Possible to put a dish too close to the ground?

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cracklincrotch

cracklincrotch

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Sep 28, 2007
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Halifax, Nova Scotia
Outside of physical restrictions (such as the dish itself hitting the ground) might one experience ground noise by putting a Ku dish too close to the ground?

I've got my motorized low enough that it's within about 4" off the ground when it's looking at G27 129W. Clear line of sight to everything I want. Everything looks like it's fine but I don't like the thought of missing out on a weak feed here and there. Not that I'd know I suppose.
 
Unless you mount the dish right above power lines (which may not be smart when drilling a hole) ;) I dont know of any issues.

I've mounted dishes close to the ground for people and havent heard any issues
 
I think from the truest technical standpoint the answer would have to be no, you can't mount a dish too low to the ground providing all the things already mentioned have been accounted for.
There was even a discussion in one thread about mounting a dish in a hole dug in the ground and I think the reason was to keep it out of sight. Come to think of it by having it closer to the ground you may eliminate certain types of terrestrial interference.
 
Generally, signals "picked up" by the LNB are reflected off the dish from the LNB side. Signals feeding through the dish would not be directed toward the LNB and would be very minimal. Besides, stray signals and unwanted signals are most often directed to earth ground to attenuate the "noise" and won't be sent back into the air through the back of the dish. Just another way of saying no, you shouldn't experience any problems from noise or other interference by locating the dish near, or even dug into, the ground. You may, however, experience attenuation from grass building up in the dish reflector from the mower dischage??.............
 
too low?

I have most of mine 5-6' off the ground, easier to work on, I can mow around them ok and the deer won't crash into them if they get spooked while eating nearby.
 
I have messed around and tried getting signals in and had the dish right on the ground and picked up a signal just fine just to see if it would come in at that spot.
 
I've seen houses with dishes all but sitting the ground. My only concern would be the snow and people walking by if you're in a populated area. I know in my backyard I would have the neighbor's cat curling up in the dish just as I was to watch Baseball -- or curling for that matter.
 
cracklincrotch said:
Outside of physical restrictions (such as the dish itself hitting the ground) might one experience ground noise by putting a Ku dish too close to the ground?

I've got my motorized low enough that it's within about 4" off the ground when it's looking at G27 129W. Clear line of sight to everything I want. Everything looks like it's fine but I don't like the thought of missing out on a weak feed here and there. Not that I'd know I suppose.
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Cracklin,

I don't think you will have any problems with TI (terrestrial interference) as long as you have mostly grass.

If you were to set it really low and your lot was all concrete, then you might get some radiation noise (TI) from the concrete as it will be much hotter than grass and dirt and more reflective as well.

Mowing and weedeating around the dish will be a problem. Snow around the dish will be a problem. Kids and critters and people stumbling over the dish could be a problem. Working on the dish or motor will be much less ergonomic.

Setting the motor (if you have a motorized system) or the dish clamps about shoulder height is optimum.

Radar
 
The motor is currently just below hip height. Haven't had any snow problems to date though it is possible to get enough to just about bury the dish with drifting. Have to use a weedeater to trim the grass because there's no way a mower is going to get under it. Well, if it's pointed south I suppose it would.

Like I said, I didn't know if it would be a problem, and didn't think it would be. I'm always afraid I'm missing something that I never knew I could have and wouldn't unless told. Maybe it's just confidence issues ;)
 
cracklincrotch said:
The motor is currently just below hip height. Haven't had any snow problems to date though it is possible to get enough to just about bury the dish with drifting. Have to use a weedeater to trim the grass because there's no way a mower is going to get under it. Well, if it's pointed south I suppose it would.

Like I said, I didn't know if it would be a problem, and didn't think it would be. I'm always afraid I'm missing something that I never knew I could have and wouldn't unless told. Maybe it's just confidence issues ;)
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Cracklin,

If you can put up with all the obvious mechanical problems and are OK with that, then you don't have to worry about signal level problems. You would have to have a massive parking lot and buildings out in front of the dish to even register a signal problem from TI. Because of the offset angle of the dish, it rejects these radiating interferences for the most part. Anything that could affect it would be negligible and probably go unnoticed by you.

Radar
 
Snow is the issue here, if its too low, I have to dig it out although this winter was the first time. Also, little children like to grab the lnb arm if they can reach it, makes for a great monkey bar:) Other than that I can't imagine you would have any problems.
 
starman345 said:
Snow is the issue here, if its too low, I have to dig it out although this winter was the first time. Also, little children like to grab the lnb arm if they can reach it, makes for a great monkey bar:) Other than that I can't imagine you would have any problems.
Click to expand...

Oh Starman,

That has to be swell! Kids using your dish for a jungle gym! LOL

I have a lot of whitetail deer here, they come awfully close to the dish, but have never bothered it. They just like to relax under the tree out front, about 50 feet away from the dish or eat the apples off the trees in the back yard. I don't bug them and they don't mess with my stuff, either. One buck wanted to marry my Kawasaki 4-wheeler once, but I think there was a mutual compatibility problem there. HA!

Radar
 
"One buck wanted to marry my Kawasaki 4-wheeler once, but I think there was a mutual compatibility problem there. HA!" I don't suppose you have video of that courtship ! ?
That would be a keeper !
:)
 
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