Mounting Satellite Dish on Roof

[CaptainReboot]

Has anybody installed their own satellite dish before?

I'm doing mine, but the neighbors house is blocking the angle, so I have no choice but to mount it on the roof.

Has anybody done this? What sort of things do I need? I've googled a lot of stuff, but I"d like to hear from someone who's actually done it before.

Thanks,

[topmade]

blow up the neighbors house

I put mine on the roof and I drilled holes on the roof and used 4 bolts and nuts to secure it on. So I had to get in the attic to secure it 100%, then put some silicone where the bolts are so no water gets in. I've heard of people just screwing it on and had no problems, but I'm paranoid of it getting blown over by the wind.

[dsmturbo]

Only problem with mounting a dish too high, is if it gets snow and ice on it, it is hard to get up there to clean it off.

You can mount dish on fascia using a block of wood to anchor it to, that way you can run cables along fascia and hide them somewhat.

[benyl]

Have you tried pointing at your neighbors house?

I get signal strength of 77 when pointed straigh at my neighbors house. Must "beam" right through.

[CaptainReboot]

Originally posted by benyl
Have you tried pointing at your neighbors house?

I get signal strength of 77 when pointed straigh at my neighbors house. Must "beam" right through.

Yeah, we're pointing it where we're supposed to and we don't get anything.

We do pick up another dish though around 90% strength, so we know all the equipment is good.

[Zero102]

I used 4 #12 1 1/2" wood screws to mount mine to the roof. No worries about wind. My room-mate held himself up on it when he snowboarded off the roof, so it is up there very solid.
Used lots of silicone to keep it from leaking.

[CaptainReboot]

Originally posted by Zero102
I used 4 #12 1 1/2" wood screws to mount mine to the roof. No worries about wind. My room-mate held himself up on it when he snowboarded off the roof, so it is up there very solid.
Used lots of silicone to keep it from leaking.

Did you put any bolts behind it? Did you put silicone in the hole before you put the screws in or just around it after it was done?

I'm mounting mine over the garage, so it should be easy for me to access it from underneath.

I'm just super paranoid. It's very windy where I live. My downspouts have blown off and I had to chase it down the street one time.

[5abi]

have you checked your switch and shit. I had the same prob but did it ne ways and it works fine!

what sorta system are u rigging? if its FTA atmega that can be the prob since DN is doing a huge code change.

[CaptainReboot]

Originally posted by 5abi
have you checked your switch and shit. I had the same prob but did it ne ways and it works fine!

what sorta system are u rigging? if its FTA atmega that can be the prob since DN is doing a huge code change.

Yeah, I heard about DN going down. My buddy got his working and he's using the same codes on my. Everything else works fine, as I was able to pick up BEV, by pointing it in a different direction.

[Zero102]

For mine, I put lines all over the bottom of the flat part of the bracket that sits against the roof. Water can't get anywhere near the screw holes
I lined mine up on a rafter, so 2 of the screws went into a 2x6, the other 2 are into the plywood roofing. No nuts or anything else behind it.

[CaptainReboot]

Originally posted by Zero102
For mine, I put lines all over the bottom of the flat part of the bracket that sits against the roof. Water can't get anywhere near the screw holes
I lined mine up on a rafter, so 2 of the screws went into a 2x6, the other 2 are into the plywood roofing. No nuts or anything else behind it.

Did a stud finder work to find the rafter? I'm thinking of just using 4 lag screws, sealing it, and be done. Guess I"ll have to wait until the rain goes away before I can do this. Boo!

[Zero102]

I just knocked on my roof until it sounded solid.
My house is very very old. Very little roofing on it. This trick might not work for everybody.
A stud finder might work if it has a deep scan mode.

Each screw should be able to hold 40-50lbs when into a rafter, and 20-ish lbs when into the roofing. The wind load on a 18" satellite dish is much less than that. Perhaps 20lbs.
People mount them on tripods, then set a sandbag on the base of the tripod. That is giving it 3-4 feet of leverage and they don't tip over.

[CaptainReboot]

Actually, I might be able to mount it on my window frame. I'll have to double check when I get on my roof, but I'm looking out the same window with my compass and it seems like it will work.

We'll see.