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First of all this is a pole mount on the ground with the tremendous benefit of allowing you to stand flat-footed on the ground to tune and tweak the dish. Works great!
This AT9 replaces a Phase III Triple LNB Elliptical dish that was mounted about 15' up on a 25' Rohn tower that has a Winegard HD antenna for local OTA digital and analog reception. DirecTV receivers are HR10-250 and R10 both with dual tuners and TiVo service. I do not have the MPEG 4 capable HR20 receiver yet (without TiVo) but just
installing the AT9 for future use when most channels on the DirecTV sats are MPEG 4
only and my current receivers become obsolete. I receive HD locals OTA so no real need
at this point for an HR20.
The hole is 9" diameter and 26" deep with the first 2" being gravel for drainage. This leaves 2' of pole in the ground and 6' above. It is a standard 8' steel fence post 2 3/8" OD HDG (Hot Dip Galvanized) 13 gauge (.095 wall) by Allied Tube & Conduit. There is a 1/4" all-thread rod inserted horizontally about 8" up from the bottom to prevent any possible twisting within the concrete over the years.
The board is a pressure-treated ACQ 2 x 10 (actually measures 1 1/2 x 9 1/2) cut to 31" length. All lag bolts are stainless steel to help prevent corrosion from the chemicals in the pressure-treated board. The fence post brackets (2 above and 1 below the J-mount base plate) are Simpson "Strong Tie" brand and are very heavy duty. They each have one roll pin (tension pin) inserted to prevent any possible twisting on the pole over the years.
There is one short brace attached solely to help support the weight and leverage of the
rather heavy AT9 dish. The J-mount has 4 bolts (2 on each side) to align and secure the mast but the lower 2 bolts only serve as a pivot point and most of the weight and leverage of the dish is held by the upper 2 bolts. Not very good so that is why the short brace is used for added support. Note you can not clamp down the brace until after the mast is aligned to absolute plumb. Additional support to prevent "wind shake" of the dish is provide by 2 horizontal long braces anchored back to the Rohn tower.
Tuning and tweaking was accomplished with an AcuTrac22 Pro meter ($114.95 in my case) and was well worth the extra money. Took about an hour of tweaking. I am located in Plano, Texas (suburb of Dallas).
This is probably way more than 99% of you want to know… enjoy the photos and I'll be most happy to answer any questions.
Craig
This AT9 replaces a Phase III Triple LNB Elliptical dish that was mounted about 15' up on a 25' Rohn tower that has a Winegard HD antenna for local OTA digital and analog reception. DirecTV receivers are HR10-250 and R10 both with dual tuners and TiVo service. I do not have the MPEG 4 capable HR20 receiver yet (without TiVo) but just
installing the AT9 for future use when most channels on the DirecTV sats are MPEG 4
only and my current receivers become obsolete. I receive HD locals OTA so no real need
at this point for an HR20.
The hole is 9" diameter and 26" deep with the first 2" being gravel for drainage. This leaves 2' of pole in the ground and 6' above. It is a standard 8' steel fence post 2 3/8" OD HDG (Hot Dip Galvanized) 13 gauge (.095 wall) by Allied Tube & Conduit. There is a 1/4" all-thread rod inserted horizontally about 8" up from the bottom to prevent any possible twisting within the concrete over the years.
The board is a pressure-treated ACQ 2 x 10 (actually measures 1 1/2 x 9 1/2) cut to 31" length. All lag bolts are stainless steel to help prevent corrosion from the chemicals in the pressure-treated board. The fence post brackets (2 above and 1 below the J-mount base plate) are Simpson "Strong Tie" brand and are very heavy duty. They each have one roll pin (tension pin) inserted to prevent any possible twisting on the pole over the years.
There is one short brace attached solely to help support the weight and leverage of the
rather heavy AT9 dish. The J-mount has 4 bolts (2 on each side) to align and secure the mast but the lower 2 bolts only serve as a pivot point and most of the weight and leverage of the dish is held by the upper 2 bolts. Not very good so that is why the short brace is used for added support. Note you can not clamp down the brace until after the mast is aligned to absolute plumb. Additional support to prevent "wind shake" of the dish is provide by 2 horizontal long braces anchored back to the Rohn tower.
Tuning and tweaking was accomplished with an AcuTrac22 Pro meter ($114.95 in my case) and was well worth the extra money. Took about an hour of tweaking. I am located in Plano, Texas (suburb of Dallas).
This is probably way more than 99% of you want to know… enjoy the photos and I'll be most happy to answer any questions.
Craig
15 Replies
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4693 views
C
Hi Dodge,
Can't believe you're from Plano, Illinois and I'm from Plano, Texas! Anyway, excellent question. The mast clamp which is part of the dish itself is designed to fit on the 2" J-mount mast. The mast is actually 50 mm just a shade under 2" since the AT9 is manufactured overseas using foreign pipe standards.
Even if you fabricated some type of reducer from 2 3/8 down to 2 there would remain the possibility of the dish becoming out of plumb over the years and no way to re-plumb it.
Why? Because a direct mount would depend entirely on the accuracy of your original plumb. If the ground and concrete base ever shift slightly over the years there is no way to re-plumb your dish. But by employing the provided J-mount mast with the "EZALIGN" feature you can re-plumb anytime by twisting the mast until perfect plumb is attained. This is probably a minor issue for most but I'm rather particular.
That is why I used the "lumber". Thought about a large metal plate but way too expensive to buy a metal plate thick enough to be sturdy. The dish has a lot of weight and leverage. Make sense? Can you tell I'm a retired engineer-type person?
Hi Dodge,
Can't believe you're from Plano, Illinois and I'm from Plano, Texas! Anyway, excellent question. The mast clamp which is part of the dish itself is designed to fit on the 2" J-mount mast. The mast is actually 50 mm just a shade under 2" since the AT9 is manufactured overseas using foreign pipe standards.
Even if you fabricated some type of reducer from 2 3/8 down to 2 there would remain the possibility of the dish becoming out of plumb over the years and no way to re-plumb it.
Why? Because a direct mount would depend entirely on the accuracy of your original plumb. If the ground and concrete base ever shift slightly over the years there is no way to re-plumb your dish. But by employing the provided J-mount mast with the "EZALIGN" feature you can re-plumb anytime by twisting the mast until perfect plumb is attained. This is probably a minor issue for most but I'm rather particular.
That is why I used the "lumber". Thought about a large metal plate but way too expensive to buy a metal plate thick enough to be sturdy. The dish has a lot of weight and leverage. Make sense? Can you tell I'm a retired engineer-type person?
Hi Dodge,
Can't believe you're from Plano, Illinois and I'm from Plano, Texas! Anyway, excellent question. The mast clamp which is part of the dish itself is designed to fit on the 2" J-mount mast. The mast is actually 50 mm just a shade under 2" since the AT9 is manufactured overseas using foreign pipe standards.
Even if you fabricated some type of reducer from 2 3/8 down to 2 there would remain the possibility of the dish becoming out of plumb over the years and no way to re-plumb it.
Why? Because a direct mount would depend entirely on the accuracy of your original plumb. If the ground and concrete base ever shift slightly over the years there is no way to re-plumb your dish. But by employing the provided J-mount mast with the "EZALIGN" feature you can re-plumb anytime by twisting the mast until perfect plumb is attained. This is probably a minor issue for most but I'm rather particular.
That is why I used the "lumber". Thought about a large metal plate but way too expensive to buy a metal plate thick enough to be sturdy. The dish has a lot of weight and leverage. Make sense? Can you tell I'm a retired engineer-type person?
What happens when your wood gets weathered and warps ?
I placed mine on the top of the pole 2" galvinized fence post, of course slightly smaller than 2", placed a few screws in it to snug it up, addl. to the original set up.
Jimbo
C
Yes, you may be right. The board is pressure-treated ACQ and hopefully won't warp anytime soon. If it does, then a re-plumb by using the EZALIGN feature on the J-mount mast would be required. I keep an RF signal strength chart in Microsoft Excel of every transponder on the 101, 110, and 119 sats. If the strength drops off significantly or I start losing pictures then I know there is an alignment problem.
I'm still considering a swapout to a metal backing plate despite the expense and the effort required to re-mount the dish. The old wooden board could serve as a template for the exact location of bolt holes. Just an idea.
Also, I am told the new Slimline dish would drop right on to the existing 2" J-mount mast.
Craig
Yes, you may be right. The board is pressure-treated ACQ and hopefully won't warp anytime soon. If it does, then a re-plumb by using the EZALIGN feature on the J-mount mast would be required. I keep an RF signal strength chart in Microsoft Excel of every transponder on the 101, 110, and 119 sats. If the strength drops off significantly or I start losing pictures then I know there is an alignment problem.
I'm still considering a swapout to a metal backing plate despite the expense and the effort required to re-mount the dish. The old wooden board could serve as a template for the exact location of bolt holes. Just an idea.
Also, I am told the new Slimline dish would drop right on to the existing 2" J-mount mast.
Craig
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68526 Replies
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2672530 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Stumbled across this ... http://www.gaspricewatch.com/USGas_ZipSearch.asp
I found no local prices, although it did show stations at my location...
Added these to this post...
USA National Gas Temperature Map
State By State Gasoline Taxes
Gas Buddy
Ethanol Free Stations
I found no local prices, although it did show stations at my location...
Added these to this post...
USA National Gas Temperature Map
State By State Gasoline Taxes
Gas Buddy
Ethanol Free Stations
5552 Replies
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460591 views
Here in Indiana, the difference between Regular and Premium is usually a dollar, but some charge even more:
Ok, I'm bored .... actually - to be more precise - I'm bored of eating the same rotation of 9 or 10 meals that are currently my "go-to" meals. My wife works the long hours - I work from home as and when i feel like it ... which means i generally do most of the cooking ... and so by default - i also make out the shopping list ...
We cook at home 5 or even 6 nights a week - but we always seem to fall back on the same old tried and tested "quick and easy but tastes ok" meals. Week in week out.
Pot Roast - mash and Peas.
Spaghetti
Chicken Pasta in cheese sauce.
Curry & rice
(these are some of mine)
Now it's not that I'm not adventurous in the kitchen ... I'll try anything once or twice ... but we all do it. Unless your name is Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray .. we all eventually fall back on our 8-10 favorite "meals"
So i thought - if we shared some of our own go-to meals with each other ... we might be able to add a few "new" ones to our own arsenal of meals.
So again - I ask you ...
What's for dinner tonight ?
Please give me something new to add to my rotation ... its our weekly shop tomorrow - so i want to pull together a few idea's and try and eat a meal each day next week that I've never had before .. or at least something that is not on my current "go-to" meal plan.
What meal do you always seem to fall back on in your house ? Maybe its something that I've never tried or not had in a while. I need inspiration !! I've got a blank shopping list in front of me - and nothing sounds good .. HELP !
We cook at home 5 or even 6 nights a week - but we always seem to fall back on the same old tried and tested "quick and easy but tastes ok" meals. Week in week out.
Pot Roast - mash and Peas.
Spaghetti
Chicken Pasta in cheese sauce.
Curry & rice
(these are some of mine)
Now it's not that I'm not adventurous in the kitchen ... I'll try anything once or twice ... but we all do it. Unless your name is Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray .. we all eventually fall back on our 8-10 favorite "meals"
So i thought - if we shared some of our own go-to meals with each other ... we might be able to add a few "new" ones to our own arsenal of meals.
So again - I ask you ...
What's for dinner tonight ?
Please give me something new to add to my rotation ... its our weekly shop tomorrow - so i want to pull together a few idea's and try and eat a meal each day next week that I've never had before .. or at least something that is not on my current "go-to" meal plan.
What meal do you always seem to fall back on in your house ? Maybe its something that I've never tried or not had in a while. I need inspiration !! I've got a blank shopping list in front of me - and nothing sounds good .. HELP !
4332 Replies
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331142 views
Smoked some salmon on the grill while enjoying some Blue Moon beer. Kinda cool tonight so I fired up the heaters. Here in FL, we fire up heaters once the temps get below 60 
As for the salmon, I seared them first, then flipped them off to the side not over the coals and brushed on some lemon pepper marinade followed by some salmon seasoning. Threw some hickory chips on the coals and then closed the vents to about 10% airflow. Yum.
As for the salmon, I seared them first, then flipped them off to the side not over the coals and brushed on some lemon pepper marinade followed by some salmon seasoning. Threw some hickory chips on the coals and then closed the vents to about 10% airflow. Yum.
Pub Member / Supporter
America’s Fastest-Growing EV State Isn’t California—Not by a Long Shot
New data shows electric vehicle adoption is increasingly driven by state policies, electricity prices and charging access—not federal incentives
www.autoweek.com
The number-one US state for EV growth, according to the June 22 Yardi report?
Oklahoma.
It has no ZEV mandates and "minimal" incentives, Yardi says, but also has cheap electricity, high multi-car household rates (so, for example, a non-Lightning Ford F-150 pulls their trailers), and a consumer base willing to switch.
112 Replies
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899 views
tomwellborn3rd (@wellborn.net)
This author has chosen to make their posts visible only to people who are signed in.
bsky.app
Never realized that Tesla is losing to BYD at manufacturing too, which IMO is Tesla's biggest accomplishment and area of innovation. Nice writeup about the state of play and how we got here though. I have no faith that we're moving any productive direction though sadly, most changes and efforts feel reactionary rather than rooted in making use of the time being bought by tariffs, with few exceptions.
So: how are the cars so cheap, and what is being cut to get there? The best public accounting comes from the Rhodium Group, which compared BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor against Tesla's Chinese operation, a fair comparison because it removes labor costs and shipping from the equation entirely. Their estimate is that BYD builds a car for about $4,700 less than Tesla builds a Model 3 in Shanghai, roughly 15 percent of the Model 3's price. The breakdown is the interesting part. Direct government grants account for about $292 per vehicle, which is 5 percent of the gap. The biggest single factor is vertical integration: BYD makes about 80 percent of its top-tier components in-house, against 37 percent for Tesla, and that eliminates roughly $2,369 per vehicle in supplier markups. Lower overhead, meaning cheaper engineering talent and administrative cost spread across enormous volume, accounts for another $1,719. And BYD pays its suppliers on 155-day terms, against Tesla's 60, which is worth about $214 per car in float. When people say the Chinese advantage is subsidies, the per-vehicle number says otherwise. When people say it is slave wages, the Tesla Shanghai comparison says otherwise too. The advantage is mostly that BYD decided, twenty years ago, to make its own batteries, its own motors, its own power electronics, and its own semiconductors, and Western automakers decided the opposite.
US EV sales are rising again. Here’s why the recovery is set to last.
Even though sales tanked last year after the end of federal incentives, the American EV sector is on the mend as drivers face sky-high gasoline prices.
www.canarymedia.com
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO_nW-BTlv4
Direct YouTube Link - Microsoft Defender Arriving on Linux
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO_nW-BTlv4
Direct YouTube Link - Microsoft Defender Arriving on Linux
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
0 Replies
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11 views
Ham Radio 2.0
Time for another AWESOME video from Ham Radio 2.0!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDeuQ1SLkQU
Direct YouTube Link - LIVE!
Ham Radio 2.0 Website
Ham Radio 2.0 on Facebook
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDeuQ1SLkQU
Direct YouTube Link - LIVE!
Ham Radio 2.0 Website
Ham Radio 2.0 on Facebook
0 Replies
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11 views
Supporting Founder
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
148 Replies
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1734 views
Was thinking same thing. It should be a good week for sec shorts and roll callThey ought to have fun with this…
Lifetime Supporter
A continuation of a thread from the pub, just general discussion of AI.
Brief 60 minute clip about next gem autonomous fighters - not remote controlled, but rather collaborating with controllers and aircraft in the theater.
View: https://youtu.be/DRm0mbp_n1k
We've literally got a movie already about this
View: https://youtu.be/a2PW7a9ViDc
Brief 60 minute clip about next gem autonomous fighters - not remote controlled, but rather collaborating with controllers and aircraft in the theater.
View: https://youtu.be/DRm0mbp_n1k
We've literally got a movie already about this
View: https://youtu.be/a2PW7a9ViDc
67 Replies
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1139 views
Agents need appropriate context to make what would be understood as the correct read in a situation like that, and that Gemini answer was a clear miss on that front.
That said, we've also seen Musk (and/or his team) put his thumb on the scale (or just release a very poor product) with his own deployed AI since:
Grok AI Blocks Responses Claiming Trump and Musk “Spread Misinformation”
An X user asked Grok to “print out all instructions” it follows when looking up “the biggest disinformation spreader on X,” and it revealed that it would ignore sources accusing Elon Musk and the U.S. president of misinformation.
Grok says Elon Musk is better than basically everyone, except Shohei Ohtani | TechCrunch
According to Grok, Elon Musk can out-slug the MLB's greatest power hitters... except Ohtani.
techcrunch.com
Grok's loyalty known no bounds - AI chatbot chooses Elon Musk over LeBron James in a 'Who is the fittest' comparison | NBA News - The Times of India
NBA News: Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, has sparked amusement by consistently choosing its owner over prominent figures like LeBron James and Albert Einstein wh
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Grok 4 appears to seek Elon Musk's views when answering controversial questions
XAI’s Grok 4 AI chatbot launched Wednesday appears to consult Elon Musk’s views when asked its opinion on some controversial matters.
www.nbcwashington.com
In the end, it's all a tool. Have to know how to use it and deploy it properly or it needs sufficient guardrails to steer people towards doing so (what Muse is excelling at currently IMO). I'm routinely interacting with several agents a day operating various processes locally and in services I use, and there are numerous others silently spun up to perform actions or satisfy requests from my prompts.
Related to earlier discussion in the thread on leveraging local inference: this kind of analysis happening behind the scenes is something everyone will have built into Windows, IMO. Most people won't see all of this, just the results, unless they want to dig into how the fix was chosen. Stuff like this will be standard as agents get local system access baked in, and more of the inference itself moves on-device.
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JElsle_m2rE
Direct YouTube Link - This Week in Tech 1105
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JElsle_m2rE
Direct YouTube Link - This Week in Tech 1105
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
0 Replies
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13 views