Ideas about getting my hands on a non-pen roof mount

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olliec420

SatelliteGuys Pro
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Jun 4, 2007
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Pensacola, FL
So I am 2 weeks away from getting my first c-band dish!!! The neighbor that is giving it too me has it on a large pole which is bracketed to the house but its very old and the screws are rusted, we are probably going to have to cut the pole. Lets say the pole turns out useless and basically all I'm getting is the antenna from the mount up.
At my house, I am living with my dad for the time being and don't want to do anything permanent. Dad might be changing his living arrangements soon anyway so I will need to move the dish reasonably soon. We have a large concrete pad at the back of the pool which also happens to have the best view of the arc.
That being said, I would like to mount on a non-penetrating roof mount and I'm going to park it on that concrete pad for the time being. Ive been looking around, buying a new non-pen roof mount is really expensive and I don't even know if they are going to handle an 8 footer. I see the attached image by another forum member but i have never seen a non-pen mount like that.
Let's say my office has a non pen roof mount on the roof we are not using, and it had a small pole on it holding a Motorola wireless backhaul antenna that we no longer use. (sorry no pic as of now) I wonder if I could convert that to use hold the 8 footer?
So I guess my question is, what do I need to know about mounting this dish, not in the ground but on it?
 

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The image below is the NPRM that came with my 10' SAMI. I'm pretty sure it was done by a local welding shop. It's 1/4" angle iron and quite heavy by itself.
 

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The image below is the NPRM that came with my 10' SAMI. I'm pretty sure it was done by a local welding shop. It's 1/4" angle iron and quite heavy by itself.

Hmm so finding something like this is going to be no easy feat it seems. Right when you think you're out of the woods.
 
Also try giving Roger a call at RPS Satellite. He is in Canada, but may be able to get one drop shipped to you from the US.
www.rpssat.com
 
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The most cost effective option would be to find/buy a mast with the correct size diameter for your dish mount and weld together suitable framing to hold the ballast. Ballast is typically concrete blocks although the DIY mount shown by Jason S shows some creativity ;) The mount shown in your initial post in this thread is a Baird PL-2 which typically cost ~1300 plus cost freight shipping with similar mounts from Rohn, etc. priced about the same. Finding a used one locally would be the best case scenario. Occasionally you might find one on Craiglist or Ebay. Typical commercial mounts are ~10' diameter to ensure mast stability although you could probably get away with ~8' if you go DIY. Refer to wind speed tables for your area to determine the amount of ballast, but for an 8' dish you are going to need 1000-1500 lbs depending upon max windspeed.
 
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Baird PL-2 which typically cost ~1300 plus cost freight shipping with similar mounts from Rohn, etc. priced about the same.

Yeah this is the problem I have been running in to. I found one for $400 plus shipping but thats still a little steep. I'll look at making/having one made but at this point Im thinking that I should put it in the groupd even if its only for 3 months!

I've looked locally on CL and such and there is nothing right now. That was my first search.
 
Ollie, where did you find a PL-2 for 400 plus shipping?

I'm about 99% certain Orbit Communications is out of business.
 
Ollie, where did you find a PL-2 for 400 plus shipping?

I'm about 99% certain Orbit Communications is out of business.

dl76 was right, it was Orbit. I just saw it there, I didn't try to call or talk to anyone. You guys are probably right about them no longer being in business.
 
Yeah, they are out of business. Don't know why their site is still up.
Just for the heck of it I called the 800 number listed on the site.
Guess what! I can take a short survey and big well on my way to a free Caribbean cruise!!! :D
 
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