Pendragon,
I have commented on this once in the past. It may have been obscurely hhidden in a thread of a different subject, however.
I have experienced problems with wind here while using the GeoSatPro 1.2M dish.
Once, and this had absolutely nothing to do with the dish... It came in the spring following the thaw. I had the dish set on a tripod with three 1/2" diameter, all-thread anchor rods that were set about 24" deep on each of the tripod legs. The wind was blowing hard enough to lift these anchors up out of the loose ground 1/4" to 1". This was enough to cause me a lot of frustration as it took me quite a while to observe this in action. Evidentally, the tripod did not return to the same position after the gust had passed and thus kept throwing my mast alignment off.
I have also experienced a problem with the dish itself, when the wind was exceptionally strong. Approximately 45-50 mph sustained winds with frequent gusts up to 65 mph. It was ripping shingles off the house, tree limbs off the trees and even tore the gutters off one side of the house. The wind was pretty constant from the same direction for several days. I noticed that a few satellites around 97W-101W and the lower power sats from other areas of the arc were having troubles maintaining a consistent lock. The channel would blip or burp or drop out for a second or two and then recover. I could still watch the program, but it was a little annoying.
Here is the kicker to my observations, if you look at the specs of the dish from SatelliteAV's site, you will find this information: Operational Wind Speed 90 km/H (56 mph). You can see that the wind speeds I was experiencing were really pushing the specified limits of the dish's recomendations, so the dish was actually operating according to its manufacturer's specifications.
That was some pretty strong winds and they are not common for my area. In all honesty, when we get winds this bad, we are usually pondering going to shelter in the basement. Our satellite reception is the least of our worries and there is often such heavy rain and hail at the time, that it wouldn't matter regardless. It was only on a couple of occasions that this has occurred. Also, you will have to realize that I set this dish almost out in a barren field - devoid of trees and buildings to block the wind (in order to obtain the best LOS).
Except for the problem with my tripod anchors, you absolutely must admit that this is a damned good testament for this dish and its size! Also, I only used the option to incorporate the third U-Bolt and nothing additional to secure the GeoSatPro dish to my DG-380 motor tube, and that NEVER moved!
What else can I say, except that I am very proud of the operation of this dish.
I have applied the Invacom QPH-031 LNBF on this dish. I no longer use the circular side of this LNBF as there is nothing worthwhile (free) there. But, it is working exceptionally well with this dish for all the FTA linear sats that I can get from 30.0°W all the way west to 127.0°W
You won't be disappointed with this dish.
RADAR
