How big is this dish.

[moonbase]

Unfortunately it is not something that is suitable for my house. Its would need someone with a lot of land to be able to site that, or at least not have neighbours who are in such close proximity.

I have known satellite hobby men move house just to "go large" with a satellite dish.
Admittedly it's a bit of a drastic measure but there is nowt like the sight of a "big 'un" outside, pulling in the extreme fringe reception signals.

 

[Offtensive]

@kegnkiwi

Pace are no longer in existence, they were merged with another company and the joint venture was subsequently acquired by Commscope.
The big dish and the smaller 1.2m dishes might be redundant and available?

If you are serious about the big dish you could ask the building manager if anyone in the building is using it?
If it is no longer in use they might simply let you dismantle it and take it away free of charge or for a nominal sum?

If they agree in principle to letting you have the dish you might need to provide a "statement of works" outlining your proposed plan of action for dismantling it to comply with health and safety regulations.
I have had to do this in the past when dismantling and removing large dishes of similar size from corporate sites.

What kind of base (or how much concrete) would be needed to support a dish this size?

 

[moonbase]

What kind of base (or how much concrete) would be needed to support a dish this size?

Easily answered, check the table below which lists wind speeds, wind loads and volumes of concrete required for a 3.0 metre dish.
Anchorage is dependent on wind speed and wind load on the dish. Half a cubic metre of concrete should be OK for 120mph winds.

Simple job to dig a hole, get a ready mix truck round and pump the concrete into the hole to create a concrete pad.
Let the concrete set, drill anchorage holes at appropriate points into the concrete then use chemical resin to secure threaded studs into the concrete, job done !

.

 

[Offtensive]

Easily answered, check the table below which lists wind speeds, wind loads and volumes of concrete required for a 3.0 metre dish.
Anchorage is dependent on wind speed and wind load on the dish. Half a cubic metre of concrete should be OK for 120mph winds.

Simple job to dig a hole, get a ready mix truck round and pump the concrete into the hole to create a concrete pad.
Let the concrete set, drill anchorage holes at appropriate points into the concrete then use chemical resin to secure threaded studs into the concrete, job done !

.
View attachment 55725

Much less and much cheaper than I thought. Concrete from a truck (via a barrow rather than pump) is about £180-210 + VAT per cubic metre (near me). Hint hint @kyser143

 

[moonbase]

Much less and much cheaper than I thought. Concrete from a truck (via a barrow rather than pump) is about £180-210 + VAT per cubic metre (near me). Hint hint @kyser143

The work required to create the anchorage should not present any problems and it is not expensive.
The less easy part is assembly of the dish and alignment on an arc. It is not difficult though.

 

[Offtensive]

The work required to create the anchorage should not present any problems and it is not expensive.
The less easy part is assembly of the dish and alignment on an arc. It is not difficult though.

As it's a 4 petal design. Can you set the dish up, align it, and then remove the petals? So that you only have the mount in the garden and then you just add the petals and the lnb support arms when you want to use it?

 

[kegnkiwi]

Did we discuss the finders fee yet

 

[moonbase]

As it's a 4 petal design. Can you set the dish up, align it, and then remove the petals? So that you only have the mount in the garden and then you just add the petals and the lnb support arms when you want to use it?

In theory you should be able to do this but it depends on the correct procedure for assembly/dissassembly of the petals.
If the dish needs to be placed in a "bird bath" position for assembly/dissassembly then you have immediately lost the elevation component of the arc alignment.
Also, the petals should be "string tested" for alignment with one another. If this needs adjusting to get correct "string alignment" it just adds to the workload every time the dish is taken down.

The other thing to consider is the weight of the dish, If it is some type of compound material covering a metal mesh it will be heavy.
To lift it off the mount in an "arc aligned" position will require a team of helpers or possibly lifting gear. On option would be to support the dish via a ladder placed horizontally on some type of supports and touching the bottom rim of the dish and then loosen the securing bolts. You would need to be a team of three consisting of a "bolt man" and two "lifting men", one each side.

Personally, I would advise against dissassembly once it is on the mount. You could however remove the feed support arms and cover the entire dish surface with a cheap tarpaulin to hide it.
Local hardware suppliers sell synthetic tarpaulins for about £25, I have used 4 metre x 5 metre versions in the past to cloak unused dishes still on mounts. Larger tarpaulin sizes are available.