I want to build a 5m high tower in my garden to hold a 1m diameter satellite dish.
One option is to build the tower using scaffolding, but does anyone have a better idea? I have though of the top of an old electricity pylon but they are not easy to find!
Michael Chare.
Find a farmer with an old wind pump and offer to dismantle and take away. The wind pump towers around Worcs have a gantry at the top as well.
HTH
Dave
Much more expensive, but the Versatower is apparently popular with radio hams (although I've never met one yet that didn't make their own cheaper alternative). Its telescopic and tilting, so you can fiddle with your dish at ground level.
Quick google reveals
One has to ask why ?...
Also, would you not need planning consent, 5 meters is quite tall after all.
Do you really think 5m nearer the satellite is going to make much difference? ;-)
I would imagine you'll need planning permission for starters.
First of all, you will need to apply for planning permission.
What you need is a section of aluminium alloy or galvanised steel lattice tower. You can buy them new, but can also be found second-hand as surplus lighting towers, CCTV towers, that sort of thing - often extremely cheaply, especially if they are slightly damaged. Radio amateurs generally prefer more expensive multi-section telescopic versions, where damage can be a real issue, but in the case of a single section it's not so important as it doesn't have to fit over or inside another section. For such a short length (5m), you could just set it (or anchor-bolt it) directly in concrete and not bother about having it tiltable, which all adds to the cost as you need a proper base and a winch. Being of lattice construction, it is easy to climb, unless you're a big scaredy-cat like me!
If you do source a steel one, do be aware that it will be pretty heavy and will need a very robust estate-car roof rack to carry it. I have carried 2 x
20ft sections (middle and top sections of a telescopic tower) together on such a rack, but I was really overloading it and I must have been mad! A single 5m section should be ok, but maybe a bit much for a saloon or hatchback with roof bars.Might be worth giving Anchor Surplus a ring to see if they've got anything...
So that the dish can 'see' over the trees which surround my property.
Quite possibly. One advantage of the scaffoldling approach is that I could argue that the structure is temporary, and if I could not get retrospective approval I could if necessary sell the scaffolding. I live in an area where there is no adequate terrestrial digital tv signal.
Michael Chare
Yes, The dish diameter is too large also - 90cm is the maximum allowed without planning permission.
Dave
A common misunderstanding is that just because a structure is "temporary" that there is some relaxation in the rules regarding planning approval. After 28 days (Occasionally 14) you still need full planning approval. If it is not visible from outside you boundary and nobody complains then you may get away with it.
I'm sure you know what you want and will get fed up of people telling you 'you don't want to do that you want to do this', but 5m isn't very high. I have a 1.2m dish on the side of my house just below the gutter and that puts it at around 5m, and it could go higher. I've seen 1m dishes attached to chimneys.
If you wanted to go the 5m tower route, then how about a single length of scaffolding rooted in a concrete block? And if it sways around then
3 or 4 cables to steady it. Or a scaffolding pole strapped to the side of the house extending above the gutter line as required?MJ
Is there any reason for having a 5M tower? You don't normally have to mount a dish so high up. As long as you have line of sight to the satellite you can mount it on the ground in the garden? Also, if its low down in the garden you might be able to get away with a bigger dish.
============== A telegraph pole would probably do the job. They've worked successfully for nearly a century for telephone cables and probably won't sway about very much if well anchored in the ground.
Cic.
Have you thought of an ex leccy or phone pole - fairly cheap in many reclamation yards. Bit more aesthetic than towers.
Pete
Totally clueless !...
But most don't have a 1 meter 'sail' mounted on them !
Also, most SH poles have been removed due to not being fit for the purpose they were there to do, have you any idea the damage a falling pole will do or the cost of a new pole ?...
Or even a street lamppost. Around here the LA are replacing every lamp in the city (well, a contractor is doing the work), and numerous perfectly serviceable posts are no doubt being scrapped. For rigidity you'd probably do better with a fairly stout post, such as those found on main roads.
I assume you have done the maths and worked out the height/distance based on where the dish is actually focused rather than where it *looks* like it's focused?
Must be very tall trees or a fairly short distance to them if gutter height on a *short* pole is insufficient to clear them.
Lee
If someone came bashing on my door asking to dismantle my wind pump that took me two years to build, I don't think that would like the answer.
Not much!
==================== Having recently cut down two 25 foot trees in my back garden using only axe and handsaw I think that I have quite a good idea of how large tree trunks behave.
The telegraph pole outside my house is about 28 feet tall which is nearly double the size required by the OP and it's about 9" diameter for most of its length. That size of post, provided that it is well anchored is unlikely to be seriously affected by a puny 1 metre dish since its original foliage would have been far greater.
Consider also that sailing ships used masts of far greater height (up to 80 feet or more) without being unduly prone to wind damage. A reclaimed pole of the height required by the OP would probably be very satisfactory in all but the most extreme wind conditions and any other structure (suitable for a domestic environment) would be no more secure in such conditions.
As far as cost is concerned, the OP made no mention of it and so presumably is able to afford what he needs.
What was your suggestion - if any?
Cic.
And some poles have been replaced simply because they were not tall enough. BT moved to a higher 'standard heaight' a while ago after a fatality due to cales being caught by a vehicle.
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