I remember now that you mention it, the thread with the freq. problem and you buying the SL1-PLL.
I totally agree, this site is great, so many knowledgeable people willing to help, and like you'd said, Fast! Glad you got it working!
Setting up a motor - am I doing this right?
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I remember now that you mention it, the thread with the freq. problem and you buying the SL1-PLL.
I totally agree, this site is great, so many knowledgeable people willing to help, and like you'd said, Fast! Glad you got it working!
It's only temporary since it'll all be going to Colorado here shortly. You'd be amazed at what wet sand will hold. I have my BUD about 3 1/2 feet down also only in sand. Did that many many years ago and it's still plumb. The big problem with using concrete here is Dallas is that about 3 inches below the ground we hit clay. Clay contracts and expands based on water content. Ever hear of having to water your houses foundation? We have to do that here to keep the clay under the foundation from drying out, shrinking, and causing the foundation to crack. Most do after 10 or 15 years anyway. I know, it sounds strange but most of us have drip lines all the way around our homes. Any cement slabs poured must have 1" or more of sand below it. The sand helps with the moisture was well as reduce the shifting caused by the clays contraction and expansion. This is most likely why my BUD hasn't moved. Though the hole it's in isn't deep, it is surrounded by 2' of sand on all sides of the post. I think it was eight 40lbs bags to fill the hole and come up into a boxed frame another 6 inches. Fence posts here in Dallas that are dropped over 4 foot into the ground with nothing but concrete end up looking like a squiggly line leaning in and outward from the property line they were so carefully plumbed and sunk into after only two to five years. It's crazy. I avoid using cement because of the ground movement here. It's much easier to dig out sand than to have to dig out a chunk of concrete if the post goes out of plumb. Seems to work pretty well as long as the post is plumb before dumping the sand in, and most important, sand is cheap so use a lot of it. Once in, dampen it down with water (watch of post movement which will happen if the sand is flooded), fill any spots that settle and viola, stuck in the sand it is. The BUD's post has a couple of fins welded to the bottom which help to prevent it from rotating in the sand. The FTA dish doesn't, so high winds would most likely twist it off target. I'm thinking a couple of bolts drilled through the bottom of the post extending out several inches from the post may be enough to prevent that problem with it.
So the past two nights I've just played with the STB, setting up the channel groups, security (so my aunt doesn't foul up the settings in Colorado over the summer), and playing with the other features of this little Amiko Mini HD SE. The more I learn about it the more I like it. Lots of features, and once accustom to the graphical interface it's pretty easy to maneuver around. I'm surprised a bit at how I can go from extreme west to east quickly (granted that's partly because of the SG 6100) but the STB seems very quick to lock on once the dish moves. And yes, Galaxy 19 is right on the line, well OK, the USALS selection moves the dish slightly (0.04+) from the display on the motor. That made it easy to find the bird. The biggest problem I had with aiming was setting the dish angle. Once I got past that and had it correct, every other bird came into view perfectly.
Thanks for all the help. Once I return from Colorado I'm sure I'll be back with questions about getting my BUD up and working again - though for once I was smart and taped a piece of paper on the 4DTV receiver showing the wiring of the motor, polarity control on the LNB and such. Should be interesting trying to get Ku on it. I have a C/Ku LNB but never tried to pull in Ku on it.
Thanks,
Todd
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Never heard of having to water a foundation, or drip lines for it! And the sand thing, that is surprising for me, but I can kinda relate to it, especially with it being a temporary install that's going to be moved.
Here we don't have clay, if I dig down a few feet anywhere in my yard, I hit ledge rock. My bigger C band dish has been lagged for a year or so now to a big cedar stump and one of my Ku dishes to a smaller one, I was a little dubious of doing this at first, but I didn't want to pour another huge slab of cement right at the time I'd put them up because I'm planning on filling an old foundation on my property with cement and using half of it for a shed and the other half for dishes. Both of those stumps are hard as rock now and haven't split at all, neither dish has moved a bit, go figure. Sand, stumps, if it works, it's good!
Glad to of been some help!
Here we don't have clay, if I dig down a few feet anywhere in my yard, I hit ledge rock. My bigger C band dish has been lagged for a year or so now to a big cedar stump and one of my Ku dishes to a smaller one, I was a little dubious of doing this at first, but I didn't want to pour another huge slab of cement right at the time I'd put them up because I'm planning on filling an old foundation on my property with cement and using half of it for a shed and the other half for dishes. Both of those stumps are hard as rock now and haven't split at all, neither dish has moved a bit, go figure. Sand, stumps, if it works, it's good!
Glad to of been some help!
My Ku-dish is on a platform which is squared up with bricks and pavers underneath (and on top). Clay is about all we have here in north Georgia, so that's good info to know whenever I get a BUD in the future! To make matters worse, we live within 10 miles of a granite mining site. The small earthquake in SC this past winter made our screen door out of square with the frame and shifted a windowsill away from the wall. My brother's new house with a full basement had cracks in the main floor living room and dining room ceiling that only appeared after that tremor. So, I suspect you have good advice for me there as far as anchoring a pole in the ground in this type of soil!
Never heard of having to water a foundation, or drip lines for it! And the sand thing, that is surprising for me, but I can kinda relate to it, especially with it being a temporary install that's going to be moved.
Here we don't have clay, if I dig down a few feet anywhere in my yard, I hit ledge rock. My bigger C band dish has been lagged for a year or so now to a big cedar stump and one of my Ku dishes to a smaller one, I was a little dubious of doing this at first, but I didn't want to pour another huge slab of cement right at the time I'd put them up because I'm planning on filling an old foundation on my property with cement and using half of it for a shed and the other half for dishes. Both of those stumps are hard as rock now and haven't split at all, neither dish has moved a bit, go figure. Sand, stumps, if it works, it's good!
Glad to of been some help!
Yep, if Texas was smart enough to require piers to be poured down to bedrock when they build homes then there would be no need to water the foundation. The claim is that would make the house prices go up. I think that it would be a good idea considering we have the lowest housing prices in the country. A few extra bucks during initial construction would save a bundle when the foundation finally (and they all do here) cracks because of movement 10 to 15 years later, having to pour piers after the fact, fix the cracks on the interior walls, and adjust the door frames so doors will open and close again! Now imagine a big dish and its foundation moving around after a few years! Sandy buddy, sand!
I've been really surprised about the sand and the larger FTA dish. We've had rain all day today (pretty big storms rolling through Dallas) and that dish is still on target. Like you say, if it works, it's good!
Todd
Yeah, I think you're in the same boat I am. The sand works well and has kept the BUD standing, though I'll find out when I get back from Colorado and start playing with it how plumb it is. At least with using sand as the anchor it shouldn't be too difficult to dig out the sand, reset the post, and fill back with sand again. I hear ya on the house. I have one outside wall in my kitchen which has pulled away from the cabinets by over an inch as the center of the house has settled with the shifting soil. I'd mount the BUD on the house if I could get away with it!
Todd
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