I want satellite TV and hate cable.

basunday

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Nov 15, 2009
18
0
Warrenton, VA
I have a problem. I have no line of sight from my house. Trees from my neighbors property block all access. I do however have line of sight from my front yard fence, which is about 35 feet from my house. Can I install a post type dish mount and what are the cable length limitations if any?

Bryan
 
I'm going to let the site installers tell you the how, but I can tell you that 35' is nothing. It's gonna work just fine.
 
With Dish you have the option of Eastern or Western Arc.. Which means that very few people get told no because of line of sight issues anymore.. Always get second opinion if an installer told you that it won't work.. I have seen some lazy installers that just didn't want to work get out of jobs by using the old Line of Sight reason. HD LIL might be a problem with the wrong Arc but it's better than not getting at all
 
As mentioned above, check L.O.S. for eastern and western arc. If you put it on a pole, be sure it is metal and set in concrete about 2 ft. deep. Don't bother with wood, as it will rot and warp,loosing signal, probably after installer's warranty is up. A good installer should have these things available when they arrive for the install. Just tell the CSR that you may need a pole mount,and have them put it on the work order. The exception to the wood restriction is if the wood is part of a permanent structure like a deck or porch. If your house is a two-story without existing RG-6 coax., have tech bring extension ladder. They should have these anyway, but it will not hurt to mention it. Good luck and welcome to Dish Network!
 
I have a very good view of the East from my roof. Do you guys prefer Dish over Direct TV? I know that Direct TV points southwards. I tried to switch my Direct TV dish to HD, but the installer said I couldn't do it with my line of sight being obstructed by my neighbors trees. If I was to go with Direct TV again, exactly where should my line of sight be to obtain HD programming?

Bryan
 
You can use the sun or moon position to give you a rough idea where the satellites are located and whether you are obstructed by trees. Google for "Place Satellite Dish using Sun."

Fill in your Lat and Long and which satellite you want. Use West rather than the default E. We are about a month past finding the EXACT sun position, and this time of year the sun will be below the sat position by just a bit.

You will be looking for 119 and 110 for the main birds, plus 61.5 for the DC HD Locals.
 
EA should generally point south versus WA which will look to the southwest. Also being in VA, you will have a pretty good elevation for EA most likely getting you over most trees.
 
I have a problem. I have no line of sight from my house. Trees from my neighbors property block all access. I do however have line of sight from my front yard fence, which is about 35 feet from my house. Can I install a post type dish mount and what are the cable length limitations if any?

Bryan
I hate cable too..35 feet is chicken scratch..Fire away!!!!
now....ARe you interested in HD locals? Or is it just Standard Definition for you?
If HD, you'll need to have a view of the Southeastern sky for an Eastern Arc dish. This is because the Wash DC locals in HD are on the 61.5.....Eastern Arc looks at the 61.5. 72.7 and 77 degree orbital slots.
 
Firstly, thank you all for the inputs. Much appreciated.
Dischcomm, I would be interested in getting the HD locals as well. However, if not possible I could always install a HD antenna to obtain these as an alternative.

My house is a rambler, ranch style and is situated North and South lengthwise.
My driveway is on the backside of the house and faces east over an open field, farmland, with the mountains about 30 miles away. To the west I have a failure clear field of view as well. The southern end of my house I have trees which obscure the view. The trees are on my neighbors property and there is no way he will allow me to trim them to get a LOS. However, if I put the dish along the fence next to the driveway and along the road, I think I can get a LOS from there. I don't know what the differences would be as far as direction for DirectTV vs Dish. I called a local Dish Network retailer and they wanted $75 just to do a site survey.

Bryan
 
Yes I have tried Dishpointer and I am fairly confident that the line of sight issue can be overcome. I think the installer that came by months ago wasn't really motivated and didn't offer the option of installing off house on a pole.
I would also like to know if I could have an extended pole on the roof peak to attach to the dish and perhaps overcome the LOS issue?
 
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Yes I have tried Dishpointer and I am fairly confident that the line of sight issue can be overcome. I think the installer that came by months ago wasn't really motivated and didn't offer the option of installing off house on a pole.
I would also like to know if I could have an extended pole on the roof peak to attach to the dish and perhaps overcome the LOS issue?

Like somebody mentioned before, the eastern arc dish has a high elevation in our area. You should be fine without a pole on the roof.
 
Was it a Directv installer that told you this? Dish network points in a different direction in our area which means you have a better chance of having a good line of sight to the eastern arc sats.
 
Go outside RIGHT NOW and look in the direction of the sun. If you have a clear shot with some clearing below it you can probably get an install from dish network.
 
Love to, but I am at work in Dulles at the moment. Yes it was a Direct TV installer. I liked Direct TV, and would prefer it over Dish because it is all I have experience with.
 
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Bummer. I'm not sure who does installs in Warrenton, but you could give "via satellite" a call and see if they will do a site survey for you. They are a pretty large outfit and might do it for free.
 

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