Pole Mount Q?

[SpiffWilkie]

I decided to move my dish down from the roof of my shed so I could get at it a bit easier (and I can stick a dish up there for NASA) so I installed a pole the other day. It's in the ground good and WAS plumb before I attached the motor and dish. Now it's a little bit off (The bubble on the level moved ~1mm). Is this amount going to affect the reception? If so, what's the best way to solve this?
The pole is from home depot where they have the fencing supplies. I don't remember the diameter, though. Should I do the concrete/rebar in the middle ? Or would holding it upright with a stake work o.k. (Although, I'm sure me or my kids will break our necks running around).

On another note, while the motorized dish is convenient at the moment, it can be a headache aligning everything right. When I'm rich and eccentric, I'm going to have a whole farm of dishes strewn about my yard :up

 

[Lak7]

If the Pole is not Plumb, you will have issues. Hard to tell how bad until you have it setup.
Also, if just the weight of the Dish / Motor pulled it out of Plumb, the wind may be a bigger factor.
I'd start simple with stakes, then a more permanent solution.

 

[Cadsulfide]

Did the pole bend, or did it shift in the ground?

 

[SpiffWilkie]

It's the pole. If I remove the dish/motor it's plumb. I overestimated the pole/underestimated the weight of the antenna

 

[Blue Crystal]

I'm using a 10 ft dish and moving it by hand, because my motor and arm needs to be replaced.
When I first started, a few months ago I tried for two weeks and could not hit a satellite. once I got my pole to stay plum, I site with my compass,set the correct elevation, and then scan. I am hitting sats 7 out of 10 times, until my receiver overloaded. I do not have a signal finder but as long as my pole and settings are correct the sats can be found.
You may be able to fill the pole with concrete to give it more strength. just be sure the pole stays straight until the concrete sets up or you may need to get a stronger pole.
I have only been doing this for about 6 months and I am no expert. but it so much fun.