Roof top mounting

[smitty]

Im in 03906.I have a cape style home with a 12-2 pitch.Its actually a brand new roof, the home was a single story ranch we converted into a 2 story.its built with 2x10 rafters throughout.so its essentialy new construction.Most of the trees im looking to overcome are not on my property, otherwise they would be in my stove! According to dishpointer my dish elevation should be 18.2 degrees wich doesnt give me much to work with.

[Vitruvius]

18 degrees is pretty low. Yes, you will have to do the math, or take a broom stick with protractor and compass at that elevation...and see if you get the clear line of sight for that sat. With a motorized system you should get a bunch of other sats.

For a sloped roof, you should use a wall/roof bracket and not necessarily the tripod. If it were a flat roof you could use the cinderblock roof mount, but since it is sloped you should use the wall/roof bracket, universal wall bracket (1 5/8" Universal Roof / Wall Mount Dish). They usually come with large lag screws that you should try to hit at least two beams through the roof. If you are at the peak, you can hit a rafter and the ridge beam. You can screw right through the asphalt shingles and it should not create a water problem. You can put tabs of sealant or asphalt cement at the screws if you are concerned. If it is a 90cm dish you should be ok for your location in Maine. Spending time up on the roof aiming the dish could be a tiresome excercise, but very feasible especially if you have that cherry picker.

Good luck.

[smitty]

I was just wondering Jim-S, did you use any cement in your post instaltion? I was thinking of using a sauna tube around the post after I drive it down past the frost line.

[RFenergy]

Smitty,

Something else I was reminded of today...RE: putting it on a roof.
We just got two back to back snow storms. About a foot of wet
stuff, stuck to everything. I not only had to clean a hundred pounds
of snow off the 10' C band FG dish but it only took a little gob of sticky
snow at the feed of the 39" dish to kill it's signals. If it had been on
the roof I would have been out of luck.

When the trees start filling out in the spring I will loose 123W and
maybe 30W so I am thinking about a sailboat mast for the 39" dish.
I would add a positioner for elevation. I would be able to raise and
lower it as needed...getting it up 20'. I might even pick up 125W
this way. The elevation adjustment would let me tweek the inevitable
pointing drift.

Its a learning process, but this is a hobby isn't it? so thats fine.

keep at it, don't loose heart.

RFe

[Jim-S]

I was just wondering Jim-S, did you use any cement in your post instaltion? I was thinking of using a sauna tube around the post after I drive it down past the frost line.

I used a 2"x10' rigid conduit 3' (4' better) in the ground. All I did was dig the hole big enough to get at least 3-4 bags of concrete in it and brace it plum until the concrete is setup. You can use a sauna tube if you want but it's not necessary. I also put a chunk of concrete in the bottom of the hole to set the pipe on to keep it from sinking, I don't know if was necessary or not but gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. The key here is to keep it perfectly plum in all directions. You can use 2 1/2" see what your motor will accept.

[Vitruvius]

Oh yeah, one other thing to do before putting in the concrete. Very important. Drill a couple of holes in the steel post and screw in some bolts, or wrap a bunch of wire through the pole. Then pour your concrete, otherwise your post will spin with the wind. This has happened to many on this site.

No need for a sona tube if your earth is stable. I would only use a sona tube if you were in sand.

[Jim-S]

Oh yeah, one other thing to do before putting in the concrete. Very important. Drill a couple of holes in the steel post and screw in some bolts, or wrap a bunch of wire through the pole. Then pour your concrete, otherwise your post will spin with the wind. This has happened to many on this site.

No need for a sona tube if your earth is stable. I would only use a sona tube if you were in sand.

Ditto..............................

[smitty]

I drove a 10' post in about 4 feet.I think ill use it for now as is and in the spring set it in a sauna tube since im going to be setting a few for a small deck anyway once the ground thaws.Ill mount the dish on it today and see how things go, and keep you posted.

[shadetree]

Hi smitty,
You will need to drill thru your post and add a rebar or shaft to keep indexed when you add your sauna form.
If you are using a offset, you can quick check buy looking from behind bottom edge of dish up thru and above the top of LNB about a inch. LOL

[smitty]

Ive mounted the dish and seem to have a issue.Im trying to get amc 6 @ 72 deg and another that I tried is at 70 degrees west staronec2. I get signal on both of these around 88 in strength but I cant get any quality.Im not using a dual LNB setup, im moving the dish towards each ect. I do however have 2 lnbs That I can use. One is a universal the other is a standard and I adjusted for this via reciever wich is a sonic view 360 pvr.I am wondering if I have the right lnb type for the sats im tring to get.I have also tried adjusting sku ect. any thoughts? Im a little lost on what to do next.