my 10 footer this weekend

[truckracer]

This weekend I assembled and installed my new SAMI 10 foot dish with a BSC-621.

The dish went together nicely and I used strings across the dish to check that it was not warped and assembled properly. It checked out good. I set the declination angle and roughed in true south (really rough).
Since I already have another bud, I pointed it to amc-3 and then checked the dish elevation and used an angle finder to get a baseline.

I struggled with the lnbf and finally got something on ku. There IS definitely a compromise when figuring the focal depth on a BSC-621 between highest Ku signal quality and little or no c-band and vice versa. I found a happy medium that I could live with.

Finding the focal point was a little tricky. Using C-band first and then fine tuning the focal point with KU on the same bird.

Here's one for you all- I found the "focal point" so I thought and tweaked the dish elevation to fine tune the signal. I had a poor to fair signal on amc-3 KU Pbs channels. Around 48% quality using a pansat 2500 for reference and testing.

Knowing it should be better than this, I checked focal point again. While standing on the ladder if I tilted the lnbf in its loose fitting scalar ring I would get a better signal. This made me think. I was only getting the signal from the bottom of the dish and not the whole dish (seemed to working like an offset dish and not a prime focus (sort of).

So I lowered the elevation to where the signal just dropped out and I tighted down the lnbf in the scalar ring. I went down and raised the dish and boom the signal was blasting in.

As it stands now I have strong C-band all the way from amc-6 to amc-8
Ku band is strong on G10r but dwindles as you go east. When I get to SBS-6 and amc-6 ku I have decent signals but not great. I need to tilt the elevation and see which direction my polar mount is off.

It's raining now so it will have to wait another day.

How many of you fill your pole with cement all the way to the top?

 

[thomas34461usa]

The amount of cement

This weekend I assembled and installed my new SAMI 10 foot dish with a BSC-621.

The dish went together nicely and I used strings across the dish to check that it was not warped and assembled properly. It checked out good. I set the declination angle and roughed in true south (really rough).
Since I already have another bud, I pointed it to amc-3 and then checked the dish elevation and used an angle finder to get a baseline.

I struggled with the lnbf and finally got something on ku. There IS definitely a compromise when figuring the focal depth on a BSC-621 between highest Ku signal quality and little or no c-band and vice versa. I found a happy medium that I could live with.

Finding the focal point was a little tricky. Using C-band first and then fine tuning the focal point with KU on the same bird.

Here's one for you all- I found the "focal point" so I thought and tweaked the dish elevation to fine tune the signal. I had a poor to fair signal on amc-3 KU Pbs channels. Around 48% quality using a pansat 2500 for reference and testing.

Knowing it should be better than this, I checked focal point again. While standing on the ladder if I tilted the lnbf in its loose fitting scalar ring I would get a better signal. This made me think. I was only getting the signal from the bottom of the dish and not the whole dish (seemed to working like an offset dish and not a prime focus (sort of).

So I lowered the elevation to where the signal just dropped out and I tighted down the lnbf in the scalar ring. I went down and raised the dish and boom the signal was blasting in.

As it stands now I have strong C-band all the way from amc-6 to amc-8
Ku band is strong on G10r but dwindles as you go east. When I get to SBS-6 and amc-6 ku I have decent signals but not great. I need to tilt the elevation and see which direction my polar mount is off.

It's raining now so it will have to wait another day.

How many of you fill your pole with cement all the way to the top?

truckracer,
It's sounds like you got your 10' dish up by now. I have a 10' Unimesh dish and I'm wondering the amount of cement that you use in the process and the size of the hole. Yes I do plan on putting some cement on the inside of the pole. Maybe just the bottom part od the pole. I went to a Well Digging place and got my pole today. Wanted a 15' pole but all they had was 20' poles. What do you think I should go with 8' deep and a pole of 12' above ground? What would you use for a diameter of the hole for that size of pole?

 

[linuxman]

Wanted a 15' pole but all they had was 20' poles. What do you think I should go with 8' deep and a pole of 12' above ground? What would you use for a diameter of the hole for that size of pole?

If there is no need for a dish that far in the air. By need I mean line of site issues to the sky, I would cut the pole off and only have 5 feet in the ground and 5 or 6 feet in the air.

It will be a whole lot more stable than way up there like that and surely easier to work on.

My dishes are all on the roof of course, but the masts are no taller than needed to clear the roof when at the far West of my arc so I can stand on the roof and do anything I need to do with the feed-horn/lnbs.

Edit: I lost my train of thought.
I'll let someone else who has dug a hole and done it that way answer that part. I do know that you have to do something to the pole part in the concrete to keep it from turning inside the concrete.

 

[gabshere]

If there is no need for a dish that far in the air. By need I mean line of site issues to the sky, I would cut the pole off and only have 5 feet in the ground and 5 or 6 feet in the air.

It will be a whole lot more stable than way up there like that and surely easier to work on.

this is true and lower does make it less of a wind catcher , but sometimes a little height is needed , i mow weekly under my dish. kids play around and ride 4 wheelers in the area of the dish so a lower dish would probably be damaged by now.

 

[gpat]

I wouldnt cut it off just sink it deeper
Around here all we need is a garden hose and a sledge hammer.
wash it out and pound it down.
wont work in rocky soil.
I have my pole 14ft in the ground and still have a 3ftx3ftx3ft concrete pad.
My 8ft dish was up for over 20 years and countless hurricanes with no problems.

 

[dfergie]

You need to make an x by blowing holes crossways and putting rebar in to keep the pole from rotating... I used an 8' pole with my 8' mesh dish, 4' deep (hit rock)and 4' sticking up...then filled with concrete and made a frame about 3' square out of 2"x4" and poured on top of that... make sure it is absolutly level.

 

[tvropro]

truckracer,
It's sounds like you got your 10' dish up by now. I have a 10' Unimesh dish and I'm wondering the amount of cement that you use in the process and the size of the hole. Yes I do plan on putting some cement on the inside of the pole. Maybe just the bottom part od the pole. I went to a Well Digging place and got my pole today. Wanted a 15' pole but all they had was 20' poles. What do you think I should go with 8' deep and a pole of 12' above ground? What would you use for a diameter of the hole for that size of pole?

My 18 foot pole is 6 feet in the ground and 12 feet above, it is braced to my garage near the top also. It is filled with concrete and has a 12" tall rectangular pad 6" above and 6" below the ground at the base. I needed that long of a pole to get a clear view of the western satellites.

You can go 8 foot deep but it gets pretty hard, at least in my soil once you get 6 feet down to go deeper. If you have a clear view from the ground I would say have the bottom of the dish about 2 feet above the ground. I wish I could have done that (I'd have to move my neighbors house) It makes it alot easier to work on. Cut the pole like I did with my Primestar 90 cm dish. I got a 10 foot pole and used 7 ft of it. 3 feet in the ground and 4 above.

 

[truckracer]

My pole is about 4 feet in the ground with 7 feet up out of the ground. It is not filled with concrete and is really solid. we had high winds sunday and I did not lose anything on Ku from wind deflection or sway.

For this area which has good soil and some rock, I made my base 15" in diameter and down 4 feet. I can't remember how many bags of concrete it took. My 7.5' SAMI mesh dish is planted behind the 10 footer with a 12" base 3 1/2 feet down.

No problems ever.

You guys have not lived until you dialed KU band in on a 10 foot dish -Whew!

 

[stogie5150]

Down here in Cajun country I put a 3.5 inch pole about 30 inches in the ground ( that was as far as the post hole digger would dig), I have about 5 feet out of the ground. I dug my hole about 15 inches around at the bottom, belled it outward at the bottom a bit. At the top of the hole about a six inches from the surface I dug about two feet out. I drilled a hole through the pipe at the bottom and put two 3/8 bolts in it to keep it from turning.

I think it took me 5 - 80 pound bags of quickcrete. maybe 6. Seems to be good so far but then all I have is a 7.5 foot mesh dish, also.

But, I wouldn't feel skeert to plop a 10 foot mesh on that pole, no-siree.