Re: Dish tripods, and How to aim the dish myself

In rec.video.satellite.dbs AH#49 <"=?iso-8859-1?Q?Asshole=99=2349?="@ your.net> wrote:
>> Using Sakrete pour up the rim
>> insuring that the -/+ 4 ft. antenna mast pipe is plumbed vertical.

> Use QUIK-CRETE instead! (Red bags)

Quikrete and Sakrete are two company names.  They both have quick set
products.  I just use the cheapest fence post mix that the local vendor
carries.

>  I use and recomend 1 5/8ths inch OUTSIDE DIAMETER galvanized FENCE
> POST Piping, as that is the EXACT same diameter as the OEM stuff that

I've used 8 foot lengths of 1-1/4 galvanized water pipe.  I use a post
hole digger to go about 18", but I use a fence post driver to pound the
pipe another 6" beyond the hole.  That way it is pretty secure before
adding water to the concrete, which I do at the end of dish alignment.
If I'm interested in additional resistance to twisting, I might put a
bolt through the pipe below ground level, but I haven't bothered to do
that for 18" dishes.

That doesn't work so well on a balcony though ;-)

The tripods are popular with the RV crowd, because they can transported
easily (probably more easily than a bucket of concrete).

A bucket of conrete is likely to be just fine in the somewhat sheltered
confines of an apartment balcony, depending on local hurricane or tornado
conditions, not something I worry about in California.

I did make some marks on the floor so that I could put the bucket in the
same spot, at the same rotation (azimuth) if it needed to be moved.
A semi-circle with a mark matching one on the bucket should suffice.

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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA  38.8-122.5