Dish Maintenance

Lazarus

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors
We haven't had a Maintenance related Topic for a good while, so what I found today whilst prowling the farm trying to get inspiration for a major re-jig might form a worthy basis for a new discussion.

I have two H-H DiSEqC Motorised Installations here, one being a five year old Fortec Turner (Motek Clone) on a Patio Mount, driving a TD110 and the other a seven year old Motek on an exposed gable end, driving a modest 80cm dish.

I have been debating putting the TD110 back up on the gable end instead of the 80cm, which would necessitate strengthening by the addition of a further bracket to supplement the existing 12" T&K.

So I climbed up on by Boiler House roof to get access and see how feasible my plan is and I discovered that the Motor Bracket was severely corroded, with large chunks of the coating flaking off all over the shop. Clamps and fasteners were also in a degraded condition.

Hmm, thinks I and went and found my Kurust and gave it all a good coat of that.

I descended to ground level and had a look at the other Motor: Perfect nick.

So, either the clone is better finished than the original, or (Far more likely), the exposure of the gable end system has had a significant affect on condition.

I've been a bit remiss of late in keeping an eye on things as they've not needed any tweaking or post-storm attention and I've increasingly adopted the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" methodology.






What steps do others take to review the condition of their installations, given that a great many will be far more inaccessible than mine?
 
As mine are at ground level in the back garden it was easy to just go around each dish with WD40 & grease up all the exposed bolts & screw threads.
 
Well mine needs a bit of paint as the motor body seems to be looking a bit sorry for its self.

I only have a fold up ladder at the moment to get up and check it all but the bolts are tight still.

I could do with a tree blowing down here so I can ground mount the dish.

you haven't gone mad with a chainsaw yet?
 
Hi Wod.

I have gone mad, but not with a chainsaw.
 
Go outside....are they all still there?....yes.....that's ok then....
 
sonnetpete said:
Go outside....are they all still there?....yes.....that's ok then....
Click to expand...
Just turn on tv and satellite receiver, if it works then all is ok ;)

I do periodically have a quick check of things, especially after strong winds or stormy periods.
 
On the roof of my parent's house in Helsinki I've got a couple of 1.8m dishes and a few smaller ones. They are all bolted to the walls on wooden beams so I occasionally touch them up with a bit of paint. I did it again this summer. That's about the extent of my maintenance. The stuff on my balcony hardly gets wet so doesn't need much work.

The dishes in England tend to just need an occasional wash due to the nearby oak trees which seem to make everything green. If I don't clean them then the snails crawl over them although it's only really a problem when they sit on the LNB's feedhorns...
 
I do check for woodworm now and again :D not much to go wrong tbh, I do have a pencil line from mount to pole that I check now and again, soon this will be coming down and maybe at a higher level.
DSCN6159.webp
 
Its all coming down CJ no point touching it until I start work on the 1.8 and I don't want it touching the lawn ive spent hours getting my garden to this point:)
 
To either convolute or, conversely, facilitate my proposed reshuffle, I've finally been given the green light to remove and acquire what looks from a distance to be a 1.2m dish with jack from the wall of a barn on a nearby property.

Spotted it years ago and was told an Arabic gentleman had tenanted the property so I'm guessing it was used for 26E. It does seem to be pointing that way.

Anyway, can' t get access until Friday pm, so will report back IDC.

It hasn't been used in at least eight years, so will no doubt require a fair bit of maintenance!
 
A new actuator, lnb and polar mount refurb won't take long to do.

What will you use the dish for?
 
New Actuator? I thought you were a fellow Yorkshireman!

Will try to refurb the old one.

No firm plans at all yet - I'm just cogitating.
 
Tivù said:
New Actuator? I thought you were a fellow Yorkshireman!

Will try to refurb the old one.

No firm plans at all yet - I'm just cogitating.
Click to expand...

Yes I am but might be wise to save the hassle and fit a new one?

I'm wondering if why I can't get 7west is because my cm 1metre dish has a crack in it that I filled with fibreglass resin and this has affected the performance maybe?

I did get it once before on the cm 90cm dish but that could have been beginners luck.
 
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