Question about wiring, and pole for C-Band dish

[bobvick]

I have a couple of questions for all of you, if you dont mind I would appreciate your input. The first is question about if this wiring will be alright when I install my C/Ku setup.
There are four solid copper RG-6 cables at my DirecTV pole mount dish. It was a Slimline 5 set up but has since been upgraded to a Slimline 3 with SWiM built in the LNB so just one wire is currently in use. When I run the cable from my C-Band dish, would it be ok to run it to this pole, and hook it up to a grounding block and grounding wire there, and use one of the existing cables that run into my house? Under the floor of my house, it will require me to put in one 3ghz barrell connector because the wire was cut and went into a multiswitch at one time. I tried to attach a diagram of how I have it set up, but I could not get it to upload.

My second question is about the height of the pole to mount the dish on. I have a 8' section of Schedule 40 3.5 OD aluminum. I wanted to get steel, but I could not find it easliy, so I am going to bury the aluminum pipe about 3' deep and then fill the pipe with concrete. A friend of mine measured his old mount where his C-Band dish used to be, it was a 10 footer and he said it was 57'' (4ft 9'') would I need to have my pole about 5' tall or would about 4.5' be alright? I have a 7.5'' Mesh SAMI dish that I am going to get to install. All of your feedback will be appreciated. I am sure that I will require much more help when I begin to get the dish set up. I will appreciate all of the help that you all can offer.

 

[toucan-man]

One of the 10' dishes I brought home was originally on a 4.5' pole, the lower rim was very close to the ground, but it was a joy to take down.

 

[FaT Air]

Can see no reason why the wiring plan you have shouldn't work.
4.5 ft pole should be about perfect for a 7.5. Moved all the way to one side, the bottom lip would end up about a foot off the ground. (May not be tall enough if you get snow drifts deeper than that under the dish.LoL)

 

[bobvick]

Thanks for your suggestions. I don't think I will have to worry too much about snowdrifts. We had the biggest snow since 1987 here in January and it was a little bit under 6"

 

[bobvick]

I have one more question. The dish that I am getting comes with a 18" Venture Mini-T. Should I be able to see most of the arc with this actuator on a 7.5' dish? Specifically do you think that it will get down to 137 west? That used to be my farthest west satellite on my old 10' dish, but I don't remember the actuator size ob it.

 

[stecle]

A three foot hole seems very shallow. I guess it depends on how big your base is. For a 10 foot mesh we go a minimum of 6 feet in the ground with a 8 inch auger. Keep in mind that in a dry year the soil may crack and some movement may occur if your base is too shallow.

Steve

 

[Beano_face]

I have one more question. The dish that I am getting comes with a 18" Venture Mini-T. Should I be able to see most of the arc with this actuator on a 7.5' dish? Specifically do you think that it will get down to 137 west? That used to be my farthest west satellite on my old 10' dish, but I don't remember the actuator size ob it.

my 24" actuator can get me from 72west to 139 west... not sure how far an 18" will span...

 

[Mikey11]

the wiring should be fine as long as it is rg6 cable which it should be....splices/barrel connectors are fine but keep in mind each splice does degrade the signal very slightly....your pole in my opinion should be at least 4 feet in the ground....i would say 4 feet as an absolute minimum....

 

[bobvick]

I have had a change of plan with the wiring. I am going to go with the cable that was made for the purpose, and go ahead and spring for some satellite ribbon cable. I have also moved where I am going to put my dish a little further out from where it was going to be so I will be sure and have a good clear line of sight. The cable run is going to be around 200 ft. Do you all think that I would need any kind of inline amp for that?

 

[Mikey11]

200 feet should be fine for rg6 as long as it is all one piece, do not make any connections at all....

 

[bobvick]

It will not have any splits in it, except for the grounding block, but other than that it will be one piece.

 

[Mikey11]

It will not have any splits in it, except for the grounding block, but other than that it will be one piece.

you will be fine then....also use good quality compression type cable ends

 

[markbone100]

For a post I have used an old T style clothes line post and the OD matched perfectly for the required size the dish takes. I think it was around 3". Forget how much its in the ground though, maybe 3ft. All of my wiring is direct burial RG6 but some of the Ku stuff is direct burial RG-11. (Thanks to the contractors that throw out spools with 200ft still on them). All have compression style fittings and weatherproof boots on them. All connection are in a weatherproof enclosure box (contractors throw them out)

 

[cracklincrotch]

I have experience using a sched 40 3.5" aluminum pole with a 7.5' bud I used to use. I would NEVER do that again. Even filled with concrete it was exceptionally flexible in the wind. The pole was 11' long, four feet down. It would deflect nearly 2 full inches in 60+ mph winds.

Steel is what you want.