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NICE MODIFICATION FROM CUSTOMER
From time to time we get suggestions from our customers who have made modifications to our products or, in some cases, created a whole new product. This month we would like to pass along an idea from Steve Brown of Livingston, TX. Steve was concerned about his tripod tipping over due to high winds blowing on his large Slimline dish. Even using our High-Wind option, anything is possible, consequently he felt "better safe than sorry".
Steve created a metal strap that bolts to each of the feet of the tripod and allows a stake to be driven into the ground to secure the feet. (Use caution when driving a stake into the ground at a public or state campground to avoid contacting any buried electrical or water lines.)
Steve has supplied detailed, step-by-step instructions and they are shown below:
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Here is the extension before attachment to the tripod foot. The material used is high-strength aluminum about 1.25 inches wide by 0.125 inches thick. The extension is bent and holes drilled to accommodate mounting the hard point to the foot and the foot to the tripod leg, plus a hole for a stake. Having the extension bolted twice to the foot gives it great strength and rigidity.
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The next image shows the extension bolted to the foot without the tripod leg to illustrate the assembly. In the end I replaced the hard points with hex bolts as the hard points actually made it more difficult to initially place the tripod and aren’t really very useful with the sort of ground conditions we normally encounter (dirt, grass, gravel, etc.).
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Here is an image of the mounted foot and extension with a spike securing it to the ground. Here wind isn’t much of a problem, so the spike isn’t fully driven in to facilitate removal and for illustration purposes. I’ve permanently attached the leg restraint system using nylon ties to secure the chain at each leg and define the leg separation on setup. I use this to initially place the tripod. I then stake the tripod down via the foot extensions. Once that’s done I insert the mast and, after adjusting the legs to make it vertical, secure it with the high-wind system.
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GREAT IDEA Steve! Thanks for the suggestion. We invite any of our readers to submit their suggestions of modifications they have made to our products that improve the performance. Please email your ideas to george@tv4rv.com.
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THIS MONTH'S TIP
Keep in mind that TV4RV.com offers
technical support to our customers.
If you have a technical problem with regard
to setting up your TV satellite dish, please
feel free to call us at 541-244-0250 or you
may email your question to
support@tv4rv.com
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