In response to the many questions I have received pertaining to Satellite Dishes, and "pointing them up" ....here is an in-depth PDF Manual that leaves no stone unturned about the principals behind satellite dishes, and just may provide the reader with the precise information they are seeking in order to realise maximum performance from their dishes.  (There is no additional data such as I have posted before on how to align a satellite dish though, this manual is quite the opposite of that article, and was last updated in 1998.  Granted, it gets a bit technical in a few areas, yet the majority of it is very well worded and much of the information can be applied to narrow down "impossible" problems!  Therefore, if you are a dish owner the information contained herein is (or potentially could be) quite valuable throughout, and will assist you in ways that you may not (presently) be aware of. 

*No part of this manual remotely talks about DirecWay Satellite dishes, yet that is of no consequence as the mathematical principles behind dishes have not changed for well over a decade or more, and quite likely it will be another decade before any radical improvements are discovered.  (Hey ....find a way to redesign a dish and you'll have the world knocking down your door to buy it)! 

**At this point in time, the greatest improvement that you can make to your dish is to apply several layers of Rain-X to the concaved area of your dish so that water will not have a fighting chance of sticking to it.  Therewith, in a pouring down rain you will maintain a slightly higher signal due to a lesser amount of water causing reflection problems from the dish into your Feedhorn (collector).    Please remember to make sure your dish is NOT transmitting if you are going to be standing in such close proximity to the Emitter!  For DW4000 and 4020 users, just kill the power.  For DW6000 users, you only need to make sure that nobody is using the Internet and you'll be perfectly safe (excluding the dish being atop an 80 foot tower such as mine is)!   

Enjoy, and feel free to post questions or e-mail me if you wish concerning the matter.

Cheers!

"The Reverend"

Hi Lance49726!

How do you mean?  I did not make any corrections/modifications to the post nor change the posted document?  (Maybe I need another cup of coffee)?  lol...

"The Rev"

AH!  No problem lance49726 ......when I have about 20 'irons in the fire' (helping several ppl at once), I sometimes give worthless info to everyone because I get who wants what all turned around in my little brain ...but at least they cut me slack for it ....and a couple of those times it actually worked out for the better because they got a file they never heard of and fixed problems they didn't know they had)!  LOL! 

Ai-yi-yi ....too bad our brains can't keep up with these monsters we've created!  ;)

"The Rev"

*But you had me wondering like crazy and rechecking all of my last 100 posts!  lol....Did alot of editing so TY!!!  Everything always works out for the better.  And when it comes to this Forum, I ain't had this much fun since the pigs ate my kid sister! 

Well, if you have TOO much reflectivity in your dish (like "glossy" paint), you will burn out your "radio" (LNB anyway) in a matter of minutes.  However, ANYTHING that will keep your dish dry is a big help in keeping the multiple-angled reflections streaming into the dead-center of the Collector (Feed Horn).  From there, the LNB amplifies the signals into something useable (two-way) ....and so that's why you can't make it be too hot of a reflection.  Dents in the older metal dishes would cause degrading of signal (confused reflection), and so ppl would take hammers and carefully tap them out ...or at least get them as close to 'curvature' as possible.  There is a "string trick" that you can do that takes about an hour ...and makes your dish look like a giant loom, but in this manner you can use the strings to perfectly align your transducer so that it is 'centered & level' to the exact center of your dish.  Even if it gets off by 1cm, the signal quality will decay ...but with the newer dishes it takes ALOT of force to knock the transducer out of alignment ...and when it happens you will definitely know it because your SS falls into the cellar!  About 15% of the dishes out there have a misaligned feedhorn assembly (that part that the dish reflects the signals into, and out of.  An amazingly simple but complex toy of technology.  Just think of how many uses "concave" has these days!  Parabolic reflectors in telescopes, microscopes, all kinds of medical gear 'scopes', GIANT astronomy telescopes with huge concave "dishes", etc.   All of them simple 'bowls' carefully set to a precise curvature.  Mess up the curvature and you render it useless.

The Reverend

*Never have heard of lotus-effect paints ...but I am browsing for it!  TY for the info resopalrabotnick

What are you willing to bet that gets synthesized and finds it's way into ALOT of different products?  TY for the links!  Amazing....

The Reverend

*Superhydrophobia ....I know some people like that when tossed into shark-infested waters...

That's good because Rain-X works on my dish just fine.  Three coats last three months easily if not a bit more. (All Rain-X is made of is a modified 3-in-1 oil ...in fact, you can use 3 in 1 oil but it doesn't last quite as long, and will cause bugs to 'stick' to your dish!      I've been looking for something for my ole bald head that would come off easily ...but I see you've already answered my question!   lol....

TY!  Gonna get me some of that stuff!

The Reverend