Noob question - Should I attempt it?

[lost_mesa]

I forgot to mention that next month is sun outage time. At a certain day and time the sun will be at the same position in the sky as the satellite. No need to guess where the satellite is. This will tell you if it will work or not.
http://www.satellite-calculations.co...terference.php

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[danristheman]

Also look up slimline mods I have one and it works pretty good on some but not on all satellites. Just depends on which satellite you aim your dish at.

Dan Rose

[johann12]

I used dishpointer on their website which includes google and it was very accurate. You can move the pointer/balloon to where the tree is and it will give you the height that you need to have view to the sat. Just remember that trees will grow taller, at least most at the time.
I never tried the phone app.

[Anole]

Modifying a dish is properly left to the experienced user.
I agree that simplifying your first setup will result in quicker success.

That said, certain commercial dishes don't take much more than understanding to fire up.
eg: DirectTV World dish, or a discarded DishNetwork SuperDish.
(existing LNB is fine)
Mention any you have access to, and we might find a winner.


iphone 4

[guacharaca]

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The beauty of the sun outage calculator is that the sun provides shadows on the ground and your house (and dish). If you are in your yard at the correct time and it is sunny, you can figure out exactly where to put your dish. You will know if raising the dish two feet will solve any signal problems. you will instantly see other opportunities in your yard by seeing where you do NOT have shadows made by objects that will block a satellite signal. My experience was that although I only wanted to verify 58 W, I discouvered that if I raise the dish just a bit I could get 55W. I also saw where I should have placed the dish in the first place but did not as I assumed the neighbour's house was in the way.

[kittyhas1000legs]

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Modifying a dish is properly left to the experienced user.
I agree that simplifying your first setup will result in quicker success.

That said, certain commercial dishes don't take much more than understanding to fire up.
eg: DirectTV World dish, or a discarded DishNetwork SuperDish.
(existing LNB is fine)
Mention any you have access to, and we might find a winner.

The only one I'll be able to get free (for now) is the slimline. I called a property management company about the dish behind an old Blockbuster store (closed 9 years ago) about the Ku dish behind the building, but haven't gotten any word back from the property owner. That dish is a pretty heavy-duty thing, a curved rectangular shape about 4 feet wide with an LNBF that looks like it has a heatsink attached.

The beauty of the sun outage calculator is that the sun provides shadows on the ground and your house (and dish). If you are in your yard at the correct time and it is sunny, you can figure out exactly where to put your dish. You will know if raising the dish two feet will solve any signal problems. you will instantly see other opportunities in your yard by seeing where you do NOT have shadows made by objects that will block a satellite signal. My experience was that although I only wanted to verify 58 W, I discouvered that if I raise the dish just a bit I could get 55W. I also saw where I should have placed the dish in the first place but did not as I assumed the neighbour's house was in the way.

Fantastic, that makes it a lot easier. I'll be praying for sun in early October.