GrumpyPatzer
Regular Member
I currently have an XPOL-A0002 directional antenna mounted just over 3m up on the back of our garage (with a Huawei B315, shortly to be replaced by a Mikrotik Chateau LTE12). I may try making a parabolic dish antenna, along the lines described by @dazmatic , so am giving some thought to how best to mount it. We nearly — but don’t quite — have line of sight to the mast, which is just over 6.5 miles away. The best speeds are achieved using band 3 (1.8GHz).
There are three main options:
1. A stronger pole attached to the back of the garage (timber frame), at a similar height.
2. A 2-3m pole attached to a suitably robust post in the ground, within a 20-30m radius of the garage (possibly with slightly better, but not perfect, line of sight to the mast).
3. Mounting the dish (ultimately two of them, if it works) in the garage roof space.
With option (1), I am somewhat concerned that, given our rather exposed location in the Highlands, two dishes could be vulnerable to high winds (the worst case would be ripping off part of the garage fascia or back wall). So, at least as an initial experiment, I would be interested to try option (3): positioning the dish(es) in the garage roof space.
The obvious question then is: would the attenuation of the signal caused by the pitched slate roof negate the advantage that dishes would hopefully have?
So I would be interested to hear of any relevant experience that any of you might have.
For what it’s worth, I did come across one study that has some relevant measurements:
See diagram (c) on page 3. On the face of it, this looks quite encouraging, no more than around 2dB loss at 1.8GHz. Of course, I have no idea how closely their slate test case matches the construction of our roof, which is slate, waterproof membrane and what appears to by plywood board (no insulation in the roof space and hopefully nothing metallic in the membrane!).
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
Andrew
There are three main options:
1. A stronger pole attached to the back of the garage (timber frame), at a similar height.
2. A 2-3m pole attached to a suitably robust post in the ground, within a 20-30m radius of the garage (possibly with slightly better, but not perfect, line of sight to the mast).
3. Mounting the dish (ultimately two of them, if it works) in the garage roof space.
With option (1), I am somewhat concerned that, given our rather exposed location in the Highlands, two dishes could be vulnerable to high winds (the worst case would be ripping off part of the garage fascia or back wall). So, at least as an initial experiment, I would be interested to try option (3): positioning the dish(es) in the garage roof space.
The obvious question then is: would the attenuation of the signal caused by the pitched slate roof negate the advantage that dishes would hopefully have?
So I would be interested to hear of any relevant experience that any of you might have.
For what it’s worth, I did come across one study that has some relevant measurements:
See diagram (c) on page 3. On the face of it, this looks quite encouraging, no more than around 2dB loss at 1.8GHz. Of course, I have no idea how closely their slate test case matches the construction of our roof, which is slate, waterproof membrane and what appears to by plywood board (no insulation in the roof space and hopefully nothing metallic in the membrane!).
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
Andrew























