Channel Master/Laminas 1.8m project

Captain Jack said:
Sadly, it's not 76mm, it's 114.3mm (4.5 inch).

One thing I wanted was to have a "sleeve" for a 4.5 inch pole, so I could join two poles together to raise the height if needed, but not something I could find here :(
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You could try here
Circle Jerk welded pipe
You might find something you could use. If you cannot find it elsewhere may be worth a call to see if they have an off cut from a 120 or 125 you could use?

Edit. Ignore the link name, not my fault!
 
Sat Superstore do them..at a price!
 
Just checked the sleeve on the jumbo motor. It's basically a 5 inch pipe with a 6mm wall. Now, try finding this...
 
Managed to get a few hours to myself today.

Put the Jumbo 1224 motor back together greased up and attached side supports for the pole.
uploadfromtaptalk1459702303922.webp

The whole assembly is bloody heavy. At least 60kg worth of metal there.
 
I was talking about the whole thing but this is probably a gross underestimate. I was struggling to move it along the floor.
 
Digging for the concrete base has started. Not going too deep - the ground is quite soft, so need to compact it a bit. Will lay some wooden battens around to above the floor level (for that little bit of extra height) and fill it with concrete.

2016-04-06 10.59.42.webp

One question: do I need to put a damp proof membrane before pouring concrete in? Or would you not bother in this case?
 
Urgh. My back aches just looking at that photo of the hole in the ground.
 
Captain Jack said:
Digging for the concrete base has started. Not going too deep - the ground is quite soft, so need to compact it a bit. Will lay some wooden battens around to above the floor level (for that little bit of extra height) and fill it with concrete.

View attachment 92148

One question: do I need to put a damp proof membrane before pouring concrete in? Or would you not bother in this case?
Click to expand...


... when i dug out for the 1mtr cube for my 1.8 Alex i didn't bother, can't say iv'e noticed anything detremental over the last six years or so it's been there but willing to be corrected. I'm a tad concerned for you if you are not going down too deep with the concrete base .... knowing first hand what impact strong gusts can do to a 1.8 i would consider sinking a vertical central rsj in the concrete base into the ground to a depth of at least one metre or more prefered and possibly some re-bar in there ... just my opinion of course. Crack on.
 
What's the plan Alex, the NPRM is going to sit on (or be fixed to) a slab? From the photos you've put up so far the NPRM will need a lot of pavers on top of each other if it's only 2x2 slabs and if you are in soft ground you should be going quite deep with the base.

We take a battering up here from the SW gales and last winter with all the rain we ended up replacing the front fence. Not because it had broken up but all the posts that were held in with two bags of postmix had been blown over as the saturated ground couldn't hold them firm in the holes and that's on chalky soil. If it can do that with a 3ft high fence imagine the force a 1.8M dish is going to have.

Mine is held down with three M18 studs and each one is in about 450Kg of concrete which is about a 60cm cube. A single ground post under the dish would want a lot more than that.
 
Thanks, @John - all good points. My thinking behind the shallow grave, if you like, is that I don't have to dig too far :) Big hole = lots of concrete and lots of £s to fill it. I will probably have around 1 cubic metre of concrete there anyway (1.3m x 1.4m x 0.5m), so it'll be a pretty heavy thing to lift. Plus I'll have some paving slabs on top of the NPRM anyway.

Sticking rebars down is a pretty good idea regardless, so will investigate that too.

Paul, the plan was to have a concrete base/slab of around 50-60cm thick and about 1.3/1.4m length/width. The NPRM will then be bolted on each corner down to the slab itself and some slabs on top of that (for the miss's flower pots to cover up the monstrosity...). I remember your installation thread (this one?) and I did think about doing this as well but I would have liked the NPRM to distribute the weight across its base - not sure how sturdy it is in the middle to have that bit suspended in the air (if that makes sense?).

2016-04-03 15.36.57.webp
 
Let me express my personal opinion on this issue. Does not mean I want to make critics or whatever.
I think non-penetrating stands have pluses and minuses (as everything else). It is pretty easy to install them, easy to remove, relocate etc. But for ground installation main minuses are- too much stuff is above the ground and, in some cases not easy to cut the grass (my case) IMG_20160406_194322 (Large).webp And it is not so easy to make central pipe plumb.
I will be removing my ugly ground stand this summer and replacing it with something like this IMG_20160406_194335 (Large).webp . I already have it but need another one :rolleyes:
You can fill as much concrete in it's base and cover it with dirt. And, finally- central pole is perfectly adjustable and can be used for different diameters of the pipe.
 
I think the main thing for me is that it's a semi-permanent installation. These poles and mounts are very expensive and if I was to move house again(!) I would like to be able to take the whole assembly with me. The concrete base can be used for other things (my dad has bee hives in his garden on a similar one in his garden).

I do like your bolt/unbolt solution but until I get my welder and learn how to weld, it won't happen.
 
But what all mounts really miss - perfect azimuth adjustment. This is very important in case of installation of motorized system, when every 0,1* is important. :cool:
 
Definitely. The mount does provision for minor adjustments - the holes in the central section (the bit that the pole is welded onto) are actually slots, so I can move them a little. Also, with the new side supports being threaded, I am also able to make (very) small adjustments. I'll need to be extra careful when laying the concrete down to ensure it's as level as possible as well.
 
CJ, I meant that mounts miss fine adjustments which we can adjust very very slightly during tuning of the motor.
 
Oh you mean for the motor/mount itself... Yeah, that's certainly a pain. Especially when all the alignment is lost when you tighten up the bolts....
 
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