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Thread ID: 114395 2010-12-01 11:55:00 Mounting satellite dish tombrownzz (16109) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1157911 2010-12-01 11:55:00 Our new house does not have a sky satellite dish. We want to mount the dish on the soffit

en.wikipedia.org

There are 2 types of mounts to choose from

www.smarthome.com

and

www.freetv.co.nz

One has braces to attach to the roof and one doesn't. Is the one with the braces really needed for the mild winds we get in New Zealand?
tombrownzz (16109)
1157912 2010-12-01 13:54:00 Is the first one available in NZ ?
Both attach in two places, Read the info on the websites.
Either one will do
Mild winds ? depends where you live in NZ.
Always expect the unexpected :)
wmoore (6009)
1157913 2010-12-01 17:45:00 The 1st mount has a plate for the standard Sky type mount welded to a tube that's part of a soffit mount. Sooner or later that weld will break if the dish wobbles in the wind. PaulD (232)
1157914 2010-12-01 20:17:00 Probably best to get a pro. to do it as the alineament with the satellite is fairly critical and is best done with a meter, which the pro would have or else you could buy one yourself.
:)
Trev (427)
1157915 2010-12-02 00:53:00 One has braces to attach to the roof and one doesn't. Is the one with the braces really needed for the mild winds we get in New Zealand?

what sort of roof do you have?

i dislike soffit mounts simply because a lot of the time the soffit is not structural timber. sometimes its part of the frame but a lot of the time its a bit of 1/2" timber which is there just to hold the panelling in place.
so if you do mount it there then stays are a must.

we get plenty high enough winds to completely rip a poorly mounted dish off a house, i've fixed plenty over the years.
i've seen lots of homes damaged by shoddy installs.
the problem is not always that the dish rips off the house but the vibration breaks the timber, breaks the screws, wears holes through iron etc. the dish flaps about in the wind causing rain fade on windy days. not to mention the water leaking through the damage in the roof etc.
tweak'e (69)
1157916 2010-12-02 00:56:00 The 1st mount has a plate for the standard Sky type mount welded to a tube that's part of a soffit mount. Sooner or later that weld will break if the dish wobbles in the wind.
it will smash the soffit well before the weld gives way.
tweak'e (69)
1157917 2010-12-02 01:19:00 Mount it on the side of the house :) Zippity (58)
1157918 2010-12-02 01:30:00 it will smash the soffit well before the weld gives way.

I was basing my response on what happened to hockey sticks at my parents house. The similar weld between plate and pipe used to crack long before any damage to the barge board.
PaulD (232)
1157919 2010-12-02 03:16:00 I was basing my response on what happened to hockey sticks at my parents house. The similar weld between plate and pipe used to crack long before any damage to the barge board.

thats would have to be faulty weld or more commonly rust. hockey sticks rust out from the inside and typically fail at the bottom where the water sits.
barge boards are only 10mm or so, so the little screws pull right out very easily.
possibly it was screwed into a beam behind the barge board and then all the stress would be on the weld. but typically they are built strong enough that the welds don't give way (the crimped hockey sticks are a different story).
tweak'e (69)
1157920 2010-12-02 03:58:00 Whatever you choose, a mount with more bracing is better than one without. I've installed freeview dishes before (looks at the same satellite as SKY) and you have to be quite precise to line it up. So any small movement any way and your dish will be misaligned, affecting signal strength and quality.

As for getting a pro to do it, nah! It's not actually that hard. There are plenty of archived threads on here that will give you the info you need. If you cant find anything, I can write a step by step for you.
pine-o-cleen (2955)
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