The Dish Is Down !!!

JFOK · Sep 28, 2015

Hi All,

I was able to have my dish taken down from its high perch.
A couple of builders saw my ad in Craigslist and came to my rescue...all for $100.
The "take down" wasn't with a slight mishap, however. As this pole came down slowly, guided by ropes with the dish attached, forward momentum increased, more then what was expected and the dish made a slightly rough landing, which bent one of the support brackets on the dish. This caused the mesh to pop out in a few places along that bracket. I was able to bend back the bracket....its aluminum and have started to reattach the mesh.
All in all, a slight price to pay to have it closer to the ground to work on.
Now I have to prepare the new dish site and was wondering...I remember when I put my first dish up in 1991 there was a triangle device with three bolts, one on on each end that was buried in the cement. The base of the tripod was attached to these three bolts sticking up out of the cement. I liked this set up in case the ground or base ever shifted (which It did not) I could then just adjust the pole's angle by adjusting the nuts on top of these bolts. Do they sell these anymore ? I didn't seen any when I looked real quickly online.
Thanks.

John

N6BY · Sep 28, 2015

Glad to hear you got it back down to earth.

JFOK said:
...I remember when I put my first dish up in 1991 there was a triangle device with three bolts, one on on each end that was buried in the cement. The base of the tripod was attached to these three bolts sticking up out of the cement. I liked this set up in case the ground or base ever shifted (which It did not) I could then just adjust the pole's angle by adjusting the nuts on top of these bolts. Do they sell these anymore ? ...

Several months I found a BirdView dish that came with a triangular pedestal base like you described (photo below). I like it because if I ever have to move the dish I can just unbolt it and not have to dig out a metal pole.

They don't make these anymore, but maybe someone here knows of something similar, or it might not be hard to build yourself if you have a welder.

KE4EST · Sep 28, 2015

Glad to hear that you got it down.
More glad to hear that you will be putting it back up and now have easy access and are not getting out of the hobby!

fred555 · Sep 28, 2015

JFOK said:
Now I have to prepare the new dish site and was wondering...I remember when I put my first dish up in 1991 there was a triangle device with three bolts, one on on each end that was buried in the cement. The base of the tripod was attached to these three bolts sticking up out of the cement. I liked this set up in case the ground or base ever shifted (which It did not) I could then just adjust the pole's angle by adjusting the nuts on top of these bolts. Do they sell these anymore ? I didn't seen any when I looked real quickly online.

I had to draw up a set of plans to give to my local welding/fabrication shop.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/dish-id-help-needed.342888/page-3#post-3553428
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/dish-id-help-needed.342888/page-4#post-3642396

The results were excellent and only cost $75.00. Accurate measurement of the bolt spacing (center to center)
would be the key for a good fit, if the slab exists already.

4'' dia pole $229 shipped, Yikes!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/C-Band-Satellite-Dish-Pole-Mast-for-10ft-Mesh-Dish-only-/331381518835

http://www.tek2000.com/cgi-bin/web.cgi?command=product&item=6ft C-Band Dish Pole-ND

Another 4.5'' diameter that is expensive at $239 shipped. If you have one made at a fab shop, it will probably be way sturdier made out of 1/4'' steel plate, and you can customize the length

JFOK · Sep 28, 2015

Hi All,

I was actually thinking of burying three large bolts in the pattern of a tripod I have (used it with my most recent set up) into a cement pad with the threaded ends sticking up. Then once the cement sets, lower the tripod over it, bolt it in, then add the pole.
Any thoughts ?

John

RT-Cat · Sep 28, 2015

Good to read you got it down and are going to use the dish. I think I would have negotiated a contract of $100 if not damaged and $25.00 if they break the dish. I was going to take down a big mesh at a friends big two story house last year with the same "slow drop" idea. But he sold the house too fast. New owner let the dish smash into the ground and off to the dump.

FTA4PA · Sep 28, 2015

Glad you got it down!

fred555 · Sep 28, 2015

JFOK said:
Hi All,

I was actually thinking of burying three large bolts in the pattern of a tripod I have (used it with my most recent set up) into a cement pad with the threaded ends sticking up. Then once the cement sets, lower the tripod over it, bolt it in, then add the pole.
Any thoughts ?

John

Usually it is good to go below frost line depth when digging a hole to fill with concrete.
A call to the local building department or their website will get you this information.
I believe frost depth is somewhere around 48'' in your area.

Cham · Sep 28, 2015

Must have been an interesting minute or two as they lowered the assembly!

I drew up a quick plan sketch for a dish I plan to install late this fall if I can find the materials... still looking for suitable mast. This design uses three cement piles 12" X 9' to be below the frost line up here.
Just for idea sake. This mast assembly is for a rather heavy commercial 2.4m offset dish. I'll be using 5/8" threaded rod buried into the cement piles...

Jason S · Sep 28, 2015

Getting that down for $100 sounds like a great deal...

For another example, this is what I have for my C-band dish.

JFOK · Sep 28, 2015

Jason 5

That's exactly what I'm looking to do. How large are those bolts ?
Nice concrete pad BTW.

John

beavs2112 · Sep 28, 2015

I have been following your FTA woes as have others. I too am glad you were able to have your dish lowered at a fairly reasonable cost

It will be nice to have your dish on the ground. Good luck with your concrete pad installation & dish planting

Jason S · Sep 28, 2015

JFOK said:
Jason 5

That's exactly what I'm looking to do. How large are those bolts ?
Nice concrete pad BTW.

John

Thank you for the compliment!

The bolts are actually 3/4" steel threaded rod (i.e., stronger than all-thread). Under each bolt location, the pad has 3 piers that extend down to rock (>36"). After the concrete for the piers/pad had cured for a week, I set the dish mount to mark locations on the pad. Then drilled holes 12" into the concrete and, using concrete epoxy, epoxied the threaded rod into the holes and let that cure. It was the longer way around, but everything lined up.

I'm fairly certain the mount is locally fabricated- it came with a 7.5' dish I retrieved a year ago. Dimensions of the mount in the photo below.

Keep us posted!

FaT Air · Sep 28, 2015

Exactly what's use'd on my 'floating slab' that the BUD is on
http://www.satelliteguys.;xen/threads/fta-in-a-small-space.277426/#post-2779881
since the mid 80's

Cham · Sep 29, 2015

Something like that is easy to fabricate.
Pays to have a welder (and know how to use it) in this hobby!

Cosmo Blatz · Sep 29, 2015

Glad to hear you got everything down. Using Craigslist was a brilliant idea!
Just a thought. A scrap iron dealer may have a smaller light pole that you could adapt for use a as a dish pole. Many of the light poles have a leveling feature.

JFOK · Sep 29, 2015

Cosmo Blatz said:
Glad to hear you got everything down. Using Craigslist was a brilliant idea!
Just a thought. A scrap iron dealer may have a smaller light pole that you could adapt for use a as a dish pole. Many of the light poles have a leveling feature.

Hi Cosmo,

I already have a galvanized pole ready to use as my dish pole. Bought it right before I put my dish on its 20 foot perch 16 years ago.
Thought I'd try to see what I could get at a lower height first...turned out, not much. Since then I've taken down more trees.This galvanized pole is 6 or 7 feet. Can't remember exactly off hand, but it will do just fine no matter. It will fit on the tripod I have just perfectly. I'm gonna bury three, 3/4" steel threaded rods into the cement and leave just enough of the rods above the concrete to attach the tripod to and bolt down.
The Craigslist idea was just a shot in the dark....glad it panned out. I realized the other day as my dish was coming down this past Sunday...it was 16 years to the day, that it went up. :clapping

fred555 · Sep 29, 2015

Bent anchor bolts (galvanized) are typically used to bury in wet concrete, if that is what you were planning, disregard if you are drilling and epoxying the bolts:

https://www.fastenal.com/products/fasteners/anchors/bent-anchor-bolts/_/Navigation?r=~|categoryl1:"600000 Fasteners"|~ ~|categoryl2:"602516 Anchors"|~ ~|categoryl3:"600153 Bent Anchor Bolts"|~

Bent Anchor Bolts
L-shaped bolts that are embedded into concrete and used to anchor construction supports like columns, floor plates, sign structures, structural steel columns, light poles, highway sign structures, bridge rails, equipment, and other applications.

Hint for rod burial in wet cement:
Get a piece of plywood. Mark on the plywood exactly where the holes need to be, or put the pole base on the plywood and mark the holes. Drill out the holes, and attach the bolts to the plywood with nuts and washers. Imbed this assembly into the wet concrete, leave enough height to get a long trowel in there, 2'' should work. After concrete dries, remove plywood and bolt on the pole. I go overboard, and since I have a welder, weld rebar cages with the L bolts attached to retain proper bolt alignment and provide way more strength then ever needed.

Looking forward to "The Dish is UP!!!!"

JFOK · Sep 30, 2015

fred555,

I mistakenly called them threaded rods, but anchor bolts are what I was planning to use for anchoring the satellite tripod/pole.
I hope to get this work underway in the next 2 weeks. However, I have to install a stacked stone mailbox post first (promised my wife) which involves digging a 3 foot deep hole for the pressure treated post. Good practice for the satellite dig.

John

KE4EST · Sep 30, 2015

JFOK said:
However, I have to install a stacked stone mailbox post first (promised my wife) which involves digging a 3 foot deep hole for the pressure treated post.

I'd like to see a picture of that also, as well as dish pictures of course.

The Dish Is Down !!!

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