pole adapters?

LocutusOfBorg

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Aug 2, 2009
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Is there something that would adapt a 3.5 inch to accommodate a 4.5 inch antenna mount? I really don't want to have to completely remove a 3.5 inch pole and concrete base in order to install a 4.5 inch pole.
 
Wait until tomorrow and I'll post a picture of the one I made for my 10.5 foot Raydx dish. Very simple really and if you have an electric welder at home you may be able to do part of it yourself after you get the piece of pipe cut.
 
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Might get away with a 4.5" post sleeve a over the existing 3.5" pole. Often, a 3.5" pole will provide inadequate support for a dish requiring the larger 4.5" pole.

My 12' Paraclipse used a 3.5 inch pole but it did have a rectangular pole that slid over it. I'm planning on replacing the Paraclipse with a TEK2000 10 footer but it takes a 4.5 inch pole.
 
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When I got this dish for free I had to also take the pipe with it. Took my cutting torch and cut the pipe off at ground level so I didn't have to buy any pipe to make adapters. Took the pipe to a local machine shop and had them use their band saw to cut two sections 27" long out of it to make the adapters I wanted. There are only four 1/2x13 bolts/nuts in it with two at each location spaced at about 1/3 rotation intervals around the pipe. 1/2" holes drilled in the pipe at those locations then the bolts with nuts on them were stuck in the holes and the NUTS ONLY welded in place. With this setup the I.D. of the 4.5"pipe is solid against the O. D. of the 3.5" pipe. Here's a couple of pics I just took.

P9100003.JPG P9100005.JPG
 
When I got this dish for free I had to also take the pipe with it. Took my cutting torch and cut the pipe off at ground level so I didn't have to buy any pipe to make adapters. Took the pipe to a local machine shop and had them use their band saw to cut two sections 27" long out of it to make the adapters I wanted. There are only four 1/2x13 bolts/nuts in it with two at each location spaced at about 1/3 rotation intervals around the pipe. 1/2" holes drilled in the pipe at those locations then the bolts with nuts on them were stuck in the holes and the NUTS ONLY welded in place. With this setup the I.D. of the 4.5"pipe is solid against the O. D. of the 3.5" pipe. Here's a couple of pics I just took.

That pole looks similar to what the rectangular pole for the Paraclipse looks like except there are only 2 bolts at the bottom of the post. I wouldn't be getting rid of the Paraclipse if I could get replacement mesh that is professionally cut at a reasonable cost. But, the places around here said it would be a minimum of $2000 to make the panels.
 
I've made several adapters for my antennas. But main reason for making them was to make upper part of the adapter plumb (very important in case of polar-mounted antenna) and also to be able to fine-adjust azimuth. This is just to share my experience in pipe adapters :coco
IMG_20190910_181916 (Large).jpg IMG_20190910_182100 (Large).jpg
On topic: In case of TS, I think simplest way to make adapter is to make some kind of shim between existing pipe and the mount. For shim is not necessary to use metal, it could be piece of plastic pipe cut vertically.
 
Although I'm not sure of the pole diameter offhand, one of my Prodelin 6' dishes has a larger diameter mount than the others on the NPRM setup it came with. The original installers had placed a piece of metal stock in between the pole and mount as a shim before locking it down plumb. Since this was only a few feet up off of the base and a fixed installation, they apparently thought it was good enough. When I took it down and reassembled it here, I simply put it back in.
 
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Tek2000 sells the adapter that you need so I'm not sure why your looking somewhere else. Cheaper to ship if you order it at the same time you get the dish package.

Somehow I managed to overlook that. Thanks. Not sure if I could get something made more cheaply though.
 
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