Mounting a pole mast without concrete

[jaco]

I just bought a used Andrew 1.2m dish for $99 from a truck stop owner who was going out of business in Claysville, Pa. It looks to be in good shape except for the bird poop.

Anyways, it came with a 2-7/8" mast which was bolted onto a trestle. So, I do not have a base to insert the mast into or any braces to support it. I don't seem to able to find braces for 3" poles anywhere. At sadoun.com I did find

P76: 39" Pole Mast for SD180P 180cm Dish

which would have been perfect but they told me they don't sell it any more. <Why is it still being advertised online?> This would have solved my problem. At this point I don't want to sink it into concrete but I would want to bolt it onto a strong wooden base of some kind. I also thought about getting a

Non-penetrating Roof Mount

or a

Universal Roof Mount

with a 2-3/8" diameter. My mast has an inner diameter of 2-1/2" so I could just slide my mast over the smaller one and reattach the braces.

Has anybody else had this problem? I sure could use some advice.

Thanks.

J

 

[KE4EST]

If you don't want to use concrete I would go with the NPRM. Wood is always a bad idea with dishes.

 

[truckracer]

get a cheap kid's swimming pool. plumb the pole in the center and fill it with cement.

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[norman881]

I just bought a used Andrew 1.2m dish for $99 from a truck stop owner who was going out of business in Claysville, Pa. It looks to be in good shape except for the bird poop.

Anyways, it came with a 2-7/8" mast which was bolted onto a trestle. So, I do not have a base to insert the mast into or any braces to support it. I don't seem to able to find braces for 3" poles anywhere. At sadoun.com I did find

P76: 39" Pole Mast for SD180P 180cm Dish

which would have been perfect but they told me they don't sell it any more. <Why is it still being advertised online?> This would have solved my problem. At this point I don't want to sink it into concrete but I would want to bolt it onto a strong wooden base of some kind. I also thought about getting a

Non-penetrating Roof Mount

or a

Universal Roof Mount

with a 2-3/8" diameter. My mast has an inner diameter of 2-1/2" so I could just slide my mast over the smaller one and reattach the braces.

Has anybody else had this problem? I sure could use some advice.

Thanks.

J

I worked at the Exit 2 Truckstop at Claysville when I was in high school. (1978-1980) Do you live close to there?

 

[ken2400]

I pulled out a 7.5' about two years ago and I almost fell over when I found out the poll did not have any cement on it.
I have a 1.2 and just put the poll in the ground as far as I could. The dish is only like a foot above the ground.
Good luck with your project.
Send a photo and show us what you come up with.

 

[Santa Clause]

In the late 80's, when I got my first used dish (A 6 foot mesh), My dad suggested welding a large truck rim on the end of a 3 or 4 inch pipe (I don't remember the pipe diameter) and burying it below the frost line. That worked well for many years.

 

[Titanium]

I pulled out a 7.5' about two years ago and I almost fell over when I found out the poll did not have any cement on it.
I have a 1.2 and just put the poll in the ground as far as I could. The dish is only like a foot above the ground.
Good luck with your project.
Send a photo and show us what you come up with.

I have cleaned-up after many satellite installers who drove a post, mounted a dish, collected their money and never returned when the dish spun off of the satellite. Placing a pole in the ground without cement or tabs/bolts to prevent rotation is a recipe for disaster. A round pole in a round hole just doesn't provide good results. I am sure there is the rare instance where this will work, it is highly not recommended. Definately not in my book of best practices when suggesting how a dish should be installed!

 

[jaco]

I worked at the Exit 2 Truckstop at Claysville when I was in high school. (1978-1980) Do you live close to there?

Hi norman881.

It is a small world.

I live in Morgantown but work brings me to Wheeling so I drive by Claysville 3x/week.

I guess every truck stop has a life cycle.

John

 

[norman881]

Cool! I grew up in Triadelphia, (8 miles east of Wheeling) but I was born in Wheeling.
Small world for sure.

Norman

 

[Jason S]

At this point I don't want to sink it into concrete

Wood is always a bad idea with dishes

A round pole in a round hole just doesn't provide good results. I am sure there is the rare instance where this will work, it is highly not recommended.

and from a different post:

my theory when setting up a dish was "if it didnt have wood, hose clamps or duct tape involved it wasn't a true FTA setup"

The NPRM is probably the way to go, but I'll throw in this bit of personal experience...

My first dish install is not the recommended way of doing things. But it was planned as a temporary setup and worked well enough to get me started with FTA.

The first dish setup consisted of a 1.2m dish mounted on an 8' long cured, pressure treated 4"x4" square wood post that is in the ground 4' without concrete. The soil type here is a sticky clay (when wet).

In July this year, I had never put together a satellite system. I had no idea about aiming a dish, I also didn't know what I would find or whether I would have a good line of sight to my desired satellite (125W). I wanted a temporary mount to find out about FTA and I didn't want to put a steel post in concrete only to have to move it.

So I took a 8' cured-PT 4''x4" (cured so it wouldn't bow or twist) and planed the top 18" cylindrical. I dug a 4' deep hole and set the post in the center. I then used the excavated clay to backfill the hole in layers about 1-2" thick. I used a 40 lb rock bar to compact each layer. I checked plumb often while filling/compacting. I set my 1.2 m dish on the wood post, adjusted and got a lock on 125W.

Again, what I did is not the recommended process for mounting a dish, especially a 1.2m dish- but it allowed me to get my feet wet with FTA.

 

[Titanium]

Btw... All timber will twist when wet or dried, treated, cured or not. Just the nature of organic materials and moisture. The wood grain swells and the post will twist.

For several years, I reaimed a 90cm dish for an elderly customer each summer and winter until I convinced him to allow me to reinstall on a pole set in cement. The wet winters and dry summers would twist the pressure treated 4x4 and rotate the reflector East/West and off of the satellite. That was the last realignment service call and resulted in my loss of reliable income...

 

[redwudz]

I was first going to set up my 90 CM dish on a sheet of 3/4" plywood and some 4x4s and some cinder blocks for ballast. The costs for the wood and blocks would have been more than a round fence post and some concrete, besides being a real pain to level. Plus I didn't want any rodents camping out under it.
The flat roof NPRM mount is a good option if you can weight it down enough, but the mounts aren't cheap to buy or ship and you still need to carefully level it.

I ended up planting both my dishes posts in concrete. I just got four or five 40 lb bags of Sakcrete and a galvanized fence post. I used a post hole digger and went about 24" deep x 12" wide. About $30 for everything.
No freeze problems here and the ground is hard clay when dry. I also drilled a hole near the bottom of the pipe and slid a old bolt through to prevent twisting.

When I upgraded my original dish to a 120 CM, I realized the post was too short. It was a 1.5" pipe. I got a longer 2.25" pipe and put it over the 1.5" pipe, securing it with a couple of self tapping screws on one side to keep it plumb. Then I used some anchor cement that I had laying around and back-filled between the two pipes. Very strong now.

 

[Cham]

I have an 8' spun aluminium dish with the mount bolted to two railroad ties buried level with the ground. Been working great so far... frost doesn't seem to bother it; likely heaves evenly so the dish stays focused. It's a stationary dish with a multi-feed C-band system of sorts.

Maybe find a local garage that can weld something up for you similar to the NPRM assemblies you can buy... Most muffler ships can weld something out of tubing etc...

 

[fred555]

This is probably off topic for the C band section but for smaller dishes I will throw this out there.

I prefer many fixed dishes to a motorized one since FTA is the only source of TV besides OTA in my house. A single motorized dish does not work well with multiple receivers and multiple viewers. (I don't have to hide FTA in the man cave or anything!) In order to scout out new satellites or feeds and not disturb viewing on existing dishes, I have devised the following solution.

The wife donated something called a patio umbrella stand. They are designed to hold a big beach umbrella for use around the patio or deck without the wind knocking it over. There are various types. The one the wife gave me is an extremely heavy decorative cast iron one sort of like this:

There are also ones that are designed to be filled with sand that can easily be filled with concrete:

Then I went to Lowes and got a galvanized chain link fence post and it fits the base perfectly.
Mine has been pointed to the same sat for about four months now without any loss of aim or signal.
So if I decide I like the programming on the sat, I will plant a permanent dish, then re-aim to another candidate.

The decorative cast iron ones look way better then the concrete in a five gallon bucket setups.

 

[dotbatman]

This is probably off topic for the C band section but for smaller dishes I will throw this out there.
...

Thanks, this is a great idea.