How to keep pole level whilst concrete sets?

mapperuo

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Aug 16, 2012
Messages
1,061
Reaction score
1,129
Points
113
Age
32
Location
Fife, Scotland
My Satellite Setup
2x 1.8m Raven
1.5m Gibby
2x 1.2m Gibby
My Location
Fife, Scotland
Hiya,

Bought a 3 meter pole to concrete into the earth, I have a spirit level to check it's level but I question how I am to keep it from moving whilst the concrete sets? The pole is reasonably heavy.

Thanks
 

Archived-1

Persona non grata
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
7,570
Reaction score
8,590
Points
113
My Location
uk
prop it with bricks inside the hole before you concrete, then i would use the quick setting post mix, make sure to check for plumb both ways, ie if you check its plumb a 6 oclock you also need to check 9 or 3 oclock, just fine tune just before it sets solid 5/10 mins its gone off,

but dont fix the dish for at least 12 hours after,
 

saj1985

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2007
Messages
767
Reaction score
250
Points
63
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox 800HD SE, Dreambox 500S, Skybox F5S, 90cm Solid Dish, Tm2600 Motor, Inverto Black Ultra LNB! :)
My Location
Lost...
use postfix,
settles nice and quickly
 

wod

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
4,213
Reaction score
238
Points
63
My Satellite Setup
1m channel master, jaeger smr1224, Inverto black ultra twin, technomate tm-1500ci, broken receiver vantage x221ci, New additions Skybox F5s and technomate tm-5402 HD arriving soon.
My Location
yorkshire
Use a post level and use some rope tied to a fence or something to keep it upright ?
 

Huevos

Satellite Freak
Joined
Sep 11, 2008
Messages
6,036
Reaction score
1,273
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
57E to 58W, C-band and Ku, DVB-S2, 4:2:2 and blindscan.
My Location
38.5ºN, 0.5ºW
Simple answer is don't fix the pole directly in the concrete, make it adjustable.
 

RimaNTSS

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
6,079
Points
113
Age
58
My Satellite Setup
Some SAT-related hardware.
My Location
N-E from Riga
Yes, adjustable like this. Black part goes to concrete and pole itself is attached and leveled after.
 

Attachments

  • Pole1.JPG
    Pole1.JPG
    95.6 KB · Views: 206

aceb

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
1,537
Reaction score
841
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
Prof Tuner 7301 /
1.25m Gibertini + Inverto B.Ultra/C1W, Moteck H180, 68.5E-67W Ku/C-Band /
1.8m Precision PF + ESX241/Inverto Black Pro, 66E-63W Ku/C-band /
2.4m Fortec Star+Titanium C1W/Pride plate, 49E-58W
My Location
Sussex

Huevos

Satellite Freak
Joined
Sep 11, 2008
Messages
6,036
Reaction score
1,273
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
57E to 58W, C-band and Ku, DVB-S2, 4:2:2 and blindscan.
My Location
38.5ºN, 0.5ºW
Here is how I did it for my 1.5m.

P.S. all the dust underneath is from going past with the cultivator, and not due to concrete failure.
 

Attachments

  • IMAG0368.jpg
    IMAG0368.jpg
    35.7 KB · Views: 170

mapperuo

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Aug 16, 2012
Messages
1,061
Reaction score
1,129
Points
113
Age
32
Location
Fife, Scotland
My Satellite Setup
2x 1.8m Raven
1.5m Gibby
2x 1.2m Gibby
My Location
Fife, Scotland
Thanks for all the options. I really like the idea of the end result just being four bolts sticking out the concrete. Will have to take a think. If I go for that I'll have bought a 3 meter pipe for nothing! Bah. But then if I do try concrete the pole in, something I've never done, I can see me doing it wrong. :/ Id never be able to relax in those 12 hours from pouring to mounting the dish to see if it's level.
 

Captain Jack

Burnt out human
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
11,797
Reaction score
7,980
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See signature
My Location
North Somerset
I've concreted the pole before and it worked out OK. I just had a long piece of plank with a nail at the top holding it in place.
 

pgh13

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
1,688
Reaction score
414
Points
83
Age
72
My Satellite Setup
XTrend ET8000, Dr HD 15, PC/twinhan combination. 80cm dish. GBPVR with 2 DTTV cards +hauppauge Media MVP +Raspberry Pi running XBMC
My Location
Midlands UK
Can't you just get the missus to hold it til it sets? :-rofl2
 

RimaNTSS

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
6,079
Points
113
Age
58
My Satellite Setup
Some SAT-related hardware.
My Location
N-E from Riga
At the and of the day, it is not so necessary to get your primary pole so dead-plumb-vertical. Anyway on that pole you will mount antenna which has additional ways to have it vertical. So, basically it dos not matter how vertical is your pole you are cement in the ground. IMHO.
 

Huevos

Satellite Freak
Joined
Sep 11, 2008
Messages
6,036
Reaction score
1,273
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
57E to 58W, C-band and Ku, DVB-S2, 4:2:2 and blindscan.
My Location
38.5ºN, 0.5ºW
RimaNTSS said:
At the and of the day, it is not so necessary to get your primary pole so dead-plumb-vertical. Anyway on that pole you will mount antenna which has additional ways to have it vertical. So, basically it dos not matter how vertical is your pole you are cement in the ground. IMHO.
Possible to compensate a bit on a DiSEqC 1.2 setup, but not with USALS. Best thing is always make it adjustable or get it straight in the first place, not try to compensate later.
 

Piltdownpaul

No.1 Spike Milligan Fan
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
2,011
Reaction score
687
Points
113
Age
55
My Satellite Setup
Skybox F3,Icecrypt S3500HDCCI, Technomate TM3000D,TM5400Ci Super, Samsung HD HDD Freesat Box,60cm dish for freesat, TD88 dish on a Skybox F3 57E to 45W.
My Location
South Leicestershire (Fleckney)
Huevos said:
Here is how I did it for my 1.5m.

P.S. all the dust underneath is from going past with the cultivator, and not due to concrete failure.

Nice bit of engineering there, a novel way of getting it crack on. :-respekt
 

RimaNTSS

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
6,079
Points
113
Age
58
My Satellite Setup
Some SAT-related hardware.
My Location
N-E from Riga
Huevos said:
Possible to compensate a bit on a DiSEqC 1.2 setup, but not with USALS. Best thing is always make it adjustable or get it straight in the first place, not try to compensate later.
Not arguing here. I also prefer primary pole vertical, but in case it is not than almost all polarmounts have their own adjustment bolts (picture). For Simple offset antennas pole verticality does not really matter. For T-90 installation is also possible to tune it without perfect vertical pole. For USALS, I think, pretty easy to make small device - 1/2meter piece of pipe with 6 welded nuts.
 

Attachments

  • P1240075 (Large).JPG
    P1240075 (Large).JPG
    124.8 KB · Views: 100

Piltdownpaul

No.1 Spike Milligan Fan
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
2,011
Reaction score
687
Points
113
Age
55
My Satellite Setup
Skybox F3,Icecrypt S3500HDCCI, Technomate TM3000D,TM5400Ci Super, Samsung HD HDD Freesat Box,60cm dish for freesat, TD88 dish on a Skybox F3 57E to 45W.
My Location
South Leicestershire (Fleckney)
Rima, do you put a second nut on the adjusting bolts and tighten up to the captive ones welded to the pole or dont you need to?
 

RimaNTSS

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
6,079
Points
113
Age
58
My Satellite Setup
Some SAT-related hardware.
My Location
N-E from Riga
There are only 6 welded nuts and 6 bolts, no need for additional nuts.
 

Huevos

Satellite Freak
Joined
Sep 11, 2008
Messages
6,036
Reaction score
1,273
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
57E to 58W, C-band and Ku, DVB-S2, 4:2:2 and blindscan.
My Location
38.5ºN, 0.5ºW
Piltdownpaul said:
Rima, do you put a second nut on the adjusting bolts and tighten up to the captive ones welded to the pole or dont you need to?
You just tighten them up on the pole. They're a terrible mount because when you loosen them the dish loses alignment. Absolute nightmare to adjust.
 

Piltdownpaul

No.1 Spike Milligan Fan
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
2,011
Reaction score
687
Points
113
Age
55
My Satellite Setup
Skybox F3,Icecrypt S3500HDCCI, Technomate TM3000D,TM5400Ci Super, Samsung HD HDD Freesat Box,60cm dish for freesat, TD88 dish on a Skybox F3 57E to 45W.
My Location
South Leicestershire (Fleckney)
But some bolts could be kept where they were before dismantling if the bolts were locked by an nut against the welded one. Then you would only have to undo a few bolts to dismantle.
 

RimaNTSS

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
6,079
Points
113
Age
58
My Satellite Setup
Some SAT-related hardware.
My Location
N-E from Riga
Huevos said:
You just tighten them up on the pole. They're a terrible mount because when you loosen them the dish loses alignment. Absolute nightmare to adjust.
Yes, you are right, in case of finding true South and moving this around the pole you need to do all the adjustments of antenna again. To prevent that, I have special device, so with 6 bolts make device vertical and than move upper part very gently left or right.
 

Attachments

  • justabit.jpg
    justabit.jpg
    127.5 KB · Views: 116
Top