Getting ready to install a 1.2 M dish at my place in Wisconsin. Where should I look for pipe? Thinking of going with 2 1/2" (2.88" OD) x 7' or 8'. The pole will be used with a Stab 120HH. Need to get a pole in the ground before the 'big freeze'.
Places to buy schedule 40 steel pipe?
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Plumbing supply houses like Columbia Pipe & Supply or Ferguson (both appear to have stores all over Wisconsin) are an excellent choice for pipe but you may have to buy either a 20' or 21' length.
Depending on what kind of winds you get, you might consider schedule 80 for the extra strength and, perhaps more importantly, rigidity. The OD for is the same for all pipe schedules.
Depending on what kind of winds you get, you might consider schedule 80 for the extra strength and, perhaps more importantly, rigidity. The OD for is the same for all pipe schedules.
Thanks for the info. Picked up a 10' piece at an electrical parts distributor. ($85.00) Now to cut off 2' and dig the hole. Can't imagine this pipe bending with 'only' a 1.2M dish on it. The dish will be shielded from the prevailing winds by the side of the house.
Hurricane alley here. One thing you can do is fill the pole with cement once it’s in the ground. I was having a lot of problems with my motorized KU dish so when I put a new pole for it I put it twice as deep as before, twice as big around the hole, three times as much cement (4x 80lb bags) and I put a length of fence top rail down the middle of the pole then packed both of them solid with more cement. There is NO WAY that pole will ever bend and it will take a flippin crane to pull it out of the ground. That’s what I’m going to doing to all the new poles at my new house I’m moving to.
It's a nice feeling doing it RIGHT the first time, isn't it? Sure saves a lot of time and heartache later...
Cement is CHEAP, it's easy to dig the hole a little deeper, and a little larger the first time, and you'll never have to worry later that your extra $10~ worth of cement was wasted for getting some extra bags of it.
Right.. Because I’ve had to dig up several of them over the years. Almost all of the poles in the ground now are not deep enough and if it goes too long without a good rain, they get loose and the dishes ‘droop’ and I lose signal or have break up issues. So I have to put a sprinkler on a timer to ‘water the dishes’ every day. The ground stays damp and the poles are then good and solid and I have no problems. Several years ago we had an extreme drought and ALL of them drooped by INCHES... That was when I was first getting started on this and it drove me insane trying to figure out what was wrong. When I finally did figure it out I tried driving stakes in the ground to keep them from being loose but that didn’t work for diddly.
After years of fighting this problem I finally learned that when planting new dish poles you’re much better off to OVER DO IT by as much as you can afford to. I will not be having this problem when I move.
My buds, are going six feet in the ground. My big 1.2m dishes are going 4 feet in. Everything else is going a minimum of 3 feet but most likely 4 feet. Small dishes will get 4 sacks of cement. The BUD’s, I haven’t figured it out yet but it will be LOTS. Probably 1,000lbs of cement on each of them. EVERY POLE will have a hole drilled in it half way down the buried length and I’m inserting metal rods to prevent the poles from spinning in the cement. Not to mention, every pole packed with cement as mentioned previously.
Oh, and don’t be a doofus by pouring dry cement in the hole then pouring water in. That’s rubbish. Mix it in a wheel barrow till it’s like peanut butter. If I can do it you guys can. And I’m disabled!
They will be very, very permanent.
if you fill a pole with concrete, make sure you mix it good before putting it in the pole.
years ago i did a service call on a direcway satellite internet system where the original installer filled the pole with dry concrete and just poured water in with it.
the owner of the house said it just broke, but they might have hit it with a lawnmower or something.
but anyway, it snapped a few inches above the ground,
it had a spot about 6" long that was dry concrete that had never set up and it had broken right there.
I also put a bag of gravel at the bottom of the BELL shaped hole, and put a leveled concrete patio paver on the middle top of the gravel.
The gravel helps with drainage for ground water, and the paver keeps the pole from sinking (pole sits on top of the paver) before the cement sets up and gets hard. Then again, our soil up here is sandy-loam (I can dig a 4ft deep hole in 10 minutes with a post hole digger) which makes it quite easy for the pole to sink if not properly supported before the cement gets hard.
The gravel helps with drainage for ground water, and the paver keeps the pole from sinking (pole sits on top of the paver) before the cement sets up and gets hard. Then again, our soil up here is sandy-loam (I can dig a 4ft deep hole in 10 minutes with a post hole digger) which makes it quite easy for the pole to sink if not properly supported before the cement gets hard.
Lots of great tips from everyone! Thank you. Paver on the bottom - good idea. Bought the bolts to keep the pole from rotating. Will wait to cut the pole until after I dig the hole. We'll see how far down I can go (4' at least) and take it from there. Post hole digger rental already lined up.
EDIT: I was outside counting the siding boards on my next door neighbors house to determine the height. Where I want the dish will require a maximum height of 35' to 'look' S.W. Turns out their house is only 22' tall. No problem - but it's going to look like the dish is pointed at the side their house when on 124W due to the feed offset. Neighbors will probably get a laugh about that. The neighbors pulled into the driveway while I was counting. Told them I was putting up a satellite dish and that they MAY have to move their house to the south a few feet. Told them we can talk about that later. Nervous laughter...
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Oh believe me, I know.. I learned how to do it RIGHT. You mix approximately one gallon of water to an 80lb sack of cement. You can add more but you can’t take it out once you make it too watery.
Just add in small amounts, a little at a time until it’s just right. It should be the consistency of peanut butter and it can not have any dry lumps in it. If you make it too watery that’s just as bad as pouring water on the dry powder down in the hole like lazy people do.
Youtube is my friend when it’s time to learn a new skill. (Plus my best friend, her husband is great big DIY kinda guy who loves to give advice on stuff.)
The paver also helps to keep the dirt from clogging the pipe. If dirt clogs the pipe, and you don't fill the pipe with cement, then it will fill with rain water. Over time the rain water will NOT drain, and this will cause the pole to RUST from the inside out underground! I have seen many of people with Rohn 25G radio towers with TV antennas on them starting to rust just above ground level. This is due to no gravel at the bottom of the hole at a minimum, or a large paver at the bottom of the hole to keep the tower out of the dirt for the water to drain.
If installing a tower, you should consult NFPA 70 (NEC) and look for tower grounding. I personally would ground all my dish poles for that matter even if they are not on a tower.
Noticed that the pipe I purchased is coated with oil to prevent rust. I'm going to clean the pipe with lacquer thinner before setting it in cement. It's funny contemplating digging a 4' hole for this pipe. My 10' dish in Nevada has a hole no more than 2' deep (and 2' wide). But it is set in almost solid rock and the pole is still plumb after 15 years.
The poles my dad bought me for my BUDs were like that, covered in oil. He used some sort of thinner to remove the oil then he painted them with some sort of special paint that converts rust to something else, I dunno, then another kind of special paint on top of that. He told me that it will take 100 years for that pole to rust.
Another problem. So, I'm out in the backyard digging the hole and just realized something. An investment group is renovating a house across the street and 1 door over from me. They're going to have to get an occupancy permit when the rehab is done. That means CODE RED building inspector in the area! The satellite pole will be visible from that house if you are paying close attention. Think I'll put a trash can over the pole once it's set and wait this out. Seriously, just not sure a 1.2 M dish is legal. No HMO here, just local building codes. I've read all the local building code PDF's and still can't figure it out. Maybe just paint the pole 'grass green' and hope is blends in."It's going to be a bird feeder sir."
Edit: Pole is now in the basement getting a coat of John Deere green. Since I haven't ordered the dish yet, I may go with a 39". A 39" is legal here for sure. Or, maybe get the 1.2M and if cited, replace the 1.2 M with a 39". I put the pole in the hole to see how it looked. No need to cut the pole. It's almost too short for a 1.2M !
Got the Notre Dame game going on the OTA DVR. Time for football!
Edit: Pole is now in the basement getting a coat of John Deere green. Since I haven't ordered the dish yet, I may go with a 39". A 39" is legal here for sure. Or, maybe get the 1.2M and if cited, replace the 1.2 M with a 39". I put the pole in the hole to see how it looked. No need to cut the pole. It's almost too short for a 1.2M !
Got the Notre Dame game going on the OTA DVR. Time for football!
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