Home made dish angle tool

[spongella]

I had a post a few weeks ago about a gizmo I made from scrap parts that is of great help when adjusting dish angles, especially when fine tuning the angle. This little device really saves tons of time and frustration, and if you are handy, try one of these, it'll make optimizing your signal a lot easier.

Here's how I did it:

I cut a piece of 1 7/8 O.D. inch PVC pipe about 2 1/4 inches long, drilled two holes for a 1/4 inch bolt about 5/8 inches from the bottom of the pipe. Slipped the bolt through the holes, and then epoxied a nut on one end. See pictures.

Next, using Dremel tool, I bored out the inside of the PVC pipe above the bolt until the whole pipe would fit snugly on my DG-280 motor tube. I put a little thread lock to hold it in place.

Now, when I am adjusting my dish angle, it is a breeze. No need for three arms and hands. I just loosen up the dish bolts, and turn the gizmo bolt up or down while watching my signal. This is especially helpful because you can adjust in very small increments, and it holds the dish angle steady so when you are done, you can tighten up the dish angle bolts.

No need to go by my dimensions exactly, just make something similar to fit your system. Well I hope this saves someone some time.

Good luck,

Spongella

[fta2000]

spongella

That's a good idea. I like what you did.

[rainman]

very nice and quite simple great ideal.

[Jim-S]

Hey; the last one you made was a thingy whats this one called. Pretty cool.

[rainman]

Originally Posted by Jim-S

Hey; the last one you made was a thingy whats this one called. Pretty cool.

This one is the new and improved thingy.LOL

[Vitruvius]

Brilliant... get a patent and make millions...

[Vitruvius]

call it a FTA FTA.... Fine Tune Adjuster for FTA....

[Jim-S]

Originally Posted by Vitruvius

call it a FTA FTA.... Fine Tune Adjuster for FTA....

Wow, now that is deep thinking...............................FTA thingy

[spongella]

Thank you for all the nice comments. Yes, this is the new and improved gizmo, as my first one eventually broke. This one uses a heavy duty 1/4 inch bolt. Now, the one in the picture uses a 3 inch long bolt, but depending on the dish a longer bolt such as 4 or 5 inch may be needed.

This thing(ie) can be custom made depending your skills. All I know is that once you have one, you won't be shy about going out and resetting your dish at a moment's notice. Make sure that the bolt end is easily turnable with your finger, this way no wrench or screwdriver is needed.

I even made a second one as a backup.