Installing a Dish's Mast / Pole Support in the Ground

[WillyV]

What's the best way to install your dish's mast / pole support in the ground?

 

[migold]

With a cross piece, welded on the side, or bolt thru the mast, set in concrete. Amount of concrete and depth of hole required depends on size of dish (Ku or C-Band), and depth must go well below the freeze line in your area. Of course, it must be plumb when set.

 

[1badtwo]

I read this awhile back and found alot of it helpful.

http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/grndpole.html

 

[Wescopc]

What size dish (KU or C band) and pole?

Installation is different according to to region of the country you are installing in. Out here in Western Oregon we don't have to worry about the ground freezing or high wind loads. So while it may not be copacetic, I have seen 1 5/8" poles (with the lower end flattened) driven with a fence post driver that have worked for many years. You can drill a hole through the post and put a tight fitting 3/8" or 1/2" bolt through it, as opposed to welding a rebar onto the mast, just needs to be set at the correct height so that is immersed in the concrete.
Bob

 

[xtgold]

for a 1meter dish I dug a hole big enough for a 5 gallon plastic bucket.
Then in the garage I put the mounting pipe in a bucket and slowly added concrete,making sure the pipe stayed level and centered.
After the concrete set I put the bucket into the previously dug hole,again making sure it was level and centered.I topped it off with more concrete and then scratched the date into the concrete before it set.

 

[Lone Gunman]

Here in Virginia I did holes that were about 24" in diameter at the top and a little larger at the bottom and 30/32" deep for both my 10ft mesh dishes and so far, they are fine. One of mine has been in the ground since back in 2000 and the other since 2010.

 

[turbosat]

I found those corner-posts for chainlink fence make good posts for ku dish. They might be a little thin for a dish with a motor, but you can always pour them full of concrete also, stiffen them up. I lucked up and had one good thick pipe that came with a primestar dish, that's the one I used for the motorized dish.

 

[T4Runner]

What's the best way to install your dish's mast / pole support in the ground?

Lots of concrete and keep it vertical and steady.

 

[Magic Static]

View attachment 93781

Lots of concrete and keep it vertical and steady.

Seriously, I mean lots of concrete

 

[T4Runner]

magic, I put that kind of a foundation in for my 62ft ham radio tower! You must have had the neighbors all watching you dig the grave...

 

[anik]

Installation is different according to to region of the country you are installing in. Out here in Western Oregon we don't have to worry about the ground freezing or high wind loads. So while it may not be copacetic, I have seen 1 5/8" poles (with the lower end flattened) driven with a fence post driver that have worked for many years. You can drill a hole through the post and put a tight fitting 3/8" or 1/2" bolt through it, as opposed to welding a rebar onto the mast, just needs to be set at the correct height so that is immersed in the concrete.

For a Ku band I have done something similar, using a 10' section of galvanized pipe. And there have been occasions where I was in a hurry and just planted it in the ground without any concrete at all temporarily, and never had a problem with it moving. Then a few months or a year or two later, when I had some leftover concrete from another job, I dug out around it part of the way down and poured the concrete around the upper part (being careful to keep it level and not move it, of course. I never really had any issue with the pole turning, especially once it was set in concrete, and I've never used a bolt or welded a rod. However, there have been a couple of occasions where I had a sledge hammer handy, so I slightly flattened a foot or so of the pipe (that would be immersed in the concrete) so it was oblong rather that round. The only way that could turn i if the wind was strong enough to break the concrete.

Admittedly I was lucky with the ones just planted in the ground, in that we didn't have any major windstorms during that period. And we don't get hurricanes in my neck of the woods, and if a tornado comes along it will probably bend the entire pipe. So I don't necessarily recommend doing what I did if you live near the east coast or the Gulf of Mexico or someplace like that. But if you have a sledge hammer, it may be a lot easier to flatten the pipe a bit near the bottom than to try and drill a hole through a round piece of pipe.

Now with C-Band, you're definitely going to want something to keep it from turning!

 

[WillyV]

I guess I should have menntioned that I'd be mounting a 36" Ku dish on a post and that the post / pole would be low to the ground (approximately 5 -6' tall). That said, what diameter pole /post would you all advise?

On another issue (and excuse me if I have this question in the "improper" section of this forum), can a KU dish (ie. geosatpro) or any other KU dish be used in lieu of a "Direct Broadcast" dish, should I at some point down the road decide to "bite the bullet" and subscribe to a satellite TV service? Do you know if a "dish provider" would use my personal existing dish? Or, would they insist on installing their own dish?


Finally, I thought I read or heard that canceling a sat dish service was loaded with "minefields." Anyone know if this is true? My thanks to everyone who responeded to my questions. This is a great forum.

 

[Balock]

For my non-motorized 1M Primestar dish (fiberglass dish made by ChannelMaster), I used one of the fence corner poles mentioned earlier in the thread and placed a piece of rebar through it about six inches from the bottom. I then buried it I think close to 2ft into the ground with a little bit of gravel in the bottom of the hole and the hole about as wide as a 5-gallon bucket. The pole is probably 4.5 feet above ground and the dish just peeks above the top of the fence behind it. That's been about 1.5 years ago and it's rock solid so far here in central Arkansas. You can even see it in Google Streetview if you can find my house

 

[WillyV]

Thanks Balock. Sounds pretty straight cut and functional.

 

[glover31]

Here is a 3 part youtube video I made that should help you. You only really need to watch the first one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLMs2fXO684&list=TL5Ha3iegQtZE4UvGhLkvl1rdJ0AX_v9RR part1

 

[WillyV]

Hello Glover31,

Very nice videos. What's the tube like structure into which your pole / mast is located?

 

[glover31]

Its a sonic tube from home depot. You can get them from lowes as well as probably a regular hardware store. You don't necessarily need it. I had to because I could not get down with the post hole digger without hitting slate and shale. Always try to dig with the post digger first. If you can its so much easier but, put a flat rock on the bottom of the whole.

 

[WillyV]

Oh, so the sonic tube essentially enables you to extend the hole out of the ground, right? So, do you pour something like secrete into the tube?

 

[glover31]

No not really. I extended it to make it look pretty later, initials, and paint. If you can dig a 4 foot hole with a post hole digger you don't need it. What I like about how I did it is that the wind cant spin the pipe and no matter how strong the wind and it doesn't vibrate either. Rock solid. I put concrete inside the pole too but I think that I could have just used sand. Its all really over kill but thats me. In fact if I could go back before I started I would install a 6 - 10 foot bud for c-band and 3 1.2 meter dishes with multiple quad "standard" lnbfs mounted to custom bent conduit tuning in as many sats I could. But its a learning process. Who knows maybe I still will

 

[WillyV]

I just hope I can dig down 4' since my soil here in the mountains is very rocky. The other issue is that I'll need to go very slow to make sure I don't hit any under ground pipes or cables from my near by septic system. It's a long story. Do you know of any sort of instruments that can detect plastic conduit or electrical cables? The only other alternative is to dig very slowly almost like your digging for explosive ordinance. LOL, not really. By the way, what is the "bud" you referred to? Don't know if I mentioned that I'd intend to install a very basic system consisting of a geosatpro 36" dish and receiver. Although I don't initially plan on a motor (to KISS and only tune in to 97W), I might utilize one down the road. Any words of wisdom on future considerations?