Help! Fencing compainies say pipe O.D. is 1 7/8 not 2"!?

[nowandthen]

My install is scheduled for next Friday, March 2nd. I need to get a pole installed so they don't make me attach the dish to my roof. I called two different chain link fence supply companies and both told me the pipe is 1 7/8 not 2". Is 1 7/8" really what people are getting?

I'm in San Jose, CA so if anyone from the bay area has a source for 2" pipe please let me know.

Also the fence companies told me that I can get 2" O.D. pipe from a plumbing supply company. Anyone know if this is true?

Thanks.

[HDTVsportsfan]

I got mine from Home Depot.

[nowandthen]

I got mine from Home Depot.

Really? I've read a number of posts that claimed Home Depot and Lowes did not carry 2" pipe so I never checked.

I'll grab a tape measure and check Home Depot at noon.

Thanks HDTVsportsfan!

[HDTVsportsfan]

Maybe hit there web site and check first. But they do have a fencing section. Of course they also have a conduit section. I actually ended up using pipe I got from a commercial sprinkler installation company. Kind of a long story why. I sleeved it so I could raise it as my neighbors tree grows. ANyway. Good Luck.

[veryoldschool]

My install is scheduled for next Friday, March 2nd. I need to get a pole installed so they don't make me attach the dish to my roof. I called two different chain link fence supply companies and both told me the pipe is 1 7/8 not 2". Is 1 7/8" really what people are getting?
I'm in San Jose, CA so if anyone from the bay area has a source for 2" pipe please let me know.
Also the fence companies told me that I can get 2" O.D. pipe from a plumbing supply company. Anyone know if this is true?
Thanks.
I think your fencing company was "trying to help" but poorly. The old dish uses 1-5/8 pipe, which they miss "remembered" as 1-7/8.
When I when to Nevada County Fencing... I got 2" & could pick thin or thick wall up to 24'. FWIW

[Todd Humphrey]

Contact a LOCAL dealer and ask them to order a 2" post for you. WildBlue satellite internet system also use a 2" pipe. Any decent satellite dealer or installer knows where to get 2" poles from distributors.

[nowandthen]

I think your fencing company was "trying to help" but poorly. The old dish uses 1-5/8 pipe, which they miss "remembered" as 1-7/8.
When I when to Nevada County Fencing... I got 2" & could pick thin or thick wall up to 24'. FWIW

I didn't tell them what it was for. I just asked for 2" OD. They said they had 1 7/8" not 2".

I'll call around some more. I need to get the pole up before next friday.

[Herdfan]

Really? I've read a number of posts that claimed Home Depot and Lowes did not carry 2" pipe so I never checked.

I'll grab a tape measure and check Home Depot at noon.

Most carry only the 1 5/8" and 2 3/8" posts. Any good fencing company will have 2" and may even cut you only the length you need. Mine did.

Worst case you can get it from Hoover Fence: http://www.hooverfence.com/catalog/cpage22.htm

Get Schedule 40, not 20.

[mdavej]

My install is scheduled for next Friday, March 2nd. I need to get a pole installed so they don't make me attach the dish to my roof.

My local installer said they don't attach the dishes to your house any more, if they can help it. He showed up with a pole, dug the hole, set it in concrete and mounted the dish, all at no extra charge. Seems to be standard procedure in my area anyway (east coast). It may be worth just calling and asking your local installer what they normally provide.

[bonscott87]

Take a tape measure and measure that 1 7/8th. I say that because if it's 1 7/8th on the *inside* it may very well be 2" on the *outside* and as I found out the hard way anything larger then 2" on the outside is too big.
I went to Lowes and got a 2 inch PVC pipe to fit over my 1 5/8th. Only problem was it was 2" as measured on the inside. It was over 2" on the outside and the dish would not fit over it.
So I went back and got the next size down which was just under 2" on the outside. Couple wraps of duct tape and it's 2" and the dish fits on it perfectly. ;)

Fense posts might be measured differently but at least with PVC and plumming it seems the widths are measured from the inside.

[Ravens96]

My local installer said they don't attach the dishes to your house any more, if they can help it. He showed up with a pole, dug the hole, set it in concrete and mounted the dish, all at no extra charge. Seems to be standard procedure in my area anyway (east coast). It may be worth just calling and asking your local installer what they normally provide.

My installer (Ironwood) also provided the pole, dug a 36" deep hole and set in concrete. The installer indicated to me that mounting on a roof would be a last resort. I suggest calling the installer to verify.

[bonscott87]

My installer (Ironwood) also provided the pole, dug a 36" deep hole and set in concrete. The installer indicated to me that mounting on a roof would be a last resort. I suggest calling the installer to verify.

Same thing here in that I already had a pole but it was too small. He was going to go get his pole digging stuff (no extra charge to put in a pole) but I convinced him to just make do and I'd fix it myself later. I wasn't about to have him leave without the dish installed.

[veryoldschool]

Fense posts might be measured differently but at least with PVC and plumbing it seems the widths are measured from the inside.
Pipe is ID but fencing is labeled OD on it. FWIW

[pcates]

I used the 1.5" I.D. Conduit from Home Depot or Lowes. The O.D. is a little shy but I wrapped a piece of flashing around it and it tightened up ok. The conduit has a thicker wall than the fence posts I looked at. You can also look at the 1.5" Water pipe.

[veryoldschool]

I used the 1.5" I.D. Conduit from Home Depot or Lowes. The O.D. is a little shy but I wrapped a piece of flashing around it and it tightened up ok. The conduit has a thicker wall than the fence posts I looked at. You can also look at the 1.5" Water pipe.
Helpful, but you ain't seen thick wall fence posts.

[JeffBowser]

Hell, why not just get a 20 foot 2" solid copper ground rod, and mount to that. Solve your flex AND grounding in one shot :lol: Plus, it will turn a lovely shade of green in a few seasons.....

[BobV]

You need 1.5" ID ridged pipe.
The pipe the fence company is talking about is 1.5" ID thin wall (EMT) pipe.

[BobV]

Hell, why not just get a 20 foot 2" solid copper ground rod, and mount to that. Solve your flex AND grounding in one shot :lol: Plus, it will turn a lovely shade of green in a few seasons.....

WOW! That would probally cost around $1000 bucks for that hook up!!:money: :money: :money: :money:

[JeffBowser]

Yeah, for real. Heck, why not gold-plate it, too, while we are at it.

[veryoldschool]

Yeah, for real. Heck, why not gold-plate it, too, while we are at it.
I prefer platinum myself.

[nowandthen]

My local installer said they don't attach the dishes to your house any more, if they can help it. He showed up with a pole, dug the hole, set it in concrete and mounted the dish, all at no extra charge. Seems to be standard procedure in my area anyway (east coast). It may be worth just calling and asking your local installer what they normally provide.

My house is a two story (really 2 1/2) Victorian. The eaves are at about 26' off the ground. So a post in the ground will not work. I don't want and can't have the dish on the front of the house, for esthetics and trees are in the way. My only clear sky location is off the back corner of the house. The dish has to face toward the front of the house. Fortunately I have a near flat roof back porch that you can put a step ladder on to reach the dish.

My roof overhang is about 18" (guesstimate) so I'm coming up blanck on how to attach to the corner of the house and clear the overhang. I custom made a pipe for my 3LNB but everyone says this disk is bigger and heavier, so I don't know that I could fashion something that looks decent and still be strong enough.

A friend of mine has some 1 15/16" OD stainless steal pipe. My plan is to drill a hole in the roof and connect the pipe to the attic floor and to the roof rafters. Then flash the pipe. It's the only way I can think of to make a decent looking and very strong installation. I don't want it nailed/screwed directly to the roof. Plus my method allows for reroofing without removing the dish.

[bonscott87]

My house is a two story (really 2 1/2) Victorian. The eaves are at about 26' off the ground. So a post in the ground will not work.

Why would your eaves have anything to do with a pole mount on the ground? Simply bury the cable and have it go into your basement (unless you don't have a basement).

[JeffBowser]

If you read his post in its entirety, you would see that he says the house itself blocks the view, due it its height, and he does not want a pole in the front lawn.

[nowandthen]

Why would your eaves have anything to do with a pole mount on the ground? Simply bury the cable and have it go into your basement (unless you don't have a basement).

Well if the pole were tall enough and located back from the house far enough I guess it could work. The eaves are at 26' the peak of the house is about 40'. My roof pitch is 12/12 (45 degrees). Local installer says sats are 47 degrees so if I can get above the eaves I'm in good shape. :) Remember, my dish has to go in the back of the house due to trees out front. The satellites are on the front side of the house (so to speak). ;)

I do have a way to run wires into the basement. I will your idea some thought. I like it better than mouting a pole through my roof. The only question is how far back from the house must the pole be. It may look strange out there all by itself.:)

[nowandthen]

If you read his post in its entirety, you would see that he says the house itself blocks the view, due it its height, and he does not want a pole in the front lawn.

Thanks Jeff, I was composing and didn't see your response. I need to learn to be less "wordy". :lol:

[Groundhog45]

Well if the pole were tall enough and located back from the house far enough I guess it could work. The eaves are at 26' the peak of the house is about 40'. My roof pitch is 12/12 (45 degrees). Local installer says sats are 47 degrees so if I can get above the eaves I'm in good shape. :) Remember, my dish has to go in the back of the house due to trees out front. The satellites are on the front side of the house (so to speak). ;)

I do have a way to run wires into the basement. I will your idea some thought. I like it better than mouting a pole through my roof. The only question is how far back from the house must the pole be. It may look strange out there all by itself.:)

Looks like if the roof pitch is 12/12, you would need to be about 26 feet back from the house to get a clear view. If you have the room, that's not all that long a cable run to the house. Need a fairly deep back yard, however.

GH

[JeffBowser]

My dish is on a pole in my backyard, about 25 feet or so back from my back window, but my cable run is 125 feet due to the need to bury the line at an angle, loops for ground, loops for dish maintenance, and the loooong run back to the distrib point up in my attic. That distance to the pole from the back of teh house can be deceptively short in consideration.....

[bpayne]

My install is scheduled for next Friday, March 2nd. I need to get a pole installed so they don't make me attach the dish to my roof. I called two different chain link fence supply companies and both told me the pipe is 1 7/8 not 2". Is 1 7/8" really what people are getting?

I'm in San Jose, CA so if anyone from the bay area has a source for 2" pipe please let me know.

Also the fence companies told me that I can get 2" O.D. pipe from a plumbing supply company. Anyone know if this is true?

Thanks.


Go to any muffler shop. They have plenty of 2" OD piping there. A 6' section should set you back only $10-$15.

[bonscott87]

Well if the pole were tall enough and located back from the house far enough I guess it could work. The eaves are at 26' the peak of the house is about 40'. My roof pitch is 12/12 (45 degrees). Local installer says sats are 47 degrees so if I can get above the eaves I'm in good shape. :) Remember, my dish has to go in the back of the house due to trees out front. The satellites are on the front side of the house (so to speak). ;)

I do have a way to run wires into the basement. I will your idea some thought. I like it better than mouting a pole through my roof. The only question is how far back from the house must the pole be. It may look strange out there all by itself.:)

This is my setup. My front yard faces south and has a couple trees in it. So my dish is on a pole about 30 feet north of the house in the backyard and points up over the house and the trees no problem. It is about 5-6 feet high.

Take an empty paper towel tube. Go stand where you want to put the dish up in your yard. Turn yourself to the correct degrees for 101 sat. Look through the tube at the angle you need. See clear sky? Then you're all set. :D

And I built my wife a large flower box around the pole so she has flowers and bushes surrounding the dish. Looks pretty cool if you ask me.

When you were talking about the eaves all I could think of is that you wanted your cables to go in the house through the eaves. ;)

EDIT: Here is a pick from last spring.

[JeffBowser]

I'd be wary of muffler pipe - it's soft, made for bending....

jb

Go to any muffler shop. They have plenty of 2" OD piping there. A 6' section should set you back only $10-$15.

[nowandthen]

I'm having second toughts on drilling a hole in my roof to out the 2" pole through. I like Directv but maybe not that much! :lol: Actually the main problem is that by the time I locate the pole so it has enough distance between the attic floor and roof for adequate support, it will be too far up the roof. I know the Directv tech will not even attempt to install the dish (12/12 roof!).

I'm trying to design a mount that I can bolt to the side of the house and/or under the eave to which I can mount the stock mounting bracket and pole. This will probably be the cleanest solution. This will locate the dish within easy reach with a 10" step ladder on the very solid back porch roof. I don't care if the support braces are monted to the roof, I just don't want the dish on the roof (for re-roofing reasons). And my wires are already in the attic.

I appreciate all the suggestions from all of you. It really helps to sound things out and get other suggestions. I'll let you know how it goes.

[JeffBowser]

In my opinion, all you really need is to catch some framing, enough for 2 of 4 bolts, and the other 2 bolts it is enough to catch plywood, for the main weight bearing load. The tripod legs can catch anything solid, to stabilize. Maybe you will get lucky with a good Direc installer, and he will have some good ideas......

[veryoldschool]

In my opinion, all you really need is to catch some framing, enough for 2 of 4 bolts, and the other 2 bolts it is enough to catch plywood, for the main weight bearing load. The tripod legs can catch anything solid, to stabilize. Maybe you will get lucky with a good Direc installer, and he will have some good ideas......
The "standard" 5LNB dish will mount to the side wall of a house. YES you do need to bolt it into the framing [2x4] and not "just" to the siding [as you can with the 3LNB]. I agree with you [Jeff] that two good lag bolts are enough for the other to not to be into framing.
D* own training video for this system shows a side mount. If the siding was stucco, then no, but good contact into a 2x4 yes.

[Ext 721]

Well if the pole were tall enough and located back from the house far enough I guess it could work. The eaves are at 26' the peak of the house is about 40'. My roof pitch is 12/12 (45 degrees). Local installer says sats are 47 degrees so if I can get above the eaves I'm in good shape. :) Remember, my dish has to go in the back of the house due to trees out front. The satellites are on the front side of the house (so to speak). ;)

I do have a way to run wires into the basement. I will your idea some thought. I like it better than mouting a pole through my roof. The only question is how far back from the house must the pole be. It may look strange out there all by itself.:)

Height of the peak of the roof....the pole should be exactly as far away from the peak as the peak is high (or further)....given the 47 degree angle! If it were a 30 degree angle, it would have to be twice as far back.

(you can subtract the height of the pole from the height of the roof, because you still have a 2 degree window)

[Todd Humphrey]

There is a simple thing you should do BEFORE you put a post in the ground. Take a standard 18" dish on a tripod or secured to a large block of wood with the standard J-pole mount, and find the satellites. You can move the dish around easily and determine exactly where they are at.
Any decent installer can use a compass and inclonometer to do the same thing, so I will leave it up to you to determine if your installer was good.
Even after 25+ years I use this tripod method if I need to thread a shot between trees. Compasses are easily moved 5+ degrees by large bodies of water (rivers, lakes, ect..) and some rocky ground.

[Todd Humphrey]

YES you do need to bolt it into the framing [2x4] and not "just" to the siding [as you can with the 3LNB].

You should hit framing when installing ANY satellite dish. How many installers are going to remove one dish to install a new, larger dish, and use the same base mount holes? Answer: About 80%

When the installation is done correct everytime, further changes do not result in the customers home having several sets of mounting holes on the home.

[veryoldschool]

You should hit framing when installing ANY satellite dish. How many installers are going to remove one dish to install a new, larger dish, and use the same base mount holes? Answer: About 80%

When the installation is done correct every time, further changes do not result in the customers home having several sets of mounting holes on the home.
And can you teach them all to do the same job you always do please....life would be so much better if you could. :)

[NFLnut]

Home Depot, and I would assume Lowes, sell the 2" pipe in the ELECTRICAL department. You have been looking in the fencing department I would guess?

[steelhorse]

One thing to remember, pipe is sold by inside dimensions, tubing is sold outside dimensions. I don't know about electrical conduit.

[lwilli201]

I got my 2 inch OD pipe at a local muffler shop.

[veryoldschool]

I got my 2 inch OD pipe at a local muffler shop.
Crappy tubing for a dish mount.... rusts, bends easily...:)

[lwilli201]

I'd be wary of muffler pipe - it's soft, made for bending....

jb

Steady as can be. No problems at all. Conduit can also be bent. No rust. If it can hold up under a car in extreme heat, cold, salt, chemicals and other stuff on the road for many years, I think it will hold up just fine. I have had heavy galvanized pipe that has had rust on it.

[armophob]

My house is a two story (really 2 1/2) Victorian. The eaves are at about 26' off the ground. So a post in the ground will not work. I don't want and can't have the dish on the front of the house, for esthetics and trees are in the way. My only clear sky location is off the back corner of the house. The dish has to face toward the front of the house. Fortunately I have a near flat roof back porch that you can put a step ladder on to reach the dish.


I ran into the same issue. I had a very nice installer give me an extra 45. Let me see if I can post a pic correctly here.....
Nope I can't. I can send you 2 pics PM if you want.

[nowandthen]

I'd like to thank everyone for all their suggestions. In the end, a friend of mine built a completely custom mount that attaches to the house exactly where the old dish was. Just finished about an hour ago. This guy is amazing. Has an incredible shop. A friend of his is a metal fabricator so my friend gets stainless steel at scrap prices. :D The base plate wraps around the corner of the house with three 4" lag screws in each side. This thing isn't going anywhere! :eek2: It also has two additional stabilizing poles!

I'm ready for the installer, I just hope he shows up when he is supposed to. :lol:

By the way, electrical conduit and plumbing pipe is measured by the inside dimension as I believe someone else stated. I measured all the electrical and plumbing piipe at Home Depost and Lowes, as others have said, you will not find 2" OD pipe at Home Depot or Lowes. The fencing pipe I saw at Home Depot was the residential variety, not 2" OD.

I believe the 1 7/8 pipe from a fencing company would probably work. You may need to wrap it a few times with tape, like the metal heating duct tape for example. That tape is really sticky!

Thanks again.

[HDTVsportsfan]

Glad to hear it worked out for you.
Sounds like a real custom job.