I made a good trade today !!!

[Dishman Dan]

Your 14 year old son backs his truck into your dish !!!

Of course, I was not too happy but it really just made a hole and scratched the paint.

I need to get this thing up on the pole - - - but only have time on weekends to work on it.

I am sure you already have an alibi when they start asking questions on his whereabouts!!!... :sob:

I am shocked that the damage is minimal! :up

 

[chapelrun]

I was pretty cool about it

After I calmed down - - - I think I told him let's not let that happen again.

He had just taken the muffler off to make it louder (he wants "glass packs") forgot he had it in reverse and slammed into the dish. The dish moved a bit and went down under the bumper - - - thus saving it from much worse damage.

My son is a good kid - - - he did not do it on purpose. All is good :up

 

[chapelrun]

Dug the hole today

I wanted to accomplish something this weekend on my project - so I dug the hole. Or more correctly, my neighbor and I dug the hole using his tractor and much manual labor.

I went down 5 feet and hit bed rock - - - but I could not go much further anyway. I will have to cut about 16 more inches off the pole to get the right height. In the end 5 foot down and 5.5 feet up.

My neighbor said he had helped 2 other folks install these and suggested I weld fins on the part going in the ground to make it more stable. That was not the first time I heard that - - - thus it will look like a tall skinny rocket before it gets put in concrete.

The one picture shows water in the bottom of the hole because it has been so dry here in Virginia that the ground was very hard and the water helped greatly in making the digging a bit easier.

Don't let the tractor make you think it was all fun and games - - It went down about 3 feet - - - the last 2 feet were all by hand.

 

[Anole]

I feel your pain

I will have to cut about 16 more inches off the pole to get the right height.
In the end 5 foot down and 5.5 feet up.

Odd to cut off a pole for such a little amount.
Do you have strong winds and worry about the stability?

My neighbor said he had helped 2 other folks install these and suggested I weld fins on the part going in the ground to make it more stable. That was not the first time I heard that - - - thus it will look like a tall skinny rocket before it gets put in concrete.

Anything to prevent the pole from spinning in the concrete will do.
My Birdview originally had three small fins about three feet up from the bottom end of the pole.
They'd pretty much rusted away over the 20 years it was encased, but they did the job.

...I went down 5 feet and hit bed rock - - - but I could not go much further anyway.
Don't let the tractor make you think it was all fun and games - - It went down about 3 feet - - - the last 2 feet were all by hand.

...The one picture shows water in the bottom of the hole because it has been so dry here in Virginia that the ground was very hard and the water helped greatly in making the digging a bit easier.

Some years ago, I installed a 40' telephone pole. (no, not a misprint) -
(That's it, hiding behind the Invacom LNB.)
I used a lot of water to dig an 8' hole, ending at a shale layer that was impenetrable.
It was all dug by me with shovels, the last couple of feet with a thing called a 'spoon'.
Not fun at all! -

 

[chapelrun]

Some answers - - - maybe

I want the pole to be 5.5 feet up so I can work on the dish easily. After you asked your question I may cut off a good 2 feet - - - so the pole stands about 5 feet up.

Having never done a big dish before - I want to make sure I have enough ground clearance when I run it over to 22W (which I plan on doing).

I may have to read some more about the fins but I think they do more than just prevent twisting - - - they also increase the stability of the dish somehow. My neighbor noted that some folks drill several holes and put REBAR through at 90 degree angles instead of the fins.

You are completely correct that once you get to a certain depth digging is very difficult - - - we had trouble getting the dirt up from 5 feet - - - - I cannot even imagine 8 feet! You never said what the telephone pole was for - - - was that so you could string the wire to put the 1.21 GigaWatts into your FluxCapacitor?

 

[chapelrun]

Question aboout Actuators

I have an 18" actuator that came off the Channel Master 8 footer and have not tested it yet. The longer actuactor that was on the Channel Master 10 footer was completely shot - - - the end plate was taken off and the workings were obviously bad.

I guess I have two options.

1. Try the 18" actuator that came on the 8 footer that has not been used in over ten years. Do these things go bad just sitting?

2. Buy a 24" actuator new and put that on the 10 footer.

I looked around and this seems like a good choice but since I have no experience with these things - - - - I thought I should ask first.

SuperJack*ZX*Zarl3024*24...

BTW, based on my sightings the dish should be able to "see" from about 22W over to about 121W.