mickwig
Regular Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2013
- Messages
- 269
- Reaction score
- 165
- Points
- 43
- Age
- 66
- My Satellite Setup
-
240cm Raven Offset, Invacomm Quad LNB;
120 cm Kathrein PF Polarmount, Kathrein Quattro LNB
90cm Astra1 dish;
Samsung LED TV with built-in DVB-S, Panasonic BlueRay Rec with Twin-Tuner, Panasonic BSkyB-Box 1.Generation; TBS5925 USB Card
- My Location
- 49.77N;11.41E Pottenstein, Germany
I hope you don't get frost heave otherwise you would have to underpin it with concrete. And that will not be fun.
I have never heard of it being done but you could try making a wooden deck around your mount.
I very strongly suggest you don't use a brush on your dish. Like using a brush to remove snow from the car it will leave swirls and scratches on the dish. The swirls and scratches make a key for the snow, ice, water and muck to stick to the surface of the dish. Keeping the dish face pure means they will slide off more easily. I use a telescopic squeegee with sponge to remove the snow and to wash the dish face and use a microfibre car wash mitt to clean the back (mine is textured) and mount. If you look at the dish manual it should say not to use harsh detergents on it. I use Dri-Pak liquid soap flakes on my dishes. It is gentle, it will not damage the surface coat and it is very effective. There is nothing better to use on the dish face. Rinse it down with a hose not a pressure washer.
You can also use the telescopic squeegee and sponge to clear snow from the car. You just push it off then use the rubber blade to quickly clear the windows. It is small so it can be easily stored inside the car. A top tip I learnt from a Finnish guy years ago is to use the car screen cleaner and wipers to wash the front and rear windows before turning the engine off. I use -20C screencleaner in winter (and always carry a liter of -65C for top ups). That stops the ice forming overnight and any bits of snow come off instantly in the morning. (His other top tips were to wear yellow / amber sunglasses in snow, to enjoy the sideways movement because it is "fun" and that the Finns are the best drivers in the world).
There are lots of big dishes that are 25 to 30 years old and are in good condition. If you look after your dish and replace any nuts and bolts if they show any sign of rust with A2 stainless steel then it will easily give excellent performance for fifty years or more.
Thanks for the tips. I got that wrong. What I called a brush is actually a car squeegee with a sponge on the backside. They used to lie around on gas stations when I was younger. I attached the implement to a long pole. A normal car squeegee would not reach the top of the dish since it is 250 cm high plus the base plus some air between base an the bottom of the dish. We are talking about 300 cm easy. The idea with the soap flakes is excellent.
