How do I plant the dish?

[ringram]

Hey guys. I'm new to this hobby. I just picked up a 10' mesh dish with c/ku lnb and a GI-550i receiver. It was working at the guys house when I took it down, so all should be good.

I need to plant this in the ground. How far down to I dig? How much concrete to pour in? Is a straight pipe the way to go, or is there a better method? I removed it from a slanted roof. I took the roof mount with me. It is a 5' pipe with a 4' section across the bottom. I was thinking of digging a deep trech, dropping this in and pouring in a few wheel barrows full of concrete.

Suggestions?

 

[dfergie]

to SatelliteGuys... I had a 8' pipe and buried 4' and filled with concrete. You want to make sure and have holes near the bottom of the buried portion of the pipe with rebar crossways. This will help prevent the wind from moving the pipe as with a dish the wind load is pretty stout. Make sure the pole is perfectly level.

 

[ringram]

So, I only need to bury my pipe 4'? How about pouring concrete around the base of the pipe?

I'm in Winnipeg; longitudal center of Canada (almost). How many degrees from south will my dish swing to the east/west?

 

[dfergie]

You can to that, when I put in my second BUD I could only go 3' deep, so I made a 1' hole and filled with concrete, when it set I then made a 3' square form from 2x4's and centered then poured, then I had 1' joiint of 1' pipe casing and put ontop of that and filled...

 

[dfergie]

Not sure on how many Sats you can get...

 

[chefwan]

ringram.....like dfergie said. make sure to use ebar or drill thru the pole and stick a bolt thur it and tie some steal to it at different angles and use lock nutts and washers make sure it doesnt move i've had mine do that to some wind. had to dig it all back up bust the cement up and redo it. but i put it 4ft i had a 8ft pole and we had some bad winds yesterday and it didnt move a bit....i tried to just plant it last time instead of taking more time and weld or put a big bolt thru the pipe with steal bolted to it good luck you'll love C-band/FTA/Ku whatever you like

 

[turbosat]

Get an 8' pipe, at least, since you want to be sure the dish won' t hit the ground as it swings west! Scrap metal /salvage yard would be a good place to look for a 3 1/2"OD pipe, they are expensive at a pipe shop. And, like they say, don't be stingy with the concrete. Use a 3'level once you get the concrete poured, check around the pipe on 4 sides to be sure it is plumb, then check across top of pipe (if its cut, needs to be a good flat cut) to be sure its level on top, this is critical to making the dish track across the satellite arc. It's not hard to do if you take your time, brace the pole if necessary so it wont move as the concrete cures. If you do it right, you won't have to go thru taking the dish down again. And most of all-be sure you put it where you can see the most of the southern sky without trees or obstructions close by. 100' or more from your house won't matter, if thats what it takes.

 

[ringram]

my plan is to have a steel cross brace at the bottom of the pipe that extends two feet out in each direction. This will be sunk down 2'-3' in the ground and I will mix up enough concrete to fill the hole. That should anchor it!

I understand making the pipe plumb is essential. On the mount that I have, there is a short section that is spaced apart and tied together with four bolts. This will give me some fine tunning on making it plumb. I wouldn't have bothered putting it in, but, it was already there.

My main concern was making sure I was doing enough to anchor it in the ground.

 

[dfergie]

Check out the C-Band FAQ's if you have not already and good luck!

 

[zaxxon]

I put my ten foot bud in eleven years ago. Bought my pipe from a fence company used it was alo cheaper.

I dug four foot deep a by thirty inches wide. I welded angle iron to the pipe so it would not turn, about eight bags of concrete, No prolems yet.

I just put in a pipe for an eight foot mesh dish. Thirty inches deep wih four bags of concrete.

Concrete is cheap, so use lots.

 

[Larry1]

Make sure to use a long enough pole for the snow will not be touching the bottom of the dish. Most in my area are 2 to 3 feet from the ground. Have a look at some others in your area to see. A good coat of rust paint will keep the pole from rusting over the winter. Many also lay a line of plastic pipe to run the wires back to the house. If you pull through an extra fish (like a piece of clothesline wire), it will make it easy if you need to add another line in the future.

 

[greg47]

I would suggest when digging the hole to make it a square hole instead of a round one. This will also help in rotation of the cement in the ground due to excessive wind. I have seen the wind move cement in a round hole with a 10 foot dish. Depending on your soil this could happen. Just a thought.