Roof mounted dish move in wind

Big Ben · 04-20-2005, 08:12 PM

Have trouble with my dish moving in the wind and temporarily losing signal. Any one have a cure for this?

Big Ben · 04-20-2005, 08:12 PM

Have trouble with my dish moving in the wind and temporarily losing signal. Any one have a cure for this?

dawg · 04-21-2005, 03:34 AM

If the dish is made by Winegard, they have a kit that will fix the problem. I understand they will send you the kit free of charge.

d.duin · 04-21-2005, 07:30 AM

I tried the upgrade kit from Winnegard but it didn't help a bit. After fighting the problem on two MHs I found the best cure was to go to a dome! Good luck.
Ace

Big Ben · 04-21-2005, 08:56 AM

Thanks Guys. Ill try the kit and maybe I'll get lucky.

Old Snipe · 04-21-2005, 05:19 PM

I had a dish installed just two months ago. It is rock solid in the wind. Maybe Winegard offers an upgrade?

Best Regards!

The Shadow · 04-21-2005, 05:35 PM

My dish has been pretty good in the wind. BUT, Monday I tried to put it down and it would not park. Tuesday morning I got up on the roof and had to keep shoving it to get it down. It is not parked front to rear but rather side to side. That has not caused a problem but I'm afraid to put it up in case it won't go down - especially as it is raining here in the Charlottesville area where we are visiting friends.

Anyone have this problem and know of a quick fix? When the rain stops I'm going to go up and lube it.

tomsm · 04-22-2005, 02:11 AM

Don,
If you're talking about a manual dish, it must be parked front to rear. Crank it back up, release the friction lock, swivel it around, then drop it back down. If it's an auto unit, time to call Winegard I guess.

Ben,
I had an '02 Southwind that had a floppy dish like you describe. The one on my new Journey was rock solid. The original one was replaced after hurricane damage and the new one is also rock solid, so Winegard has definitely improved the mount. Hopefully the kit will make yours as solid as the new design.

Dsouthw524 · 04-22-2005, 02:56 AM

You did not mention how high the winds are that are moving the dish! We have been in some pretty high wind gusts and the winegard dish has been very steady. I suspect that either parts are worn or you are not locking the dish with the friction latch. Obviously there are limits as to the winds that the unit can handle because of the size and wind velocities.

When lowering the manual dish the arrow on the rotation knob must be pointed toward the front of the coach prior to lowering the dish as mentioned in another problem and reply.

The Shadow · 04-22-2005, 06:37 PM

My dish is auto. I'm not going to try to put it up again just in case it won't come down. We expect to get home Sunday and I'll try it again after we are home. It may just have lost its way (hopefully, he says).

Big Ben · 04-22-2005, 07:06 PM

The arrow on my manual dish must be pointed to the rear to park it.. I'm refering to 30 to 40 mph wind. I am not in the habit of stying in the MH during hurricans.

whyoder · 04-23-2005, 06:35 AM

I had the same problem with my roof mounted dish, I also got the free kit from Winegard, they told me Winnebago had been cutting the shafts 1/4" short. I installed the kit as directed, also noted that the Winnebago shaft was short as identified in the specs. It worked great for a few months, but has started moving again, in a light wind. Still looking for the fix.

The Shadow · 04-24-2005, 01:39 PM

Got home in the rain last night. Snow on the ground in the morning - gone now thank goodness. Decided to see what the dish would do (now that I did not have to worry about getting it down for a couple of weeks). Turned it on, it came up from its east-west incorrect park position. It buzzed around for ages and then stoppped. I turned it off, back on and then parked it - and this time it did park properly north-south. Turned it back on and it started to search - it was like a drunk walking down a laneway blindfolded. Around and around, back and forth, where it would go - who knows. I watched for over 15 minutes. I figured I'd just let it keep searching and went into the house for a half hour to do other things. I came out to find it stopped and positioned properly. Went into the MH and was delighted to find it working and all channels were fine.

Hope I dodged a bullet.

Tom N · 04-25-2005, 03:52 AM

If you use your receiver both in the house and in the coach and you have an elliptical dish w/multi-LNBs at home make certain you change the receiver setup to ROUND dish when placing the receiver in the coach. I forgot and the auto dish was really confused. It would aquire a signal and then lose it. after a half hour I just stopped the dish when I had a signal. But then I remembered to change the dish to round in the setup.

The Shadow · 04-25-2005, 04:59 AM

Both are roundy rounds - not an issue as the receiver is one of three and has always worked ok in the house and MH. I think the poor sucker just got confused at one point and had a nervous breakdown. Glad it didn't give us one as well.