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

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> 
> 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.

Let's cut to the chase then, OK?
http://www.quikrete.com/catalog/FastSettingConcreteMix.html
That's why I mentioned "RED BAG", and I use the best products that I
can find, as I don't want to see the customer ever again!
 (unless their daughter is really cute!) :>

Regardless, I pass the cost on to them as an ADDITIONAl 90 bucks per
hole.
They agree to pay or, I walk.

And yes, I have installed TWO DiSH dishes to one pole ( One for
110/119, one for 
61.5).
  Not very tricky but I charge accordingly, as I have to drill extra
"stop holes", and provide the hardware ( a bolt) to keep the bottom one
from sliding down while I adjust it.


And yes, the majority of the installs I do are 36" dishes for Telstar5
and AMC4.
But I still use the same stuff and tek-neek regardless if it is DiSH or
DTV.
 
> >  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.

No cross spikes drilled and placed into the post to keep if from
spinning BEFORE you add the post into the hole you dug? (shame shame)
And why would you add water to a concrete mix BEFORE you aligned the
dish?
 That dosn't make sence to me.
 I make sure my post is PLUMB and secure in the ground..with hardened
concrete, THEN attach/align the dish.
But then again...different strokes fer different folks.

Takes only 30 minutes for the "RED BAG" to set up hard as a rock, when
using hot water!

And I always dig a two foot hole with a post hole digger like these:
http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Lawn_and_Garden-Hand_Tools-All-Post_Hole_Diggers

And I prefer Galvanised pipe that is DESIGNED to be placed under ground
(fence post) and fill the pipe to just above ground level with added
mix.
It's also the EXACT same size as the OEM mount! 1 and 5/8's Inch
outside diameter!

Water pipes are NEVER "galvanized", as that is against the law for
building codes everywhere I know of.

Of course, I could be wrong. :<

> 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.

I always do it, no matter what.
 It's the right thing to do no matter what.
I use two, 10" coated concrete spikes in an "X" pattern drilled two or
three inches from each other....top to bottom.
 
> That doesn't work so well on a balcony though ;-)

Only if the people downstairs complain. :0

And not when the the bucket is not secure, sure!
 But I have done many "bucket jobs" and STILL use a concrete spike
THROUGH the post to keep it from spinning in the SECURED BUCKET filled
with fast setting concrete!

> 
> 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 don't worry about those weather conditions either, anymore.
 But I DO worry about them getting bumped!

That's why I asked you how you secure a bucket filled with mud to a
balcony?

> 
> 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.

I do the same thing.
 Then I also cross drill through the bottom of the bucket, and whap
some large nails (or other approved items) through it and into the
structure it's sitting on!

 When I get done, my dishes CAN't move unless the owner is REALLY
stupid and careless!  :>

Alas, I have run across some very stupid customers, that used the dish
post for a close line, and REALLY torgued it down to bend the
pipe...forgot to remove the clothes and wondered why her sweater that
was DRAPED over the dish was blocking the reception....removed the
CABLE(!) because it "clashed" with the color of her deck... the dogs
that like to play tug-n-war with the cable...  Children that like to do
CHIN UPS on the LNB arm..etc..

I kid yee not!
 One person was so desperate for a dish that the ONLY place available
on her property ,due to trees,  was next to the front of her drive
way...TEN FEET AWAY from it, and a 10'pole DEEPLY imbedded in thwe
earth with concrete!
200+ feet of cable, and I somehow still got a great signal into the one
room.

 She ran over it ..twice!
 I mean she MANGLED the entire thing...twice!

I don't except her drunken calls anymore.

(sigh)