For three years a 1.8 meter dish has been a guiding beacon for customers to identify our building and the source of signal for distribution to many displays and work stations through out the building. Last month we experienced 80mph+ wind gusts during a heavy storm at our warehouse near Sacramento, California. Seven hours into the storm, a CSR ran into my office soaking wet with tools in hand and said the 1.8 meter dish had been ripped off the front of the warehouse and was being prevented from blown away by four coax lines.
After disconnecting the cables, we wrestled the twisted dish to the sheltered side of the building and secured the dish into the landscaping. When the storm subsided, we examined the damage and found that the 3" post had been torn at the 90 degree welded angle by the force of the wind. Falling 15 feet against the concrete took its toll. The reflector edge was rolled back like a toboggan and there was no chance of salvaging the reflector.
Determined that we will never lose another dish, a mount was designed that could suspend a herd of stampeding elephants. One inch angle iron forms the foundation on the superstructure with a vertical cross brace supporting the 3.5 schedule 40 steel post. A local welding shop produced a great support in a just a few days for $250.
The replacement GEOSATpro AZ/EL mount 1.8 Meter was hung this Tuesday. Four hours and a sunburned neck later, the dish was sighted and peaked for AMC4 and Galaxy25. The project was completed just in time to be tested by a minor storm yesterday with 50mph sustained winds and higher gusts. It is solid! Never lost signal once during the worst of the storm.
Any future major storms will topple the concrete walls before this mount fails!
Next project .... a trip to the roof to replace the feedhorn cover that ended up in another county on the 2.4 meter prime focus dish. Boy am I glad we had 48 blocks weighting down that non-pen. (Though I don't think the guys will ever forgive me for having them rope them up one by one!)
After disconnecting the cables, we wrestled the twisted dish to the sheltered side of the building and secured the dish into the landscaping. When the storm subsided, we examined the damage and found that the 3" post had been torn at the 90 degree welded angle by the force of the wind. Falling 15 feet against the concrete took its toll. The reflector edge was rolled back like a toboggan and there was no chance of salvaging the reflector.
Determined that we will never lose another dish, a mount was designed that could suspend a herd of stampeding elephants. One inch angle iron forms the foundation on the superstructure with a vertical cross brace supporting the 3.5 schedule 40 steel post. A local welding shop produced a great support in a just a few days for $250.
The replacement GEOSATpro AZ/EL mount 1.8 Meter was hung this Tuesday. Four hours and a sunburned neck later, the dish was sighted and peaked for AMC4 and Galaxy25. The project was completed just in time to be tested by a minor storm yesterday with 50mph sustained winds and higher gusts. It is solid! Never lost signal once during the worst of the storm.
Any future major storms will topple the concrete walls before this mount fails!
Next project .... a trip to the roof to replace the feedhorn cover that ended up in another county on the 2.4 meter prime focus dish. Boy am I glad we had 48 blocks weighting down that non-pen. (Though I don't think the guys will ever forgive me for having them rope them up one by one!)
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