Concrete Base Satellite Installations

Good satellite dish alignment can only be achieved if the dish is installed on a good solid base. For many installations the construction of a good solid concrete base on the ground or terrace is the only option.

A good concrete base of a satellite dish installation should be left to dry for a number of days before any further installation of a satellite dish is done. This is because the ground stand used to support the satellite dish may move and damage the still wet concrete base when aligning and working on other parts of the installation.

Be cautious of companies who say they can install a satellite dish with a concrete base all in one day, as obviously you must let the concrete base dry sufficiently before you start to work with it. It may sound great that they can do the installation in 3 hours, but you MUST Allow the concrete base sufficient time to dry before you start to install a satellite dish. I tend to allow my concrete bases at least 3 days to dry before I return to the site and continue with the installation.

Poor Concrete Base Satellite Installations

Similarly, be wary of companies who construct a concrete base using dry cement mix. You only have to look at the examples of Poor Concrete Base Satellite Installations on our Wall of Shame to see the effects of a dry concrete mix can have when they fail. In many instances the term “concrete” should not have been used.

It is advisable to construct a concrete base for a satellite dish from one solid block of concrete. The best concrete bases in Spain are constructed and then left for a few days for the concrete to dry before any further work or installation is completed. This gives the concrete base strength. And why all our concrete bases we have constructed are still in operation and have not failed.

Again, looking at examples of Poor Concrete Base Satellite Installations on our Wall of Shame you can see that some companies prefer to use a square of breeze blocks and then pour and cover this with concrete. In many instances we have see these types of concrete block fail, mainly due to the concrete breeze blocks not actually doing anything to help hold the ground stand in. I have seen instances where the concrete breeze block “ring” has still been intact, but the centre containing the ground stand has come totally loose.

In some instances it may be possible to install the satellite dish on the wall using a wall mount. I tend to only install satellite dishes on a wall if firstly the area is sheltered from the wind, and secondly if the wall is constructed from concrete breeze block and not the red bricks that so many Spanish walls are made from. This is because the concrete breeze block are a lot stronger than the weak red brick (that are usually made with honeycomb holes in!)

Examples of poor satellite dish installations here

Examples of poor so called “concrete bases” for satellite dish installations

Examples of how a concrete bases should be done for satellite dish installations

Examples of bad cabling for satellite dish installations

Examples of the correct way to install a satellite dish in Spain