motorized dish on a tower?

[GreggN]

I'm getting ready to purchase my first motorized dish to replace my Sky Angel dish. I mounted my previous dish on my rohn 25 tower because it couldn't get a signal through the trees.

Here's my shopping list:
Sonicview 8000 HD w/80GB (55 hrs)
35" (90cm) Satellite Dish
SG2100 Dish Motor
Invacom Quad Polar LNBF
Digipower SG-2100 DiSEqC Motor

How can I mount such a big, motorized dish on my 48-foot tower without interfering with the movement of the dish? The only other thing on the tower is a weather station, so I could mount the dish at the very top of the tower - if that would help.

The tower is set in concrete, and guyed - but it still sways when I climb it. Should put the dish on the roof for more stability - and then cut down some trees?

I suppose that I could take the easy route, and get it professionally installed - but I'd rather get the experience of doing it myself so that I can help family members as they replace their Sky Angel dishes.

I'm a newbie, so any advice is welcome!

 

[lumpkin666]

If there is any sway in that tower at all, it's not going to cut it. The dish/motor will be much larger and heavier than your SkyAngel dish, thus it will catch more wind and move more. Because Dishnetwork transmitters put out a much higher power transmission, you can get by with a little sway with that dish, but the lower powered transmission of the FTA sats will not be that forgiving.

Look for a more solid mounting solution, and save yourself a lot of headaches.

 

[GreggN]

Thanks for the advice! Also, thanks for providing such a clear explanation. I'll sacrifice a few trees for better reception.

Any suggestions of where I can get a roof mount (that won't damage my shingles)?

 

[Anole]

how low can you go ?

We had a fellow put a dish on a short tower some time back.
Can't remember if it was motorized, though
I thought it was VoomVoom, but his icon shows a Primestar on his roof, not a tower.

Those 36" dishes can catch a lot of air.
That's rough on the motor , too.

If this is your first motorized, you might consider a yard-based pole in the ground.
Make the dish about shoulder level.
Very easy to work on it.
You can bring out a TV and receiver to do the fine tune.

We recently had a fellow in Canada put his dish on the southern side wall of his garage.
Even with his far northern location, he could see over most of the neighborhood houses.

At least a low mount would give you some easy experience.
Later, if you must try a roof or tower mount, you'll have something to compare it to.

edit: and while I'm not encouraging this, if you really need height...
... is the tower braced against the house about 10 feet up?
If so, it probably wouldn't wiggle much at say 12 or 14 feet, and you might reach the dish to adjust it standing on the roof...?

 

[GreggN]

I'd probably have to cut down the neighbor's trees if I went with a ground mount.

The tower isn't braced against the house, but the guy wires probably minimize the movement that I'd experience at 10 to 20 feet.

From your other comments, I may be making some wrong assumptions...

How much range of movement do the motorized dishes need? Do we have satellites in all directions of the compass?

....GreggN in Michigan

 

[rv1pop]

GreggN,
You only need the South view. If you take one of the SatFinder lists it will tell you the compass rose sweep you need. The numbers had me confused at first. I am near 121 so the 121* is my south satellite.... shows to me at 180* on the compass rose, not 121*.
Hello Anole, good to see you still out there helping!
POP

 

[Mr Tony]

Being in Michigan you are near the center of the US longitude line and therefore you would need a view from the SE to the SW.

If you were in say Cali then I would say a SE view

Where I am in MN to get most of the FTA satellites I need a compass reading from 150-227

For Detroit (as an example) its 165-243. 225 is straight SW so the better southern view you have the more you can pick up.

 

[GreggN]

Really appreciate all the help I'm getting here. Thanks to all who have responded.

I'll get out my compass and try to find a spot that gives me a clear view from 135 to 225 degrees. Is there some tool I should use to check the angle? I'm probably using the wrong terminology . . . What I'm trying to ask is: If the tree is 60 foot tall, and 20 feet from the dish, how high does the dish need to be in order to get the satellite signal?

....GreggN [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]42.0 N - 86.3 W[/FONT]

 

[schlever]

Really appreciate all the help I'm getting here. Thanks to all who have responded.

I'll get out my compass and try to find a spot that gives me a clear view from 135 to 225 degrees. Is there some tool I should use to check the angle? I'm probably using the wrong terminology . . . What I'm trying to ask is: If the tree is 60 foot tall, and 20 feet from the dish, how high does the dish need to be in order to get the satellite signal?

....GreggN [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]42.0 N - 86.3 W[/FONT]

Generally the signal from the satellite is actually coming from 22 degrees higher than your elevation for that particular satellite.
Check out this post: http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...a-straw-inclinometer-line-sight-pictures.html
It explains how to use a straw and inclinometer to determine line of sight issues.

 

[GreggN]

I love the make-it-yourself aspect of that inclinometer!
Thanks, schlever.

 

[schlever]

I love the make-it-yourself aspect of that inclinometer!
Thanks, schlever.

No problem, thats why we're all here.

Instead of a straw you could use a laser level too. I did that to see if a tree in the distance was going to cause any troubles.