Why Us Again ??

[Vipersan]

..Was up most of the night listening to the wind howl around my house ..
Once again fearing for my beloved dishes ..
..and its going to get worse tomorrow ..
For the 3rd time since Christmas ...we are set to have wind gusting sufficient to cause structural damage ..
Not content with rain every day for almost 3 weeks ..we are set to feel the force of nature once again.
Tomorrow expecting gusts up to 80mph..
I've spent the morning cutting steel to make braces to tie the big Alcoa to the walls ...
I dont want to go through the process of restoring her again ...
I'm cold ..tired..aching and suffering with my 'condition' ...but I couldn't let the old girl suffer yet more indignity..and abuse.
But what of the recently installed TD88 ..and old faithful TD110..
More trips of ladders I suspect ...assuming they stand up to the winds buffeting at all ..
What do you experts advise ..assuming the wind is funneling from the west again ..
..as it usually does..
Personally Ive tried turning the dishes edge on into the wind ...and full face into it ...
Neither of which proved effective ..though I suspect my latest idea of turning the curved reverse of the dish to face the wind square on might be best ..
In theory distributing the loading equally ...and allowing the wind to flow around the curved reverse to distribute and deflect the gusts ..
What do you guys think ?
Applogies for any typos ..my hands are near frozen atm ..
You guys down South don't know how lucky you are ...in spite of the lack of water you're getting ..
rgds
VS
O-no

 

[Lazarus]

Well I've got a spare arm for a TD110 ......................

 

[Mickha]

A few weeks ago our radio stations were predicting 6 weeks of hot weather, with no rain, ever since it's been raining, never trust the weather forecasters

 

[Lazarus]

Well it's been fiercely windy here all day and there are lots of fallen branches scattered along the lanes.

Next door have just had a dangerous chimney rebuilt, so thank goodness for that, if tomorrow's predictions come true.

 

[Vipersan]

A few weeks ago our radio stations were predicting 6 weeks of hot weather, with no rain, ever since it's been raining, never trust the weather forecasters

...'pends where you live I suspect.
Weather predictions are imo always Londoncentric..
Where that forcast played out almost perfectly..
The rest of the UK can ..go suck a lemon as far as the met office is concerned.

I'll wager that later this year they will be telling us what a glorious summer we've had ...but that again is a Londoncentric prediction.

oh ...and if we ooop North manage 3 consecutive days of sunshine ...we'll probably incur a hosepipe ban.
'nuff said
VS

 

[wod]

the wind is very strong here some trees looking likely to be over which would be good for me but not if it was my garden.

I've always put my dish side on to the wind as this was recommended, so what do people think on this ?

 

[Vipersan]

the wind is very strong here some trees looking likely to be over which would be good for me but not if it was my garden.

I've always put my dish side on to the wind as this was recommended, so what do people think on this ?

As already posted Wod...I tried that without success ...
The wind appears to wobble the dish about its fulcrum ...until it hits resonance ..
Less chance of damage to the dish physically ...when its side on ...but invariably requires reajustment after the winds have gone..
Usually I expect a shift between 1 and 3 degrees ...always to the East..
Face on never requires tweaking afterwards ..and wobbles less ...but of course ..the dish then presents a larger target to the gusts...
I say face on or rear on to the wind ..providing its well anchored with many quality T & Ks
rgds
VS

 

[satelliteman]

Strong winds in the South Midlands also.

 

[rolfw]

Pretty strong winds here as well, was on top of a nine storey building this morning putting up a small dish and fibre optic LNB, although the location was screened, the wind gusts were pretty strong.

Us lucky southerners are likely to see a hosepipe ban for the summer, as we've had very little rain.

 

[Vipersan]

Strong winds in the South Midlands also.

Made its way South quite quickly then SM & Rolf ..

btw ..where do you stand 'assuming you can in this wind ;)'...on the side on ..face on dish parking debate ?
rgds
VS

 

[rolfw]

Although side on is the choice of many, wind unfortunately doesn't always stay rigid in its direction, so dishes placed this way may still be vulnerable. I've been lucky with my 80cm dish, it's set above the roof, but may be slightly screened by the tall trees opposite.

 

[Vipersan]

Although side on is the choice of many, wind unfortunately doesn't always stay rigid in its direction, so dishes placed this way may still be vulnerable. I've been lucky with my 80cm dish, it's set above the roof, but may be slightly screened by the tall trees opposite.

Wind direction at my location is almost always Unidirectional ..
ie ..from the West ...so I guess thats why I tend to try and tough it out 'face on' ..
A bit like leaning into a stiff wind at the seaside ...You get the full force ..but feel more stable ..
rgds
VS

 

[Terryl]

Unfortunately the parabolic shape of the dish causes the same affect as an airplane wing, causing lift in one direction, even the uni-mesh dishes have this problem, and this can cause a severe wobble and even a failure of the mount due to metal fatigue.

Back to the wind is the most effective way to minimize damage, however most satellite dishes don’t have a unidirectional motor mount and cant be turned to back into the wind.

In hi wind areas we use to install dishes designed for 100 mph+ winds, these are very expensive so some asked for side braces, a 3 point or 4 point side brace will hold the dish steady enough to watch (in my case TX and RX) the satellite. (I would use a 4 point for a big dish)

If this is a motorized system, then you can plan out the bracing for what ever direction your major storms come from, before the storm hits turn the dish and go out and install the bracing, (use a motor disconnect switch to keep someone from moving it while braced up) this can be guy wire, aircraft cable or tubing cut to length.

In some cases the pull on the bracing would pull the dish out of shape so cross bracing had to be installed from the brace points on the dish across the face of the dish, this was made from stainless steel aircraft cable as it is much stronger and is thinner then normal steel cable or guy wire, (I use it to hold up my tower) turn buckles are used to tighten things down, after the storm has passed you can remove the side bracing, if more storms are to follow you can leave the center bracing in place. (loosen up the turn buckles so the dish doesn’t warp)

This seams like a lot of work but is only needed during those hi wind times, and keeps your dish at home and not down the road.

 

[Fano]

I dont think our climate in the UK and Ireland is suitable for motorised satellite dishes.
Its just too windy and wild.
I'm switching to a T90 ,less hassle.
Incidentally ,I lived in Canada for a few years and there was never any wind over there of any sort .

 

[Vipersan]

Thanks for your input Terry..
You've more or less confirmed my thinking regarding dish parking during severely windy weather ..
A process of elimination led me to the conclusion that since the wind is predominantly westerly ..and my back wall faces due south ...its best to point it as far East as it will go ...
In my case approx 62 deg East ..
This applies to all 3 motorised dishes ..
The TD88 TD110 and the big 1.8 Alco PF..
..which of course now has the added security and support of steel braces running East and North from the centre pole to 2 x brick walls ..
rgds
VS

 

[Huevos]

A process of elimination led me to the conclusion that since the wind is predominantly westerly ..and my back wall faces due south ...its best to point it as far East as it will go ...
In my case approx 62 deg East ..
This applies to all 3 motorised dishes ..
The TD88 TD110 and the big 1.8 Alco PF.

I'd point the C-band dish to the west so the actuator is at it's strongest.

 

[Terryl]

Then there are the dishes that can be folded over (via hydraulics) and stowed in a below ground storage area, (biggest I did on this type of setup was a 5 meter) however we only used this setup for areas that have hurricane or tornado problems.

You could just fold it over and leave it close to the ground.

 

[Channel Hopper]

You could park the dish in the fully elevated position, and then post the water you catch down south.....

 

[Vipersan]

..Hatches battened ..
Dishes Parked ...
Took Huevos's advice and decided to tough it out face on to the wind with the Alcoa ..
Made sense to be to have the actuator at shortest stretch ...
The other 2 dishes are rotated as far East as I can get 'em ..
Wind beginning to build here ....just had time to finish bolting the wall braces ..
The second angle brace will have to wait for its coat of hammerite black..
rgds all
VS

 

[Lazarus]

I'm sat in the back catching up on my Crosswords owing to the foul weather and I can see my 80cm Motorised flapping about like a Seal on speed.