Ground or Roof?

[TimeHorse]

Which is better? When we bought the house, we had at the front, left corner a dish on the ground attached to the foundation with a steel rod, a dish on the roof above it and a DirectWay dish at the back left corner mounted on a steel pole. We replaced the roof dish with a Triple LNB dish and removed the ground one and the DirectWay dish.

Now I am thinking of re-arranging the dishes since I am putting in the 75cm StarChoice dish. I was thinking of putting the 75cm StarChoice dish on the old DirectWay pole if it can get a line-of-site from there, otherwise installing it on the roof. Further, I was thinking of moving the DirecTV receiver down to the foundation-mounting, as I believe if I can get a line of site there, it should be quite a bit more stable and easier to maintian -- at least I could brush off the snow without getting a ladder as right now I've got no signal.

BTW, what's the general consensus on dish covers? I'm not sure if there is a cover shaped for the 75cm StarChoice but if I could find one, would it help or generally hinder reception?

Thanks again as you all have been EXTREMELY helpful for that Sat-newbie!

 

[Digital Dude]

I never understood when people wanted their dish installed on their roof if LOS was available lower. I mean the customers I had that said "I was told reception is better on the roof" floored me. I had 3 canned replies.

1- I took out a calculator and explained that the satellite was over 23,000 miles above the equator, what percentage of 23,000 miles is 30 feet?

2- When the roof and dish are covered with snow and ice and you have no signal the only ways to clear off the dish are with a firetruck or hanging from a rope below a helicopter, could they rent a helicopter if they need that service in winter?

3- "What are those steel poles on top of barns called?", and "So you're asking me to put a lighting rod on your roof?!"

About 85% would figure it out at that point, the other 15% were just retarded.

 

[TimeHorse]

LOL!

Yeah, and since most elevation are at 30* + some basic Trig says that all you need is a singe foot (or meter) of distance from an obstruction for every 1.7 feet (or 1.7 meters) of height you need to overcome.

You know, I wish you were my installer the first time!

Here is my stupid nubie experience from 2 years ago:

Me: "So why would people want to put their dish on the ground anyway?"
Installer: "I dunno."

Live and learn!

 

[TimeHorse]

Yeah, and since most elevation are at 30* + some basic Trig says that all you need is a singe foot (or meter) of distance from an obstruction for every 1.7 feet (or 1.7 meters) of height you need to overcome.

Oops, that should read, a single foot (or meter) of the height of an obstruction requires only 1.7 feet (or meters) of distance to overcome.

At 60* Elevation, you need only 1 foot distance for every 1.7 feet of height.