Pics of my set-up

[Sasquatch04]

Hiya folks,,,here are some pics of my set-up,,,,

I want to thank all who helped out,,,especially Sergei,,,who provided me with the brackets !!! Many Tks to you again,,

Now I am in the tuning phase,,,only sat I could get was ANIK F1R on c-band,,,,still off the arc,,,,the thing I do not understand is that elevation checks out,and declination too,,and have rechecked the plumbness of the pole,,,well plumb on all sides,,,will get it eventually

Am using a Geosat pro ck1,,,

Cheers you all,,,,

 

[Sasquatch04]

2nd Part

2nd Part

 

[vurbano]

no stone under the concrete? I havent seen rebar that looks like that before. The steel laying on the ground with no chairs? I hope the bolts are deep in the concrete.

 

[Sasquatch04]

hole is 6 ft deep,,,some 6 ft rebars going in the hole too,,,,rods are 36" long and "J" shaped for 4",,,,,

in total 1850 lbs pf concrete of which 510 lbs is the High pressure concrete for the soilcap,,,,,3 x 4 ft soilcap built for the heavy winds we get here and the deep hole to be below the frost line in winter,,,,,

It should be very solid,,,I am very confident

 

[Friend]

no stone under the concrete? I havent seen rebar that looks like that before. The steel laying on the ground with no chairs? I hope the bolts are deep in the concrete.

I agree still good idea to put something under steel like stone to elevate them and bring them to the lower side of the concrete. Whole point of steel is to is to avoid concrete from breaking up. If you don't make part of RCC what is the point. Anyway still a clean setup.

 

[Sasquatch04]

It does not look like it from the pic,,but I placed some rocks below the rebars so they are abt 1 1/2" elevated from the ground,,,I also tied them together with steel wires

 

[esteveW]

Hey Sas!

That dish looks so familier that I went outside to see if mine were still in the yard.

Last week I picked up a WineGard and a Zenith and they were identical in all respects. One was in a little better condition, while the best had a 2" hole in one panel. I was able to close it and smooth the edges with a hammer and dolly. However, I swapped it out with one from the other (lesser) dish. I may keep both but for now the second will be available to anyone in Western WA area. Or who ever.

Nice thing is, you can take them apart in an hour and the 8 section would fit in the back of a mini van or station wagon. No problem stacking them because they nest well.

I don't know yet, how well they will perform but they sure get my vote for quality and detail on the mount adusting, etc..

Nice paint job. Must have been a special on White. I painted my 9ft solid off white cause I figure darker colors would heat up the 1/8 thick aluminum and cause distortion. I think the black mesh is ok since it would radiate the heat better. (another topic)

Good luck, looks like it won't blow a way.

Steve

 

[Cadsulfide]

Nice install!

 

[glater]

Nice install, looks like my Winegard Pinnacle. I didn't have to change the elevation or declination, because my dish came from 30 miles south of my location. All I did was move the dish to the top of the arc, then turn it on the pole to a strong transponder on my TS satellite, then lock it down on the pole. My signal wasn't peaked, but I couldn't reach the lnb from my step ladder because of it being a deep dish & my dish elevation on TS is 55.6 degrees. When I moved over to 135w and found a live tp, I could reach my bsc-421 and was able to adjust the f/d and skew to peak the signal. Then I went to 55w and checked a live tp on it. No fine tuning was necessary, so I called it good. Probably lucky more than skill. Hope you get it up and running soon.

 

[turbosat]

Good work, and a nice looking dish. That much concrete should hold up a highway bridge, lol.

 

[techie#2]

Good work, and a nice looking dish. That much concrete should hold up a highway bridge, lol.

I must agree with turbosat, that's a BUNCH of concrete! Back in the early 80's I worked for a satellite business, and we never used anywhere near that much concrete, but we did not have high winds to deal with very often.
I must say, though, VERY nice install. Looks professional to me:up

 

[Sadoun]

Is that why some countries have a concrete shortage now a days? You used all that concrete

Nice work!

 

[Blindowl1234]

Nice pics! Looks like the dish I want in my back yard. Blind

 

[Corrado]

Nice professional looking setup. :up

 

[Inno]

I agree, nice install.......and PLENTY of concrete!! I would say that 98% of the ones installed in my area were done on a pre-formed 4'x6'x3" slab with mounting bolts sticking out. If you don't go at least 4' down below the frost line, the frost will really jack it around........even if you are below the frost line there is still a chance of the frost moving things. Therefore all the ones around here are slabs just on the surface with adjusting bolts for level. In all the years I have had one I have not had to do much if any adjusting. No high winds here either though.

 

[phlatwound]

Nice looking project, Sasquatch, you should get many years of service from that rig.

Did you mix all the concrete by hand or did you have a portable mixer?

 

[Sasquatch04]

I rented a portable mixer,,,,,was really not planning to do this by hand !!!

I know it is a risk that the frost will probably lift the soil cap a little,,,that is the reason I installed rods so it can be easily adjusted,,,,if I would have done it without the soil cap,,,then the wind could be my bigger problem and bring down the whole thing down,,,,,

I am pretty confident it will hold well,,,,,now it is just a matter of adjusting the whole assembly,,,,,been now on my 3 rd day trying to set up,,,,and nothing yet,,,,,,

Cheers,,,

 

[Sasquatch04]

Here is my little problem,,,,,I just cannot get the arc,,,,,

I spent about 9 hours today and still nothing,,,,,,I played with elevation,declination , skewing LNBF,in and out,,,,,re checking the level of the pole,,,,Have tried the 22 KHz switch,,,and back with the disecq,then c-band direct to the receiver,,,both trying for C and Ku signals,,,,

no obstructions neither !!!!!

I am simply baffled,,,,,,,

I usually do not give up easy,,,I have set up stationary dishes,Elipticals, Toroidal T-55,, 33 "with stab 90 motor and my 4 footer with my stab 120 and never had as many trouble as I do now !!!!!!

And the weird thing is that I have been doing absolutely everything by the book,,,no cutting corners,,,,,,,,

My coax is good,my switches are good,,and I have a good signals from the LNBF both on c-band and Ku,,,,,,,,,

my Long at 71.19 and Lat at 46.9

my elevation is dead on at 46.9,,,,,and my declination dead on 36.1,,,all checked with my angle meter,,,

Today I simply started from zero again,,,with checking level of pole,then elevation,,then declination,,,,,,then true south at 197 degrees using my inclinometer,,(AF-1 survey tool),,,

Would appreciate yr input,,,,I am simply running out of ideas,,,,,

 

[Inno]

Do you happen to have an analog receiver there? I would seek out one of the very few available analog signals to start with just to make sure you are capable of receiving them. I find that in this digital satellite world sometimes it is next to impossible...........but once you find one satellite you are off and running, then you have a starting point. The analog ones are easier to find because you will get little visual cues on the TV screen when you are close.........and it's instant, no waiting for a signal meter to jump. Basically anything that isn't the standard "snow" on the screen can probably be tweaked into a picture. You will of course need a TV set out at your dish. I usually start with my elevation nuts loose so that the dish can be easily moved up and down and just move it east and west and up and down while watching the screen for anything that looks "different". Once you see something change, try to move the dish back to where it was and tweak it from there, locking down your elevation, fine tuning the skew etc. then look to see what you have and what satellite you are on. Having your analog receiver set on a channel that you know has an analog broadcast will help. Again they are getting fewer and farther between but there are still some there.

Sounds like you are definitely doing things by the book and you have enough experience, don't give up!

 

[turbosat]

I'll second Inno, I really can't say how much luck I'd have aiming a c-bander without a good old lnb, and an analog box to get started. It was so much easier in the olden days, lol. But there's still enough analog channels left on c-band to get you basically tracking, if you can hit 87 and 133 you should be able to get everything else to fall into place by adjusting the east/west. (provided you have the right elevation set). Set the declination once and leave it alone. Once you find some activity on your south satellite, or one close to it, start working away from it, in both directions, one satellite at a time. That's my best idea for a digital rec and an lnbf.