maximum dish size for chimmney stack

[Jockalba]

I live in the North of Scotland, and have had an 800mm solid dish on a chimney for many years, without any problems.

[goran]

Likewise, 90cm, for many years, looking over the garden and no probs whatsoever... My ex wife now has it...:respect-051:

[snaps]

i would never reccomend a dish installation on a chimney. Ive seen some shocking pictures recently where dishes have brought down chimney stacks, the last one locally in the gales last week where it ripped out of the chimney stack and brought most of the stack down through the house! This was an 80cm dish.

Ive always said, the lower the better, especially for motorised set ups.
Easy to install
Easy to maintain
Less weather/wind interfearence
doesnt look unsightly on the side of house.

My 1.1m dish is in the back south facing garden wall 1 m off the ground and i can get 42east-40west no problem! My mate the other day who has his 1m dish on the roof was moaning cos he could even get a lock on 28east as his dish was wobbling like a jelly, i sat there watching MBC on 26east with no problems (Very weak signal here this far west/north) and the wind was gusting 120km/h

[tr8.]

A mate had a 80cm on his chimney.
In the gales a few years ago it came down causing loads of damage and his insurance company refused to pay out, he went legal and still lost.
He lost as the chimmney had not been designed to carry such a large dish, and this was proven when the wind brought it down. Also as he had not declared it to his insurer as it was a risk increase.

[tyronepower]

Hi Guys
Be very carefull about fitting dishes of any size on chimnys have the chimney checked out first by a reputable builder it may look perfectlly ok to the eye as mine did till i had it checked out and found that the morter was like sand due to the weather we have in the u/k i had it completely rebuilt, afterwoods decided to mount dish at the bottom of garden for safety reasons

[AJR]

As a diy job you can get up on the roof and do whatever you think best.....

However a proper installer would no doubt make the sign of the cross, make his excuses and leave.

[Rossi46]

Don't forget a chimney is nearly always just one course of bricks or blocks and therefore not very strong. A friend of mine who works for Sky says
that they are not allowed to mount dishes on chimneys and he fits only the
tiny (by our standard) dishes.

[Ghoulie]

I've had an 80cm mesh dish now up on a high chimney (50+') for at least 12 years - never realised it was 'illegal'. Co. that put it up never said 'owt (NW Satellites? Chorley - now long gone) - steel bands around substantial chimney.

As I understand it on time its been up - council now cannot do 'owt about it anyway

[ABA]

I've had an 80cm mesh dish now up on a high chimney (50+') for at least 12 years - never realised it was 'illegal'. Co. that put it up never said 'owt (NW Satellites? Chorley - now long gone) - steel bands around substantial chimney.

As I understand it on time its been up - council now cannot do 'owt about it anyway

it not illegal to mount a satellite dish on a chimmney stack
and you only need planning permition if any part of the dish sticks up higher than the apex of the roof ( thats the highest point of the roof )
actualy you need planning permition if your tv aerial is higher tham 1.65 m about the top of the roof so there for about 90 % of us are breaking the law as most aerial fitter use a 6 foot mast near the top of the chimmney stack so even if the aerial mast at the bottom was touching the top of the roof it would still be to high than what is leagal

[TOWER]

1)No decent installer would consider fitting a dish this size to the chimney.
2)Your insurance would be null and void.Just imagine a gale brings the dish or chimney down,and kills,or seriously injures somebody.You would be open for all sorts of claims and criminal prosecution.

[phd7]

Thanks Guys, Just the info I was looking for. This thread is worth a bump if not a sticky. Looks like its a garden install for me. Which leads to the next question. What's the longest cable lenght recommended between a motorised dish (1.2m) and the receiver?

[cosworth4x4]

my chimmney stack size is over 2 ft wide as it is the old terraced house type , the stonework has recently been repointed & is in good condition so if i mount my dish low then should be fine , i am looking at a 90cm would that be ok???

if a old house its prob held together with black mortar and repointing it is not going to make it a lot stronger when you bolt a dish upto it.

[jallen01]

A very late bump for this thread!

Unless your really cannot because of the required "angle of view" (both height, and E-W range) install the dish at ground level - it's easier, cheaper and quicker.

Just mount a steel pole (scaffolding poles are good, but concrete them firmly) into the ground and make sure they are absolutely vertical. Then fix your chosen dish mount (fixed or steerable) to the pole and do the final alignment. Then, and thereafter, alignment is quite easy - and dead easy If all you want is 28E - and any fault-fixing is relatively quick/cheap/easy. I initially installed my steerable dish on top of my house front bay window (very difficult/dangerous!) - but now it has been/will be on a 2m high pole in the back garden, and that means that installation /adjustment/ fixing is relatively easy/quick (no ladder, just a small pair of kitchen steps!).

And my chimneys are totally unaffected and safe ( hope the builders did a good job nearly 100 yrs ago, and they seem to have done that :-))!

[ALBERT]

Hi
For many years I had meter dish on a 5 ft pole at the bottom of the garden. It picked all sats up. I had 80ft cable which I put in plastic tubing and put just below grass surface.The pole was screwed to a paving flag which I set in cement so it was level.Good luck.Better and safer on the ground and easey for repairs