Line of Sight?!

joden80

Member
Original poster
Jun 28, 2008
7
0
I signed up for Dish with Claude a couple days ago. My apartment has a balcony that faces South so I figured installation would be no problemo. The technician pulled out binocular looking things and was looking around, and apparently my roof blocks the line of sight for HD (i'm on the 3rd floor). He said that I couldn't hang the dish off the balcony which I have now seen to be true unless I get permission. I live in an equity apartment has anyone installed a Dish bolted to the balcony at an Equity Apartment? Are they cool with it? What are my options? Am I going to have to not get the HD Package? Will the non-HD channels be okay? If I do still go with Dish without the HD Package can I still get a 722 tuner? I would like to be able to hook up an antenna to at least get the local HD channels. Do I have a better chance for line of sight with DirecTV? Sorry if I am rambling, but I am frustrated and don't want to have to get Comcast. They are bloody awful!
 
I can not answer anything about Equity, but if you do not subscribe to any HD programming, you must pay a $7 per month receiver enabling fee.
 
I signed up for Dish with Claude a couple days ago. My apartment has a balcony that faces South so I figured installation would be no problemo. The technician pulled out binocular looking things and was looking around, and apparently my roof blocks the line of sight for HD (i'm on the 3rd floor). He said that I couldn't hang the dish off the balcony which I have now seen to be true unless I get permission. I live in an equity apartment has anyone installed a Dish bolted to the balcony at an Equity Apartment? Are they cool with it? What are my options? Am I going to have to not get the HD Package? Will the non-HD channels be okay? If I do still go with Dish without the HD Package can I still get a 722 tuner? I would like to be able to hook up an antenna to at least get the local HD channels. Do I have a better chance for line of sight with DirecTV? Sorry if I am rambling, but I am frustrated and don't want to have to get Comcast. They are bloody awful!


whoever Claude is..

whats an "equity " apartment again? whats allowed there for mounting is between you and the management. discuss it with them. The Dish guy can only give you your possible "options".

If you cant "SEE" one of the HD SATS (either 129, or 61.5) from where the management allows a Dish to be mounted - then no, you cant get HD thru Dish.

You could perhaps use rabbit ears connected directly to your HD TV to get your locals in HD.

If you cant get the HD SATS, and you want to record HD locals on a 722, sure you can do this, but Dish will charge you and HD enabling fee to allow it. Dish is not responsible for wether or not you can actually PICKUP HD locals (or any OTA locals for that matter) with an off- the- air antenna. That is something you would have to solve your self.


good luck.

cant speak for Direct TV - Im a Dish Guy.
 
Last edited:
whoever Claude is..

whats an "equity " apartment again? whats allowed there for mounting is between you and the management. discuss it with them. The Dish guy can only give you your possible "options".

If you cant "SEE" one of the HD SATS (either 129, or 61.5) from where the management allows a Dish to be mounted - then no, you cant get HD thru Dish.

You could perhaps use rabbit ears connected directly to your HD TV to get your locals in HD.

If you cant get the HD SATS, and you want to record HD locals on a 722, sure you can do this, but Dish will charge you and HD enabling fee to allow it. Dish is not responsible for wether or not you can actually PICKUP HD locals (or any OTA locals for that matter) with an off- the- air antenna. That is something you would have to solve your self.


good luck.

cant speak for Direct TV - Im a Dish Guy.

Only one of the supporting founders, HUGE site sponsor, and in some cases, a moderator of this site as well. ;)
 
Thanks for the replies. So are they HD satellites Directly above me? No angle whatsoever? I still don't understand how I don't get a clear line of sight on the satellites.
 
Thanks for the replies. So are they HD satellites Directly above me? No angle whatsoever? I still don't understand how I don't get a clear line of sight on the satellites.

no, they are not directly above you. a good installer would have informed you of exactly where they are in the sky from your possible dish location(s). too bad you didnt get a good one.

61.5 is a little east of you and 129 and quite a ways west (i assume you are in NYC?). 129 would be quite low in the sky from there.

does anyone else near you have DISH HD? If yes, go have a look at where thier dishes are looking. you will need a clear view in the same general directions.
 
no, they are not directly above you. a good installer would have informed you of exactly where they are in the sky from your possible dish location(s). too bad you didnt get a good one.

61.5 is a little east of you and 129 and quite a ways west (i assume you are in NYC?). 129 would be quite low in the sky from there.

does anyone else near you have DISH HD? If yes, go have a look at where thier dishes are looking. you will need a clear view in the same general directions.

I'm actually in Atlanta, GA, and the installer said my roof was blocking the HD satellite. He said I could pick up normal channels, but not HD :-/ It seemed like he had something to do today because he called and came extra early and bolted pretty quickly. oh well his supervisor is coming out to double check. We'll see what happens. Also, I have a DB2 right now to pick up HD and its nice but not enough channels.
 
If the roof is blocking Hi-Def, more than likely the tech was talking about 61.5. With as low as 129 sits in the ATL area, it's doubt full that's the problem. When the sup (or QAS, or "Lead Tech") gets out there, ask him if he's going for 61.5 or 129, then ask if the other is possible after he tells you. I beleive for Atlanta Locals are on both 61.5 & 129. Good Luck

Cory
 
Address: Atlanta, GA, Latitude: 33.754°, Longitude: -84.390°
For DISH HD you need satellite 61.5 or 129. If you can't get 61.5,
maybe you have clear LOS to 129

Satellite: 61.5W Echostar 3, Rainbow 1
Elevation: 43.7°
Azimuth (true): 142.8°
Azimuth (magn.): 147.3°
Skew: -30.2°

Satellite: 129.0W Echostar 5
Elevation: 28.7°
Azimuth (true): 240.6°
Azimuth (magn.): 245.1°
Skew: 46.4°
DishPointer.com - Satellite Dish Pointer / Alignment Calculator with Google Maps

DirecTV satellites will be lower in the sky for you but not as low as DISH 129.
DirecTV satellite's 99/101/103/110 and 119
 
DirecTV satellites will be lower in the sky for you but not as low as DISH 129.
Wrong ,Directv Satellites are higher in elevation then E*110,119,129 and 61.5

Your LocationSatellite DataDish Setup DataLatitude: 33.754°
Longitude: -84.390°
Name: DirecTV 5 LNB (99, 101, 103, 110, 119W)​
Distance: 37286km
Elevation: 46.9°
Azimuth (true): 208.2°
Azimuth (magn.): 212.7°
Dish skew: 66.8°
 
I live in atlanta and have recently lost view of the 129 satellite. I recently had a second dish installed pointing at the 61.5 satellite. As of right now, if you can see 61.5, you will get all the national HD channels (Discovery, TLC, TNT, ect.) but you will not get the locals in HD (ABC, NBC, ect.) Right now, the locals are only on 129... which is stupid because 129 is a crappy satellite that sits low in the sky, and why they put the locals for the city with the most trees in the country is beyond me... it is a very common problem for people in the Atlanta area... LUCKILY, rumor has it that the locals will soon be mirrored on the 61.5 sat. They are currently uplinked to 61.5 but are not available yet.

My advice to you would be, if you have sight of the 61.5 sat, let him install one for that (you will have to have 2 dishes total... one for 61.5 and one for 110/119). With that setup you will have all the SD channels (including locals) and all the national HD channels. You can also hook an OTA antenna up directly to your 722 reciever and get the locals in HD (they will show up in yellow on your guide and you can record them just like any other station). And then hopefully in the near future they will make the locals available on the 61.5 sat!

As a side note, anyone know when this may happen? Thanks!
 
Wow Information overload! LOL. I will be sure to ask my technician about all this stuff. I don't really care about getting locals because I plan on hooking up an antenna to my 722. I drove around my complex and a bunch of people have dish network dishes, and they seem to have a worse view than me. (I know that just because your neighbor has it doesn't mean that you can get it) I just hope the supervisor/lead tech is more willing to work with me than just say "eh, it can't be done". Thanks for all your input.
 
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)