We made ours, courtesy of a LOA member, Pauls, ingenuity! We got the swimming pool skimmer poles from Amazon and the PVC pieces from Lowes. We did cut the saddle differently: just cut that large "tube" section in half and that created a cradle. We glued in a thin sheet of white closed-cell foam that was left over from our fantastic fan gasket. (My husband said the same material shipped with his computer to protect the screen during transit.) He did use a screw to hold that PVC to the pole. We have not yet made the straps, but that would be a very easy add-on.
How did it work? Well, when we were in TX this February and it rained heavily for 6 weeks (only slightly exaggerating...) it was amazing!! The rain was not wind-driven, but it was at times torrential. We were able to cant the awning so that the rain ran right off, taking weight off the fabric and frame. It doesn't take much rise on one side to get a good runoff angle, so it didn't stress the attachment plate.
We have noticed that using the poles stabilizes the awning so that it isn't as vulnerable to light breezes. We tested it and found that when it is "bouncier", the auto retract engaged. The poles are far enough away from the camper to drop away on their own. (That said, we chose to turn the Auto function off, and of course never leave it deployed when we are not at camp or sleeping!)
On a final note, we bought the new Carefree sunscreen, and it is wonderfull!!! It has an upper portion that slips into the free groove on the awning rail and rolls up and down seamlessly! (That allows attaching the lower portion without needing a step ladder!) The lower portion has the other half of a separating zipper. Very easy to attach and can be removed in seconds if a storm were to come up. We do set the poles when using the screen, and I have created a "lacing" bungee that hooks into ground stakes and can be quickly adjusted and removed as needed. (Of course, with this in use, the shade will act as somewhat of a "tie down" so the straps would not be needed.)
Sorry for the long post! I wish we had a photo (Pauls has one on the forum). Going UpNorth soon and I hope to get photos of all our mods then!
Happy Camping!