T and K brackets-which at the top?

[Piltdownpaul]

I reckon like this though , if you imagine a strong wind blowing on the dish,if the t at the top doesnt move it becomes a fulcrum point so that the pole below then wants to move in the opposite direction to the wind,bit like a seesaw. Therefore it must be right to place it at the bottom especially if the two brackets are far apart.

 

[Archived-1]

I look at it like this tbh,

if I just installed a t bracket on the wall and swung on it how long would it take for it to come loose/fall of, then do the same with a k bracket, I know what would last the longest :-) and the top bracket carries the weight,

but I guess this is like the monkey nut thread lol

 

[Sat Mark]

That's a very good way to look at it Martin and backs up what I said above.

 

[rolfw]

I look at it like this tbh,

if I just installed a t bracket on the wall and swung on it how long would it take for it to come loose/fall of, then do the same with a k bracket, I know what would last the longest :-) and the top bracket carries the weight,

but I guess this is like the monkey nut thread lol

But the top bracket shouldn't carry the weight, the bottom bracket should (on the stronger part of the wall), that's how they are designed, you install the mast, tighten the bottom bracket, then the top bracket for horizontal stabilisation only. As said before, if you are concerned about the strength of the T bracket, then use two K brackets, or even two sets of brackets.

 

[timo_w2s]

I reckon like this though , if you imagine a strong wind blowing on the dish,if the t at the top doesnt move it becomes a fulcrum point so that the pole below then wants to move in the opposite direction to the wind,bit like a seesaw. Therefore it must be right to place it at the bottom especially if the two brackets are far apart.

That's the way I see it too, but never having installed a poll before with these brackets I'm probably not a good one to comment.

Also isn't the clue in the name, it's a T & K bracket not a K & T bracket.

 

[Lazarus]

But the top bracket shouldn't carry the weight, the bottom bracket should (on the stronger part of the wall), that's how they are designed, you install the mast, tighten the bottom bracket, then the top bracket for horizontal stabilisation only. As said before, if you are concerned about the strength of the T bracket, then use two K brackets, or even two sets of brackets.

Exactly :-handclap

 

[satelliteman]

Take the advice and listen to what installers are saying.

 

[sonnetpete]

My set up, with a T at the top and K underneath has been up just over four years, the last two carrying the motor and a 1.2M dish. It hasn't shifted.......

 

[PaulR]

Like Tivu I couldn't remember which way round the brackets were on my 1m dish so had to check. Surprisingly it was K at the top but my befuddled braincells, once kicked into action, seem to remember that thare was an installation problem doing it the other way round. It was over 10 years ago I did it!

Having said that, it hasn't moved since then.

 

[Channel Hopper]

It all depends on the wall, and where the dish/motor eventually sits, though if the dish is going above the roofline I would always put the K at the top regardless. For a 'dish inbetween brackets' scenario it shouldn't matter which way round they go, but a K at the bottom adds some additional distance between the two furthest mounting points (though the K at the top makes the system condensed and imo looks neater)

There are threads elsewhere on the forum on this, but in all of them the 'K at the bottom because of the weight' argument is a non-starter as gravity works vertically down (round here anyway), and so the two brakets share this equally.


On most installations I put the 'K' at the top, simply because the courses up there will have less weight holding them together. On many modern house builds - and older ones where the mortar is almost all sand - I have found that it will break up during drilling which doesn't bode well for long term stability. Anyone that has drilled into an olde chimney will know what can happen.

 

[Lazarus]

I feel a Poll coming on ................. (Or should that be a Pole?)

 

[wod]

T at the top normally as these are used for aerials usually.

I have used t k k arrangement which seems very strong for my setup.

 

[hexah]

On most installations I put the 'K' at the top, simply because the courses up there will have less weight holding them together. On many modern house builds - and older ones where the mortar is almost all sand - I have found that it will break up during drilling which doesn't bode well for long term stability. Anyone that has drilled into an olde chimney will know what can happen.

That is the argument I first heard decades ago, put the K bracket at least 3 courses down from the top and spread the drill holes over as many bricks as possible.

The K at the top helps spread the weight over more bricks where the top of the wall may be weaker. It is more of a consideration up north because the wind is going to be severe at some times every year compared to the south which doesn't really get windy at all. Southerners sometimes think it gets windy but it is a mere breeze compared to oop narth. In the south the wind sometimes makes a twee whistling noise, up north every year you will get nights where the noise is so loud it is hard to sleep.

It is annoying you can't get a set of two K brackets. As it is I have one set with a K on top for a dish and another with a T on top for an 18 element yagi.

This house has old very hard bricks from when real bricks were made. Too many modern houses have blocks which are as strong as kitchen roll which would make a K - K or K - T - K a good idea for a bigger dish.

 

[Archived-1]

well I am going to have to see what mr newton says about all this malarkey

 

[smoggy07]

This was just a temp throw together (well it was temp at the time lol)

Nice heavy pole, big heavy dish, motor above top bracket and T to the top with K to the bottom

I really need to take it all down and put it up properly with a decent pole, and the motor needs moving down the pole a bit too (It`s only that high for wall clearance for the far westerly birds but I`m not that interested anything on them so "could" drop it a touch)

the only thing I`ve noticed is the wind blows the dish out a bit every now and then and that`s down to the pole having a plasticy covering so the motor bracket doesn`t have much to bite into

I know in the pics the pole looks a tad wonky but its not, the wall and the way I`m holding the phone makes it look out lol

 

[hexah]

the only thing I`ve noticed is the wind blows the dish out a bit every now and then and that`s down to the pole having a plasticy covering so the motor bracket doesn`t have much to bite into

Try bolting a shelly clamp or similar clamp under the motor to stop if sliding down.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Pole is now mounted with t at the top.

 

[Lazarus]

Splendid ...................

 

[Piltdownpaul]

It would be if there was a motor and dish on the top of it!

 

[satelliteman]

Result. Glad your up and running.