LineOfSight Question

bgsmallwood

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Apr 30, 2004
401
0
The Nations
I am ready to sign a contract on a new home and the only hesitation I have is LOS for Dish.
The house is in a low area and there are some trees to the south.

I have a VIP211 with HD-Absolute but I would add my locals if I move here.


This picture was taken from the West side looking directly East.
BlackJackRidge3012-modified.jpg


Dishpointer says:
Elevation 42.9
Azimuth 214.7 (T)
Azimuth 210.3 (M)
Skew 117.7


Does this picture give any clue about LOS?
Should I have an installer survey for LOS?
How much should it cost to do so?

Also, Will my current 3lnb dish work for the locals or would I need a different dish?

Thanks
 
Your azimuth shows you looking South West so a picture to the East tells us little. Definitely suggest you contact a local dealer for a site survey seeing you don't even know where to look for the satellites.
 
If you are looking east, then from the east corner of that house, I would say you were good to go. You are in the Tulsa dma aren't you? We have a pretty high look angle here. I have trees closer than those that I shoot over. If you have a Dish 1000 then you are good for locals.
 
I used 2 free software programs - Orbitron and Stellarium, to determine my clear LOS.

Use Orbitron to get the exact altitude, azimuth for your satellites desired.

Use Stellarium to figure the time of night to look at the sky... pick a time when a bright star is next to or "on" the satellite.

It took me about 20 minutes to run out to the backyard and find spots for each satellite dish.
 
If you are looking east, then from the east corner of that house, I would say you were good to go. You are in the Tulsa dma aren't you? We have a pretty high look angle here. I have trees closer than those that I shoot over. If you have a Dish 1000 then you are good for locals.

I'm in the OKC DMA.

I have a Dish 1000 and 110 119 129 currently but like I said, I will add locals if I move here.

I called today about a survey to verify LOS but no one I called is interested. They are all eager to come out and install but I haven't bought the house yet so I can't really authorize them to install yet. :)
 
I used 2 free software programs - Orbitron and Stellarium, to determine my clear LOS.

Use Orbitron to get the exact altitude, azimuth for your satellites desired.

Use Stellarium to figure the time of night to look at the sky... pick a time when a bright star is next to or "on" the satellite.

It took me about 20 minutes to run out to the backyard and find spots for each satellite dish.

Hey Thanks :)

Aside from this use, those are 2 really good programs.;)

Now I have a star to follow from7:15pm - 8:15pm to check line of sight.

IF I don't get arrested for hanging around an unoccupied house after dark. :eek:
 
I'm in the OKC DMA.

I have a Dish 1000 and 110 119 129 currently but like I said, I will add locals if I move here.

I called today about a survey to verify LOS but no one I called is interested. They are all eager to come out and install but I haven't bought the house yet so I can't really authorize them to install yet. :)

Your good with the dish 1000. Tulsa and OKC hd locals are both on 129.

Don't worry about getting arrested, I was all around an empty house this evening, that I finally got the selling bank to agree to sell me after 7 weeks of them hemhawing around. I was more worried that being Oklahoma the neighbor would shoot first then call the county sheriff! I can't wait for them to see the big cband dish going back up in the coming months:D
 
Thanks to all who responded!

I am sure that I have a clear LOS now and I even know how to use orbitron and stellarium to find an exact spot in the night sky.

I am looking forward very much to moving into this house. :)

Again, thanks
 
It looks like it might work if you go at the peak of the roof, or even a pole mount. Looking at the picture I would say about an 85% chance it will go in.

The key here is the trees are not right up to the house, as if your in the middle of a forest

I would call a local dealer and they will probably charge you like $50 to do a site survey. Well worth it in my opinion as I aint buying a house if I got to be stuck with cable.

The only thing about line of site, is that you really don't know until you get on the roof and see what the treeline looks like.