mounted to the motor shaft. A couple of extra U-bolts and pieces of metal stopped the weak mount from bending as I tightened the mount down. Also, sometimes it might be good for the dish to turn if too much force is applied to it. If it can not turn, something else might bend.

 

[mastermesh]

yes... it's very dependent on your setup... I was having a lot of similar issues when I first got in to this whole thing... my problem was gravity... the invacom quad lnb was over time pulling the dish off of the arc... to resolve that, I reinforced the roof mount with a homemade guy wire type thing where a few extra wires were attached to the roof around the pole to give it a bit more sturdyness and solidness... now I very rarely if ever have elevation problems like I used to have... I do still have shifts to east and west by a degree or two when strong storms pass by, but that's normal... I fix that by not touching the dish, just changing usals setting a degree - 3 degrees or so, however far is needed to adjust for max strength on all satellites listed in the pansat's list.. a bit of a hassle, but much easier to do than physically moving stuff up on the roof.

 

[Anole]

If it can not turn, something else might bend.

I'd say if it only goes out every six months, due to a "big storm", then you don't have much slip.

RV1pop has posted high-wind problems with his stamped steel Ku dishes.
If I recall his comments, his dishes became warped, requiring manual handling to get them back into shape.
Maybe if they'd slipped a bit on their mounts, he'd have been upset, but . . .

Last I heard, he went with commercial dishes (recycled Primestars), which are stiffer, and might eventually crack or break, but won't bend. -


Often, big machinery has a "shear pin" built into the drive train, to let go before everything else gets crunched.
So, I'm in agreement with Larry, above, in thinking maybe you're better off with the current situation, than if you didn't have your own personal "shear pin". :up

 

[Peter Iowa]

HEllo,
My 2 stationary dishes are changed to new satellites every once in a while (not real rigid) so if one set in place for 6 months with all the weather it would probably
be a record for me - (that's good in my opinion)! (my record maybe 4 months).:up

 

[Mr Tony]

if you have strong winds it is possible to have to tweak the system

some of us tweak the dish every 6-9 hours

 

[rv1pop]

I wish == 6 to 9 months! It was daily - maybe twice each day. And as Anole noted since I changed to the Primestar I have not had quite so much trouble. I have started using self drilling screws to keep the joints from moving . So far so good. No broken dishes, and I have not had to re-tweak except with the changes in G10R/G18 moving around the box. I had to put a new screw in a new place after that experience.