Pole mast

Discussions about pole mast types and structural support for dish installations.
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Moosehunter63
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Pole mast

Post by Moosehunter63 » Sat Feb 04, 2017 11:55 am

After reading how important it is to have mast vertical ( no tolerance ) and wind loads in our area and ground(clay)
I decided to go with a 4x4 square .025" wall, dig a 3 ft deep hole, 2 ft square at top, then angling down to 12" at bottom . I plan to push post 2 ft into ground( below bottom of 3 ft hole, and into parent soil) so 5 ft of post will be in edground. Then fill the tapered 3 ft deep hole with cement. I have welded a plate(3/4") on top of post. I took a second plate and welded a 2 ft piece of 4" heavy wall pipe to it, drilled 3- 5/8" holes, evenly around outer Dia of plate, about 2" in from outer edge, mating with drilled and tapped plate(5/8 nc) on 4x4 main post, used good STainless or grade 8 coated bolts and washers(rust preventative).
My idea is that we will get post as close to vertical as possible , then we can shim( if necessary) anywhere between the two plates to get the upper piece of pipe exactly vertical!
There will be 5ft of the 4x4 tube above ground, plus the 2ft upper section(7ft above ground)
Any comments or ideas??

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Re: Pole mast

Post by tek2000 » Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:16 pm

Wind is your biggest enemy. That being said, keep the above ground pole length to a minimum. This will minimize the moment forces that act at the base of the pole. Remember, the moment force is equivalent to the wind force exerted over the entire surface of the dish multiplied by the length of your pole above ground. Some people call it the torque force.

8' Dish = 4' pole above ground
10' Dish = 5' pole above ground
12' Dish = 6' pole above ground

If for whatever reason your pole above ground needs to be longer, you may want to reinforce it with tripod legs. A hollow pipe is not a perfectly rigid body and will bend a bit under high wind loads and cause a bit of signal degradation as the dish sways back and forth in the wind. Thus, a shorter pole and/or reinforced pole will increase your dish's maximum opertional wind speed. A good TVRO installation should keep the signal locked solid with winds up to 70km/h and gusts up to 90km/h.

To prevent your pole from rotating in the cement, weld a couple of metal fins at the base of the pole, otherwise, you may find that your azimuth settings are off a bit after every wind storm. :frown
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