have 40' telephone pole, need ideas

[Anole]

As much as I would like to put my FTA dish on a short pole in the ground...
Clearing my tree, my neighbor's tree, my house, etc, might be a challenge.

Plus, my house doesn't really have a good "end" to put a dish on.
Just the way the roof is sloped.
If it did, that'd get me the elevation I need.

As for the DBS sats I subscribe to, mounting those dishes on the eaves has worked fine.
I have clear line of sight to both birds of interest, with no problem.
Plus, the dishes aren't that large, heavy, nor cantilevered like a big dish and motor hanging off one side of a pole.

So, I was lamenting my problem, when I realized that I have this 40' telephone pole about 8 feet behind my house.
I put it in 20 years ago for VHF ham antennas, but since the ones on my roof worked so well, I never bothered to use it.
Well, that and climbing it was a bitch.

There's at least 32 feet sticking up in the air, with some footpegs I put in, but it's not plumb.
I was wondering if the collective minds of this forum might suggest a way to easily put something like a 36" Fortec and HH-90 Stab on the side of this pole?
I'm thinking about half way up would clear everything , not be seen over the house, and be within reach of my ladder.
Or possibly just 10..12 feet up.

My problem is, how do I mount the motor or other dishes to the pole?
Put a short "mast" on the side of the pole, with spacers, and make it plumb?
Hopefully, the wisdom of the group will offer better ideas.

Thanks for your interest.
.

 

[dougruss]

You may be able to Modify a Mount like the one in the Link?
Mount it on the Side of the Pole,Level & Plumb it on the Tele-pole ?
http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Fortec-Star/Dishes/Universal-Dish-Mount.htm

 

[mikekohl]

Unless you can overcome the intense dislike of climbing that pole, motorizing an antenna in an inaccessable, uncomfortable and probably dangerous location is often more trouble that it is worth. The same amount of $$$ could be expended on two FTA dishes, securely mounted, and each on one of your favorite satellites.
If you have a bucket truck to do maintenance, or magic fingers that can quickly get that antenna tracking across the arc, this advice can be ignored, but trust me when I say from experience that doing what you propose will create a perpetual maintenance job. Heights don't get any easier as you get older, and the only advantage of snow is something to land in if you come off of that telephone pole. Winter is usually when things need fixing, and it's never pleasant.

These words are coming from someone that just spent a number of days at -40 F temperatures installing antennas in eastern Siberia, and survived...but the advice is that one should not create a monster unless it's absolutely necessary.
Good luck!

 

[jayelem]

You may be able to Modify a Mount like the one in the Link?
Mount it on the Side of the Pole,Level & Plumb it on the Tele-pole ?
http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Fortec-Star/Dishes/Universal-Dish-Mount.htm

Stay away from UNIMOUNT II , this mount cannot be adjusted, and is for a flat wall or deck only.

 

[dodge]

32' telephone pole

Anole

what is you ham call, mine is kb9ndb
as for the pole, you need to put an elevator on the side of the pole and a small deck on top to mount the fta dish to kinda like a hunting stand you would see in Northern wisconsin...

 

[mrrabbit]

He he he...

First, go buy some really good wood carving tools.

Second, download some nice samples of work from an online indian nation website.

Thirdly, carve that sucker!

THEN...THEN...put a satellite dish on it.

This way your neighbors can't claim that you are lowering their property values...

...and if they do complain - scream "RACISM!". (Seems to work for many fellow Californians...)

=

 

[Anole]

thanks

I knew if I waited a day, I'd get some more good responses.

Actually, the first idea using the mount that came with the dish is probably fine.
I'll have to find where I lost it last year, dig it out, and see how it fits to the pole.
That might just be dandy.
Plus, I'm not at all against a little metal work if it's necessary...

As for then 40's, the only 40's I see around here are at night, and that's +40ºF !
Days are high 60's.

I did borrow the chief traffic signal manager and his bucket truck, to put in the foot pegs.
But that was some years ago, and he's probably dead, now.
Wherever the top of my ladder goes, is probably high enough to clear some trees (or nuke 'em), and that's low enough to not be seen over my house.
So, I don't really think the retuning and alignment will be all that bad.
(famous last words)

You know, a little observation platform up about 30 feet would be pretty nice.
Maybe with a big beach umbrella for shade.
Fine place to have a beer and watch the sun go down (or come up, depending on your preference).

Last time I was up a pole (other than mine), was in Vietnam, and I was just one of several guys taking turns putting foot pegs in a 90 footer.
Them suckers wiggle when you're half way or higher !
Luckily, I wasn't the one at the top when we helicoptered in a big LPV antenna for the MARS station!

As for the giant totem pole, I did have some American Indians living next to me a few years ago.
I should have asked them to give me some carving tips, and get it properly blessed.
Might prevent the city from ever trying to touch it...


How I got the pole:
My neighbors had heard me wish for a pole many times.
One day, I came home and they said they'd gotten me something, and it was in the back yard.
I asked how big, and they held up their hands about 8 inches apart.
I was afraid they'd gotten me a little dog or a cat.
When I got back there, I found a 40' pole laying on the ground.
The city had removed them from our street, and put in cast cement poles.
They asked the installers if they could have one, and had it dropped over my back fence as a present!

I eventually dug a hole by hand, and tried everything to get the pole up.
That's not something you really want to try, without the proper tools.

One day, the power company was working behind my lot, and I struck up a conversation with the crew.
They had a claw for setting poles, a big bucket truck, and were working on or around my transformer.
They loaned me an 8-foot shovel with a funny end to dip out the bottom of my hole, and next day dropped it in place.
I'd offered them some beer or whatever they wanted but they insisted on soda only.
Thinking they'd get a 6-pack each, they were quite surprised when each team member got two cases of their favorite flavor.
Talk about a good deal for me!
They even threw in a bag of foot pegs to go with my pole.

 

[mrrabbit]

As for the giant totem pole, I did have some American Indians living next to me a few years ago.
I should have asked them to give me some carving tips, and get it properly blessed.
Might prevent the city from ever trying to touch it...

Last line was good for a laugh...

 

[SatelliteAV]

Wood grain will twist depending on moisture content.

Several years ago we installed a 36" dish on a 30' utility pole for a customer who needed the height to clear a neighbors home. After warning the customer about the problems associated with using a wood post for a mounting platform, we installed the system. The wood swelled and twisted clockwise during the rains and shrunk and twisted counter clockwise during the dry months. After several seasonal re-aims for the customer, he contructed a galvanized tri-leg tower and after one more service call to move the dish to the new metal tower, he hasn't had an aiming problem since.

 

[Anole]

Thanks for the sage advice, Brian.

The height of the pole (even if I just use 10..12 feet at the bottom) gets me over a lot of obstructions, and I don't currently have a good option.
Fortunately, the dry season here is about 10 months long, and the wet season is little more than damp.
Also, my creosoted pole is probably 40+ years old (guessing by how long I've had it and how long the city used it).

I may give it a try, and keep an eye on the problem you described.
In the meantime, I'll be on the lookout for something better.

...where's my carvin' knives...??

 

[RidgeRunner]

I'll put my input in here, I am a ham as well and work in the commercial communications industry. If you are hell bent on going to the telephone pole there are special galvinized mounts that are two piece of angle iron welded into a shape of a V, there is a pipe in between these to pieces of angle iron. Obviously the tele pole will go right into the notch made by the angle iron. Then you will have your nice piece of pipe to mount your dish too. We just put a bunch of these in for a waste water district, except we were mounting yagis to them. I also like the suggestion of building the platform like a deer stand.

Now I am in the process of mounting my 1.2m on my rohn 25g. I have a 50 footer at the side of my house. I chose to mount it at the 20ft mark. That way I can work from my roof to do anything I need to my dish. I usually put my climbling harness on b/c it has a built in seat makes it more comfortable to work. I mounted the 1.2m a few feet above my deeteevee dish. I got that thing up there and its rock solid! I will do a full thread with pics once the project is done. I am planing when the ground thaws to put in my 7 foot c band dish, and there is no WAY that is going on the tower.

Bob/N1XBM

 

[Pittsville]

Obviously you should inspect your pole for deterioration or damage before working on it.

Methods include probing the pole below the ground level with a large screwdriver for rot, and hitting the pole on four quarters with a sledge hammer, listening for a hollow sound indicating interior decay or insect damage not visible on the outside of the pole.

As you climb the pole, check each step for looseness as they can sometimes be pulled out of the pole by hand fairly easily, and try to maintain 3-point contact (two hands and one foot always on the pole or two feet and one hand always on the pole as you ascend or descend the pole).

It is not recommended to go from one side of a stepped pole to the other side while up on the pole but some people do it, rather than climb all the way down to change sides. If I did that I would make sure I was belted onto the pole with the safety strap before doing it.