8ft and 10ft pole size?
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3.5" Schedule 40. If you have high winds, get a Schedule 80 and sink it deeper with more concrete. You will need at least 6 feet ABOVE the ground.
Install it right the first time, because the pole is the MOST CRITICAL part of a dish system.
Yes. That's the inside diameter. The outside is actually 4". If you specify a '3.5" Schedule 40 pipe', that's what they will give you. Standard 10 foot long, and 4 feet in the ground, equals 6 ft above ground. Just right. 800lbs of cement, so 10 - 80lb bags.
Cements cheap, don't skimp on it.
Dig the hole at least 18" wide at top "bell shaped" (wider at the bottom). Dig a little deeper then 48". Pour a bag of gravel in the bottom when done digging. Place a flat "paver" stone on the top middle of the pile of gravel. Your pole will sit on that centered. Use some 2x4 stud boards staked out to hold the pole TOP level North/South and East/West. Then mix and pour in your concrete and shovel it around all sides evenly, leave the top domed, so water runs off of it instead of sitting on it. When you are done with the concrete, double check the pole TOP is still DEAD level all around!!! Take your time, that's absolutely CRITICAL to your success. If it's not level, strong arm it until it is, and use more braces. Let it dry about 5 days before putting your mount on it.
Not all dishes have the same size mount. Most of the real old mounts whet on a 4" OD pole but many of them later were 3-1/2" OD. I think a BirdView is like 6-5/8". My AJAK mounts were made for three different sizes which was stamped on the mount. I have one 4" and one 3-1/2" AJAK up.
Depends on what the mount will fit onto. It's usually 3.5" or 4.5". I had a 12 footer that fit onto 3.5" pole while another 12 footer fit on a 4.5" pole.
I have a 71/2, 8, 12 and a 10 foot dish that all take a 3 1/2 OD pole. It all depends on what size the manufacturer made the mount to fit. I also have a Prodelin 12 foot fiberglass that's in a 6 inch pole. If you're not sure, maybe you can measure the pole it came off of to be sure. I'd bet it's a 3 1/2 OD, but don't take that as gospel.
Get the dish first then match the pipe to the mount diameter. A 4 inch OD will go over a 3.5 inch OD pipe but a 3.5 mount will never go over a 4 inch pipe. There never was a standard for pipe diameter I've seen 2 7/8ths to 7inch Outside Diameters used 3.5 inch outside diameter was probably the most common.
There are several, Unimesh, Perfect 10. Winegard, SAMI and even some of the 10 foot fiberglass dishes to name a few. However, you need to measure the pole to determine the actual size. Measure the circumference (distance around the pole) and divide it by 3.14159. There are other ways, but this one will get you close enough with the dish still on the pole.
As Claude made clear, you can't reliably predict what size the pole needs to be based on dish size.
Just as important, if you're in a wind-driven area, you should probably consult with someone about the wall thickness as these big dishes are pretty good sails. There are also some online calculators that will help you determine wind-loading for your location. The shorthand is V²A*.00256 where V is the high wind speed in miles per hour and A is the sail area of the dish in square feet. Know also that over about 50mph, a mesh dish looks like a solid dish from the wind's perspective. An 8' dish in a 55mph wind can exert almost 390lbs of force. At 80mph, the force more than doubles.
Pipe OD is constant from one schedule to another and it is always larger than the pipe size. If you want a specific OD, you may need to specify round tubing (measured by OD and wall thickness) or look at a pipe chart such as this:
Standard Pipe Schedules and Sizes Chart Table Data - Engineers Edge
As you can see, only the 3" - 4-1/2" pipe sizes give nice round ODs.
Just as important, if you're in a wind-driven area, you should probably consult with someone about the wall thickness as these big dishes are pretty good sails. There are also some online calculators that will help you determine wind-loading for your location. The shorthand is V²A*.00256 where V is the high wind speed in miles per hour and A is the sail area of the dish in square feet. Know also that over about 50mph, a mesh dish looks like a solid dish from the wind's perspective. An 8' dish in a 55mph wind can exert almost 390lbs of force. At 80mph, the force more than doubles.
Pipe OD is constant from one schedule to another and it is always larger than the pipe size. If you want a specific OD, you may need to specify round tubing (measured by OD and wall thickness) or look at a pipe chart such as this:
Standard Pipe Schedules and Sizes Chart Table Data - Engineers Edge
As you can see, only the 3" - 4-1/2" pipe sizes give nice round ODs.
Must make FL installs more "interesting" than in most of the country. Well, except maybe for OK.
Why do I suspect that the only thing that might keep me from taking up this hobby after retirement is SWMBO?
Why do I suspect that the only thing that might keep me from taking up this hobby after retirement is SWMBO?
As long as you don't move into some sort of "community" that beats her to the punch.
I have NEVER allowed my wife to dictate to me or stop me from installing a satellite dish, tv antenna, or any of the like IF I so choose to do so. She can offer some advice in ways to maybe make it "prettier" or maybe hide it a little better, or put it in a different place (if that move doesn't affect ability to receive the arc, etc), but that's IT.
She benefits as much as I do, and it's a hobby that is better than 100's of other hobbies a man could take up, so why not?
I think a well installed dish or OTA antenna is art in itself, and useful art at that!
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Radio HAMs have this down to an art... now im adding dishes... "Well honey i could be out drinking and chasing young girls!..." lol...
Chris
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