Just a little experiment...

[kc5qih]

Okay so i'm going to order my system tomorrow..and well i went out to my "planned installation spot" with a johnson angle finder, and a compass...just to see something..i picked two satellites, SBS 6 and IA5, so i guess im asking if what i did will give me an idea to whether or not my dish will clear the roof. I found the correct azimuth on my compass, then took my johnson angle finder, it appears that the pitch of my roof is 20 degrees, and the elevation angle for IA 5 is 53.3 degrees and SBS 6 is 45.5 degrees. So assuming that my dish was mounted at the same height above ground as the eve of my home...then I would set the motor elevation at 31.5 degrees and then set the dish at 41.5(for the type motor I will be ordering, then hypothetically i should clear the roof by some 21.5 degrees, is this enough in everyones opinion to be a good place to mount? I realize it's probably hard to answer that question without seeing what im talking about but it looks like i'll have 21.5 between the roof line and IA5. I hope this all makes sense..im just trying to educate myself as much as possible. I think i really should be able to do it just fine..just can't wait for the thing..hopefully i can get it by mid week next week.

 

[PipeDream]

Sounds like that would work fine to me.
And besides, the dish/LNB doesn't point directly at the satellite.
The satellite will actually be a good bit higher than where you point your dish.

But your far Eastern and Western satellites might be more of a concern since they will be lower in the horizon.

 

[Stefan]

As long as the roof doesn't obstruct your dishes view of the satellite you'll be fine. Anyway, the thing you might want to do is pick 2 satellites at the 2 extreme ends of your arc and do this because the elevation of the satellites above the hoizon will decrease at the ends of the arc and if you have a problem with the roof blocking the veiw that's where it'll likely happen.

Sadoun has a page that can help you determine exactly where your dish will be pointing when aimed at each satellite. This page is meant for calculating look angles for fixed dish installations but it can be helpful in a situation like this where you want to make sure you'll have a unobstructed view of a satellite at your installation location. Simply go to this page.

http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Installation/Satellite-Heading-Calculator.htm

Then pick a few satellites distributed throughout your arc. As I suggested earlier make sure you include at least one at both extreme ends of your arc. Then just plug in the numbers and print out the results for each one. Then when you go outside with your compass and angle finder take the print outs with you. You can then site down a tube of somekind with the angle finder atop it to try and locate the approximate position of the satellites in the sky. Of course you'll want to do this while standing at the location you plan on mounting the dish with your head at about the same level above ground the center of your dish will be. Also remember to adjust for magnetic deviation when making azimuth readings on your compass. If your angle finder has a magnetic bottom as some of them do keep it far away (I say at least 15-20 feet) from your compass whenever your taking azimuth readings as this will definitely throw off your compass readings.