i am looking to get back in to FTA and want to know how to setup a 1.2m motorized setup in a portable small space ?
FTA in a Small space
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I made mine "portable".. got a water heater pan from home depot and filled it with concrete.. worked great.
Lak7 said:
Well the back yard has a flower bed with a small area of grass between it and the covered patio do I have a large area for a dish
that is a geat idea for being portable. what does that weigh when you do need to move it? can you move it one person or have o have two?
FTAer0024 said:would look great as a center piece of your flower bed
<img src="http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=73959"/>
Did you bolt the mast into the concert this is looking like a good option and very doable
You might look at concrete blocks - see this post:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/192917-home-built-non-pen-mount.html
Bob
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/192917-home-built-non-pen-mount.html
Bob
I estimate it weighs around 65-70 lbs. It took a little over one and a half of bags, 40 lbs each.. I made it with two stainless handles, with one person on each side it can be lifted pretty easy. The dish mount is attached to four long stainless carriage bolts that were inserted into wet concrete, before it hardened. I had to make sure they stay upright the whole time until it hardens, to keep them aligned with the holes in the base of the mount. I also placed several heavy gauge armature rods in the pan, before filling it. Depending on what type of cement you use, you may have to keep it wet for several days until it cures, and away from direct sunlight.
i have a 1.2 m geosatpro dish and motor on the way will a 5 gallon bucket of concrete with a metal fence pole support the dish
5 gallon bucket doesn't have much for surface area*. You really want something that's wide enough to prevent it tipping over, and heavy enough that it stay's put. On a 1.2m dish, I'd prefer something about 3 ft x 3 ft. and weighted down with 6 or 8 blocks. *(9 sq. ft. vs less than 1 sq. ft for the 5 gal bucket I have.) Non Pen mounts (to be weighted with blocks) on this page as an example of what I have in mind. Or make your own concrete form out of 1x4's 36 inch per side.(over a sheet of plastic in the driveway) lay in some rebar and dish attach system. Let it set up and then move it into position. Make the form round and mount the pole centered, you could tip it on it's side and roll it into position, using the pole to guide it.
Like FaT Air said, you need something with a larger footprint.. It would work if you bury the bucket into the ground. Above ground, the first good wind gust will knock it down.. and you'll have a difficult time keeping that pole plum. Another thing to consider if you don't plan to place it on a hard surface is the smaller the footprint the higher pressure would be exerted on the surface beneath it, so the soil will keep giving in after every rain and you would have to keep adjusting the pole to stay plum.
For any non-permanent structure holding a dish, you should plan in advance for a system to keep the mast plumb. With my mini-tower, my main maintenance is using a level to check if mast is still plumb. The ground freezes and thaws and things shift slightly. I use thin shims that I can quickly slide under the tower feet as necessary.
It's all about the"leverage"
It's all about the"leverage" the dish will produce when affected by wind. I have a 1.2m on a very temporary mount with no ballast. The base forms an X on the ground with ~5 ft legs. ~10 ft across.
My 10 ft BUD is on a floating slab that's 5'x8'x 6 in. I calculated the weight at 1 ton. Which confirms what Doug Denhert said they weigh(they are his design) See attached for pole plumbing adjustment.
So for a 1.2, an approximately equivalent pad would be around 2.5'x4'x3 inch. Calculated weight = 375 lbs.
A 3'x3'x3 in. concrete pad calculates to 337.5 lbs. (calculations use 150 lbs per cubic ft.)
It's all about the"leverage" the dish will produce when affected by wind. I have a 1.2m on a very temporary mount with no ballast. The base forms an X on the ground with ~5 ft legs. ~10 ft across.
My 10 ft BUD is on a floating slab that's 5'x8'x 6 in. I calculated the weight at 1 ton. Which confirms what Doug Denhert said they weigh(they are his design) See attached for pole plumbing adjustment.
So for a 1.2, an approximately equivalent pad would be around 2.5'x4'x3 inch. Calculated weight = 375 lbs.
A 3'x3'x3 in. concrete pad calculates to 337.5 lbs. (calculations use 150 lbs per cubic ft.)
Attachments
TIME and convenience. We got quite a few sales because we were able to deliver a working system the next day if ordered early enough the previous day. We used to assemble the whole dish/feed/mount/slab and do a rough align in the parking lot. Pick up the assembled slab and dish with a custom trailer and deliver it assembled ready for final wiring and alignment. Drive into customer location, install and aligned and programmed in about 1-2 hours. We would pour a dozen slabs at a time to have ready to go. If a customer moved, we could pick it up, move it to new location, install & realign it in a few hours. Once moved one ~120 some miles, but that one took from mid morning till early evening. From near Grafton ND to Valley City.
Oh yeah, also forgot to mention, we could "rent out" a dish for Super bowl weekends and such. Kinda hard to do if you're dependent on a hole in the ground.
Oh yeah, also forgot to mention, we could "rent out" a dish for Super bowl weekends and such. Kinda hard to do if you're dependent on a hole in the ground.
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Will this mount work in a 24" hot water heater drain pan 2 3/8" Offset Dish Antenna floor mount and a 1.2m dish
I've got 2 1.2m dishes, Both on homemade non-pen mounts. Both have a minimum distance from the pole to the end of a leg of 4 ft. (2x dish width overall. But I'm not using ballast weight either) A 24 inch pad (w/2inches of concrete is only ~100lbs) would put a leg at only 1 ft from the pole. A 1.2 is 4 ft wide and a bit taller. I think it would be easy to tip it over if I grabbed the top of the dish and tugged. And then you have the shifting of the mass being motorized. Think I'd want something wider. Just my 2¢. But, if willing to experiment, try it. FWIW- I'd make the pole rise over a corner, and place the dish on the pole over the pad, so the weight is centered over the pad. This would give a couple of extra inches fore and aft, left and right. I'd also make it as close to the ground as possible to minimize the dishes leverage. Let us know how it goes.
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