A very lucky dish.

[Fish Man]

Well, Gustav came through yesterday, and our house wasn't totally unscathed.

However, it could have been worse, much worse. (We had 14 feet of water in the house for Katrina. I DON'T live below sea level anymore!)

Anyway. check out these pictures.

http://www.spectra-one.com/sathit-IMG1.JPG

http://www.spectra-one.com/sathit-IMG2.JPG

This tree actually fell in such a way that the ridge you see on the roof caused it to break and the part that broke off actually swooped under the LNB arm of the dish, without hitting the arm or the dish!!

The rafter that the dish is bolted to has a chunk knocked out of it, but the dish is bolted right where the rafter connects to the top of the wall and it is still, apparently, in perfect alignment! (All CONUS and relevant spot's signals in the 90's and some pegged at 100 on all sats.)

We were running on a generator (still are) and I took the OTA antenna down to prevent damage. So, the DirecTV was our primary source of info! We were so glad not to lose it!

[MattDL]

Glad to hear you are safe and sound!

Betcha got some wicked fade during the storm though, eh? :)

[tcusta00]

Wow, glad everything's relatively safe and sound. There must have been some loc-tite on those bolt threads. :lol:

[RobertE]

Well those pics should put to rest the argument as to how important a good mount is for a slimline. :)

[Richard King]

You really should send that picture in to Directv. Of course you would need significant compensation if they want to use it. ;) I'll be your agent. It's good that you got through ok, that's all that counts.

[Grentz]

Wow, sorry about the damage to your house. Amazing how well the slimline stood up to the weather though!

[Brandon428]

I was supposed to go to Abita Springs last Sunday. I heard some tornadoes ripped through there. Glad to see your ok.

[Mertzen]

Nice to see especially since the monopoles aren't 100% right. Now make sure the roofers don't mess up the dish.

[Fish Man]

Nice to see especially since the monopoles aren't 100% right. Now make sure the roofers don't mess up the dish.

The piece of sheeting, not to mention the rafter to which the dish is mounted will have to be replaced.

So, I'll take it down when the roofers arrive, and then put it back. I'll be without D* for a couple of days, unfortunately. :(

What's wrong with the monopoles?

I actually got a PM from a D* employee who saw this thread and asked if he could use the picture as an example to installers of the correct way to use monopoles (and the importance of using them). :confused:

He also mentioned that the mounting location (centered exactly over where the rafter is attached to the plate at the top of the wall) is an ideal mounting location for strength. Indeed, that's why I mounted it there.

(Note the old bracket from my old Phase III dish mounted on the facia, just below where the Slimline is mounted.)