My dish installations about to be tested...

[Tron]

Tropical Storm Cindy appears to be taking aim at the New Orleans area, and is forecasted to strike during the very early morning hours tomorrow (Wednesday).

I just climbed down from the roof with my newly-acquired Toroidal 90. It will have to weather the storm inside, as its mount has not been prepared yet. What will remain up there is my Winegard 30" on SG-2100 and the Channel Master, both on non-penetrating roof mounts.

The winds in the Northwest metro area are forecasted to hit 50 m.p.h., so I will be attempting to tune in channels on both dishes during the storm. I will NOT attempt to move the motorized dish during these winds.

Report to follow within 24 hours...

 

[caddata]

These small dishes are nice. My first homebrew (circa 1982) TVRO dish was 15' in diameter. Constructed from thinwall 3/4" conduit and covered with aluminum screen pop riveted on 2" centers. Took a year to design and build. Hail storm destroyed it and insurance only wanted to pay $25.00 in damages. Would liked to have taken it inside.

 

[Tron]

Yes, it is convenient to be able to climb up there and take the dishes down if needed. This storm, as these things go, isn't very strong. It should, however, prove to be a nice test for what I've been putting up there the past couple of months. I am particularly interested in how long I'll be able to get signal on the motorized, since the dish moves more on a motor than it would if it was permanently fixed on a pole. Now I need a wind gauge....

 

[Tron]

Well, Cindy is history.

Fortunately, none of my dishes are

In fact, I had the motorized dish pulling down programming from 119w (NASA) the whole time. I had some sporadic outages due to rain south of the city as the storm approached. But once the rain was directly above and not to the south, the signal quickly returned, despite very strong winds. I also hooked up the Channel Master and was able to get 12114 V 4444 (the highest power transponder) on G-10R for some of the time.

What I learned is this: Rain is our enemy. As long as there's no rain between your dish and the satellite, wind doesn't really seem to affect reception much.

I stood outside against the back of the house and watched the dishes on the adjacent shed roof as they were torn at by near 70 m.p.h. winds. I kept expecting to see one of them sail off the roof across the yard. They didn't budge. This was a major relief. My biggest fear was that one of them would take a hit from flying debris... some siding was ripped from the side of my house, just a few feet away from the dish farm!

Bottom line, the SG-2100 is a tough motor, the Winegard DS-2076 is a tough dish, and the Channel Master 1M is rock-steady. I couldn't believe I was watching NASA and at times G-10R with a tropical storm howling outside!

 

[Mr Tony]

glad the dishes survived (oh, and you too)

Yes, rain and dark clouds are the enemy.

 

[Tron]

glad the dishes survived (oh, and you too)

Thanks

Now if only Dennis would go away

 

[Mr Tony]

If Hurricane Iceberg comes, y'all better run like hell

 

[bigOleB]

Hurricane Iceberg...

Now thats ironic.

 

[Tron]

Actually, an well-placed iceberg would take care of Dennis rather quickly These things feed on heat...