Building a platform for my dish.

[penguinsix]

My dish is currently on the ground on top of a small hill on the side of my house, but I'm not comfortable with the layout given some bad reception and a wide assortment of wild animals walking around all the time (scared a deer the other night when I changed the channel).

I've thought of building a wood platform, saying 5 or 6 feet high, but was wondering what luck people have had with structures for their dishes? Would it be better to get a 6 foot pole or an old TV antenna rigging?

It's only a 30 inch dish.

 

[PSB]

These bigger dish need to be as low as possible but if you just HAVE to get it higher I would use the TV antenna route. A pole that size even when filled with cement will flex slightly if not supported by guy ropes....

Go Low!

 

[WTguy]

My 90cm is on a platform, low to the ground and shielded on all sides from the wind by various structures or shrubs. The only times it wiggles is when the winds crank it up to the high 40's. Be better if planted on a post in the ground (my situation does not allow that at this time).

 

[dogstar1313]

I've got my Winegard 76cm dish mounted about 15 feet or so up in the air on the eave of an outbuilding and have had no problems (so far). It wiggles in the wind a wee bit if the wind is fairly strong, but not bad.

 

[NiteOwl]

I'm trying to figure out how to mount my dish as well. I don't actually have the dish yet, but it is on the way. Winegard 1m dish, which will be mounted on a GeoSatPro GS120 Plus (SG2100) motor with HD brackets and 55mm tube. My 1.5 story house is on the side of a hill with a row of 3.5 story duplexes West of me on top of the hill. My 18" Dish 500 dish is mounted on my roof as far East as possible and aimed between the roofs of two of the duplexes. My reception from this dish when I had a Dish Network subscription was not great. I was planning to mount my dish on a 3" heavy wall steel pipe set in concrete. The pipe would have to be 20+ feet high to make any difference. It sounds like it might not be rigid enough. What do you guys think?

 

[DERRICK]

Roof mount it! Thru shingle and everything, just use a product made by ROHN, designed for your application. Use proper sealant and support inside your attic, and it wont leak I have done this many times or solution #2
pole mount beside your home and ancor to the eve of the home, this will stablize for wind load. downside to either mount feed-lnbf will be hard to get to. Think safety 1st!

 

[NiteOwl]

Thanks for the quick reply. I don't really want to roof mount that large of a dish. Plus, I'm not sure it would be high enough. I had fun removing the LNBFs from the 18" dish. My roof is very steep. I had to walk along the peak until I was above the dish and then slide down to it. I had to slide off the roof to get down. I'm getting too old for that.
I like the pole anchored to the eave idea. Maybe I will see if I can find some bigger pipe. Maybe 4" and then I can weld some rungs on it.

 

[penguinsix]

I'm in the same situation--my roof is incredibly high and steep. From what I've been told about DishNetwork's installer guidelines, any Dish Network installer could pass on the job due to the slope.

My other problem is that the trees are closer to the house if I mount on the roof. I can mount on the other side of my house and 'shoot' over the house and the trees, but if I go on the roof I'm closer to the trees given the angels involved.

That said, I'd like to try it on the roof, but it seems like a real pain.

 

[NiteOwl]

Yeah, the Dish Network installers complained about the roof, but one guy had some soft soled shoes that didn't slip on the shingles, so he mounted the dish. The other guy wouldn't even try it.

According to the FCC, I can mount my 1m dish on an antenna mast or pole that stands up to 12 feet above my roof line and it can be anywhere on my property. With the pole mount I can probably go 15 feet or more above my current dish, which should help if its steady enough.