Repurposing Our DirecTV Antenna Mount

[Ravenkeeper]

My son and I are going to remove the dish and some of the base of the mount, put bird abatement in, and reassemble the mount (minus the dish/arm). I'm looking for suggestions on a scanner antenna to mount to it. For the time being, until a little more money rolls in, I'm looking at using the cable that's already there.

 

[mmckenna]

Should work just fine, and the existing cable is likely RG-6, which will work pretty well for scanner use.

A discone would be a good option, unless you have specific bands you want to listen to.
Other option would be something like a Larsen NMO-150/450/800 and an NMO base adapter.

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_192_466&products_id=1050

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1289_1243&products_id=7531

and don't forget an adapter to get from the F connector to the N connector on the bottom of the antenna mount.

 

[FedFyrGuy]

You'll also want to remove the DirecTV power inserter if present - which supplies voltage to the LNB/dish via the coax. Additional helpful information here:

 

[bbo14]

Should work just fine, and the existing cable is likely RG-6, which will work pretty well for scanner use.

A discone would be a good option, unless you have specific bands you want to listen to.
Other option would be something like a Larsen NMO-150/450/800 and an NMO base adapter.

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_192_466&products_id=1050

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1289_1243&products_id=7531

and don't forget an adapter to get from the F connector to the N connector on the bottom of the antenna mount.

I agree with mmckenna. A discone is an excellent scanner antenna. I have two, one I use with a combiner to use my ICOM 2 meter and 440 Mhz FM radios on one antenna and another for scanning everything from low band to ACARS. A discone has a very wide range (10 octave, or in this case, from 100 to 1000 Mhz). Mine even works well down into the 40-50 Mhz area, although not made for that range.

 

[Ravenkeeper]

Should work just fine, and the existing cable is likely RG-6, which will work pretty well for scanner use.

A discone would be a good option, unless you have specific bands you want to listen to.
Other option would be something like a Larsen NMO-150/450/800 and an NMO base adapter.

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_192_466&products_id=1050

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1289_1243&products_id=7531

and don't forget an adapter to get from the F connector to the N connector on the bottom of the antenna mount.

I'll look into those when I get home, tonight. I have the adapter in my shopping cart, unless my wife moved it into "purchase later" folder.

You'll also want to remove the DirecTV power inserter if present - which supplies voltage to the LNB/dish via the coax. Additional helpful information here:

I'm not sure about the power inserter, I'll have to go look in my comm boxes, after I get home.

I agree with mmckenna. A discone is an excellent scanner antenna. I have two, one I use with a combiner to use my ICOM 2 meter and 440 Mhz FM radios on one antenna and another for scanning everything from low band to ACARS. A discone has a very wide range (10 octave, or in this case, from 100 to 1000 Mhz). Mine even works well down into the 40-50 Mhz area, although not made for that range.

Some of the local traffic is in the 40Mhz range.

 

[mmckenna]

Some of the local traffic is in the 40Mhz range.

If you want to listen to CHP, you may want to consider a separate low band antenna.
Some discone antennas have a whip at the top, and it's usually tuned around 50MHz so they can call it a 6 meter antenna. But if CHP is an area of interest, you probably want to skip the discone and start considering some other options. Low band can be picky like that.

 

[markclark]

I repurposed two in a wind prone area and I am impressed with the strength of the mounts. I have two 20' long sticks of 1 1/4" and 3/4" EMT with an AS MON 52 on each mast. They've been up for about 6 years on an asphalt shingle roof. I check both periodically and their both holding tight. I would say repurpose your satellite dish mounts too.

 

[prcguy]

I used to have the stress charts on the DirecTV Slimline J mount and it was impressive. When bolted to concrete it can handle some huge wind loads with the dish antenna attached. The charts I had displayed the stresses along the mount and pipe in different colors and there were many charts for different wind speeds.

The two outrigger arms you see on a DirecTV dish came a little later because the mounting surfaces were a huge variable and even though the mount was plenty sturdy, some roofs had a lot of flex and the original specs needed the dish to be aligned to less than a few tenths of a degree and stay that way. A DirecTV Slimline mount with its two outrigger arms can probably be used as an engine hoist.

I repurposed two in a wind prone area and I am impressed with the strength of the mounts. I have two 20' long sticks of 1 1/4" and 3/4" EMT with an AS MON 52 on each mast. They've been up for about 6 years on an asphalt shingle roof. I check both periodically and their both holding tight. I would say repurpose your satellite dish mounts too.

 

[Ravenkeeper]

Before I removed the antenna and mount, there was like 3+ years of Finch nesting and shells. YUKE!!!

Base plate reinstalled with bird abatement above it.


J-arm Mount installed with bird abatement.


Antenna UP.


Only one scanner hooked up. I tried to use my CB with it, but it appears that my CB is broken.


Still have some other things to do to it all. I'm going to leave this scanner in the garage, mounted to my storage racks, above my workbench. I'm going to buy two new scanners, one for my truck and one for inside the house. The CB will probably be replaced, since I had some issues with it, but I'm going to play with it for a while, as I'm getting my truck ready for the new scanner and installation of a CB.

 

[Omega-TI]

Nice thread. I also plan to retask my old Hughes Internet mount this spring by removing the dish and replacing it with a Discone.

 

[prcguy]

A friend of mine designed that under eaves mount you have and I have the first production sample. Prior to that he had a company that designed and built racing parts for BMWs using the same type punched hole with rim for strength. The guy has a PHD in fluid mechanics and it shows.

Another person I worked with designed the telescoping outrigger arms for the J mount and I was never really happy with that design.

Before I removed the antenna and mount, there was like 3+ years of Finch nesting and shells. YUKE!!!

Base plate reinstalled with bird abatement above it.
View attachment 116801

J-arm Mount installed with bird abatement.
View attachment 116802

Antenna UP.
View attachment 116803

Only one scanner hooked up. I tried to use my CB with it, but it appears that my CB is broken.
View attachment 116804

Still have some other things to do to it all. I'm going to leave this scanner in the garage, mounted to my storage racks, above my workbench. I'm going to buy two new scanners, one for my truck and one for inside the house. The CB will probably be replaced, since I had some issues with it, but I'm going to play with it for a while, as I'm getting my truck ready for the new scanner and installation of a CB.

 

[Ravenkeeper]

A friend of mine designed that under eaves mount you have and I have the first production sample. Prior to that he had a company that designed and built racing parts for BMWs using the same type punched hole with rim for strength. The guy has a PHD in fluid mechanics and it shows.

Another person I worked with designed the telescoping outrigger arms for the J mount and I was never really happy with that design.

I'm not too happy with the telescoping outriggers either, but they are doing their jobs.

 

[merlin]

I have the super dish I probably will never use. I have other applications for dishes. My primary is a 1.2 meter VSAT dish mounted to the very heavy duty Pelco pan and tilt to target all the satellites in view. I moded the feed mount with additional S band and added a PAD feed for weather sats.
Those outriggers will certainly do their job if mounted correctly. The dish mounts should be great for your smaller antenna needs.
One good point is offsetting from the wall and eves. A short extention and a discone will be no problem.

 

[TrainsOfThought]

A great eye-opening thread. Couple years ago Direct TV re positioned our dish antenna higher on the roof due to growing trees south of the house (I planted them 20 yrs ago to shade the house). Reading this, and staring at the North (open unobstructed) facing side of our house it never dawned on me that there was a possible, albeit minor re-use out here in the sticks, of the Direct TV mount for something-maybe. "Got Space?" ...fill it with an antenna. Never let an antenna opportunity go to waste.