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Re: Rooftop GNSS antenna mounting recommendations

DK
Dan Kemppainen
Wed, Jul 5, 2023 1:59 PM

Hi,

You haven't mentioned if you live in an are a with snow. (If you have a
flat roof, my guess is maybe not). If that piles up like here, you may
want to reach up a little higher to clear that.

A long time ago we used to install satellite dishes for remote classroom
learning and medical training. These usually involved large (4ft) dishes
mounted with non penetrating mounts. The mounts had several large 1/4"
thick steel pads. Everything was galvanized plate steel and angle iron.
We'd put a rubber material down, then the steel pad, then several
hundred pounds of concrete blocks. The blocks were secured with banding
to the pads.

The point wasn't if the dish would stay still, it was to keep it in
place with 75mph or 100mph winds. Depending on your location, you may
want to plan for worst case weather. Having the wind blow a concrete
block off the roof onto your car or someone below is worth considering.

That said, I did have a 'roof mount' magnetic GPS antenna stuck to a
rather large chunk of steel plate on a low pitch shingled roof for a few
years. It stayed in place, but was in danger of getting shoveled off
with the snow (We get 300+ inches a year). It worked fine for the half a
dozen years it was there.

My recommendation would be something big and heavy, and low profile.

Dan

On 7/5/2023 3:30 AM, time-nuts-request@lists.febo.com wrote:

Subject:
[time-nuts] Rooftop GNSS antenna mounting recommendations
From:
Matt Huszagh huszaghmatt@gmail.com
Date:
7/4/2023, 4:22 AM

To:
Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
time-nuts@lists.febo.com

Hi,

I'll be mounting a GNSS antenna to my roof for timing applications and
would appreciate recommendations for the best way to do this. The
portion of the roof where the antenna will be mounted is flat. I'd
prefer to avoid drilling or screwing into the roof if possible. But, if
there's a safe and reversible way to do this, I'm ok with that.

I found a method described by sparkfun that involves using an anchor in
a cinder block:

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-build-a-diy-gnss-reference-station/all#affix-your-antenna

This seems like an easy and low-cost method. Given the weight of the
cinder block, I wouldn't expect the antenna to move. Thoughts? Any
potential problems with this? Other methods that work well?

Matt

Hi, You haven't mentioned if you live in an are a with snow. (If you have a flat roof, my guess is maybe not). If that piles up like here, you may want to reach up a little higher to clear that. A long time ago we used to install satellite dishes for remote classroom learning and medical training. These usually involved large (4ft) dishes mounted with non penetrating mounts. The mounts had several large 1/4" thick steel pads. Everything was galvanized plate steel and angle iron. We'd put a rubber material down, then the steel pad, then several hundred pounds of concrete blocks. The blocks were secured with banding to the pads. The point wasn't if the dish would stay still, it was to keep it in place with 75mph or 100mph winds. Depending on your location, you may want to plan for worst case weather. Having the wind blow a concrete block off the roof onto your car or someone below is worth considering. That said, I did have a 'roof mount' magnetic GPS antenna stuck to a rather large chunk of steel plate on a low pitch shingled roof for a few years. It stayed in place, but was in danger of getting shoveled off with the snow (We get 300+ inches a year). It worked fine for the half a dozen years it was there. My recommendation would be something big and heavy, and low profile. Dan On 7/5/2023 3:30 AM, time-nuts-request@lists.febo.com wrote: > Subject: > [time-nuts] Rooftop GNSS antenna mounting recommendations > From: > Matt Huszagh <huszaghmatt@gmail.com> > Date: > 7/4/2023, 4:22 AM > > To: > Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement > <time-nuts@lists.febo.com> > > > Hi, > > I'll be mounting a GNSS antenna to my roof for timing applications and > would appreciate recommendations for the best way to do this. The > portion of the roof where the antenna will be mounted is flat. I'd > prefer to avoid drilling or screwing into the roof if possible. But, if > there's a safe and reversible way to do this, I'm ok with that. > > I found a method described by sparkfun that involves using an anchor in > a cinder block: > > https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-build-a-diy-gnss-reference-station/all#affix-your-antenna > > This seems like an easy and low-cost method. Given the weight of the > cinder block, I wouldn't expect the antenna to move. Thoughts? Any > potential problems with this? Other methods that work well? > > Matt