Mounting ideas 250 ft from house

[dalmation]

I've recently moved to a house with many huge trees. My dish will have to be about 250 ft from the house for a good signal. The site is at the edge of a small field where kids play. Any thoughts on hardware to mount the dish 10 ft or so off the ground to avoid damage by the kids. Also, any thoughts on the appropriate cable to use. I've read the threads about this issue and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on whether to use RG6 or RG11. I plan to bury the cable and my signal strength is 95.
Thanks

[RonD]

I would use a 2" diameter pipe threaded at one end
at least 10' long, drill a hole about 1' up from the non-threaded end and put a nut and bolt through it.
Dig a hole about 2' deep and put the non-threaded end in it and fill with cement, the bolt is there to stop the pipe from spinning in the cement once it sets up.
Make sure the pipe is level and let the cement dry for at least 1 day.
Now put a 2" to 1 1/4" reducer on the top and a 2' 1 1/4" pipe threaded on the top. The dish will fit right on to the 1 1/4" pipe.
You can use a good RG-6 to run the signal upto 300', I would put the cable in 3/4" PVC pipe to prevent "shovel damage" down the road. Also you will be able to add a second cable or replacement cable in the future. Run the PVC up the post at least 5' to prevent "weed wacker" damage to the cable. Put 2 90's on the end to prevent water from running down the PVC pipe.
The larger diameter pipe you use for the base is to prevent flexing, so the bigger the better.
You can also put in an electrical type 90 degree plastic conduit in the cement so the PVC can run directly up the side of the pipe.

[SMOKER]

Good advice from ROND, but the pvc is over kill I think, unless your going to plant a garden in the path of the wire in the woods.If you want ,you can just mount it to a sturdy tree high enough so the kids cant reach it and low enough that the leaves dont overhang the path of the signal.You may have to trim a little.If you put it in the tree,cover the coax with pvc to discourage the tree rats.

[dalmation]

Just a post to close the thread with my result. I ended up using almost 300 ft of RG6 with twist on connectors, no splices. Signal strength 99.
Thanks for the suggestions.

[smack]

If your signal starts to get flakey, go for the twist-on connectors first. If you haven't already(when you installed), tape 'em or heat-shrink 'em - cover them from the segment directly behind the screw-ring to an inch or two behind the connector (to the jacket of the coax).

Screw-ons are (pretty much) the least environmentally protected connectors and have a tendancy to unscrew themselves (heat/cold, vibration, etc) and suck in the rain, if exposed.

FWIW

Scott