Total newbie here

[gabshere]

the 6' dish isn't up yet, just got it- Sadoun's C-band motorized kit ...I just took it out of the box ...
I think I will go get 6" OD and weld a 3" at the top of it and if I later buy the 2.4meter SatPro polar mount one I linked to for $600, it uses 3" pole too http://www.satpro.tv/Prime-Focus-Dish-Pole-Mount.aspx


and if I get something free needing 6" pole, then I'm all set, or if I get a free dish needing 4 or 4.5" ... I'll borrow my neighbor's welder again.

I keep finding free or cheap 10 or 12 foot mesh dishes, but they are all mounted where I'd need a crane/ get on a roof to uninstall them to get them down(that's how they installed them here in Texas) (I'm alone and too old to do that to get free/cheap dishes my arm is too short) So ... that's why I'm looking at buying a new unassembled 2.4m for $600 if I need to


Example of what I keep seeing, but do not have the height/tools/ladders/resources to actually get
It won't fit on my Toyota...
http://waco.craigslist.org/for/3301356008.html

Thanks

this one actually wouldn't be all that hard to take down a sawsall cutting 2/3 of the way through ( on base backside ) will allow you to slowly fall it like a tree until you or another person can grab it. loading it might be another story if it was me i would bring a trailer and remove the buttonhook and lay it face down might have to build a small cradle to hold it. taking it apart is also an option just the less you take apart the less you have to put back together.

as for pole usually you count 1/2 the dish size plus about 4 ft below ground this allows you one at ground level . if you plan on mowing below it you would need additional footage so a 12 ft pole would allow a 8 ft dish to be off the ground about 4 ft.

 

[RPB]

Seems like everyone in Texas, (except one guy in Pasadena), mounted on tall poles http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/ele/3319344586.html don't think I need to, but getting free/cheap dishes is work lol

 

[SatelliteAV]

Most used dishes will be much better quality and performance than the dish you purchased or are considering. Not sure why you are planning multiple upgrades instead of just starting with quality and installing only once.

If it were me, I would place two ads in your local Craigslist. One to sell the current dish before assembling and another to find a quality dish.

Once you choose your quality used dish, then install the right sized pole and have a crane company pluck and place. Cost should be $300 - $400 to have the dish removed and installed on your pole.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[RPB]

The only reason I consider multiple upgrades is that before I knew better, I bought Sadoun's C band motorized kit, and that's what it contains, a 6' prime focus.

I'd have been thrilled to buy a kit with a 8'/10'/12'/15' mesh dish and MicroHD, but I didn't find any so ... that's what I got, until I find better.

A crane company ...
It's about 65 miles to a city, there is one grocery store to choose from there ...
I also want to install at my brother's house, 11 miles away, there is no road to it, unless you have a 4-wheel drive with a really high clearance, you can't get there from here, it's uphill with transmission scraper rocks, FedEx/UPS won't deliver there ...it's up a hill, but you can't even get there if it rains.
If I could locate an installer who could have just installed a 15' mesh dish and all for under a few grand so I could watch RetroTV network and MeTv, I'd have done that first, it would be the easy way and I'd go kayak fishing or to the shooting range instead <smile> (or get started building a carport and patio cover around back where I have the metal laid out to get started ...)

I'll be on my roof the next few days replacing an antenna and a rotor.
I'd have put up a 60' antenna tower instead of a 15' mast on my 15' roof too but that was only about $1,200 for two antennas ... except out in the country here, tough to find people to install the towers, pretty much solid rock ground here, sparsely populated and I'm fairly new to the area, the Radio Shack on the outskirts of the city is now a pharmacy with some electronic parts for sale.

I really need to hook up with the Ham club in a nearby city ... and maybe then I'll learn where to get stuff around here

 

[johann12]

Seems like everyone in Texas, (except one guy in Pasadena), mounted on tall poles http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/ele/3319344586.html don't think I need to, but getting free/cheap dishes is work lol

I don't understand why anyone would use a tall pole like that, unless there is absolutely no other way.
It just makes it hard to set it up, make adjustments and replace parts.

My dish is pointing over my house also, but I set it back about 25 feet and the pole is 7 foot above ground. That makes the bottom rim on my 10 foot dish to be 6 foot of the ground at my location with most the satellites I watch.
So the bottom rim of the dish is still pointing about 15-20 feet above the roof ridge of the house. And I will still clear my 100 foot trees that I have all around my house.

 

[johann12]

For my setup I have $260 total.
1 free 7 1/2 foot, 1 $50 10 foot, 1 receiver,mover and LNBF, concrete and post and RG6 cable.
I get hundreds of channels.
All my dishes came apart in 1/4 panels and I hauled them home on top of my escort station-wagon.

Remember bigger is better.
If you know someone with an bucket truck (phone company, tree removers/trimmers etc) or someone with an tractor and a frontloader/bucket on it, that would be easier to remove a used dish on a tall pole.