I have had directv installers out twice and both have told me that i have no direct line of sight. Has anyone found away around this problem? there are small tree branches in the way. I am debating whether to hook up the dish myself and see what kind of picture I get. Any thoughts or suggestions?
No direct line of sight to southern sky
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Not to bash you personally, but man if I could smack the customers who think like you. As being a independant contractor, I dont get paid for coming out to a site and giving it a No Line Of Site (NLOS). I have had quite a few that after declaring that they deffinately had NLOS, tell me that i was the 3rd or 4th person there to tell them the same thing!!!! Over the course of a year I call in less than 3% of my jobs as NLOS, so needless to say I scour the site.
I can't say the same for the installers that came to your residence. If I would you I would give it one more shot but be adiment that you want a TECH SUP to come out to VERIFY the LOS issue.
If you feel you have a los then go ahead and give it a try.
I am not an installer and I have done plenty of dish set ups ...
Sometimes you may have to remove a tree limb or two or tree depending, or go up on a roof or farther out in the yard.
Give it a good look before you decide it cannot be done.
Jimbo
I am not an installer and I have done plenty of dish set ups ...
Sometimes you may have to remove a tree limb or two or tree depending, or go up on a roof or farther out in the yard.
Give it a good look before you decide it cannot be done.
Jimbo
Get one last TECH support site survey and if that's a no go, then DIY and get that dish as high up and back from the trees as you can and see what you can get on your own. You can always sell the hardware or hold on to it for if you ever move. Really, although I have seen very few sites that CAN'T be done, an installer would really have no need to tell you that unless your site was going to be a nightmare install that takes him/her all day long and eats in their piecemeal work count.
If you are interested in all the latest programming (local channels, HD etc) the installer could be right or it could be very difficult to do. I had installer tell me same.
However, since I am in a rural area with no cable or over the air reception, some TV was better than no TV. I was perfectly happy to just try to get the 101 sat for basic programming and didn't care about local or HD. So I did a DIY install and got reception.
I am surrounded by trees plus a high hill in direction of satellites. So before buying system and doing install, I obtained the azimuth and elevation setting for my location for round dish (off Direct TV web site). Got a good sighting compass and started looking for openings in trees or location I could possibly aim over trees in direction of azimuth bearing. Nothing from ground so got on roof and checked again and was able to locate a suitable mounting site.
When looking for a "line of sight", you have to also consider the elevation angle. Mine was 40 degrees which means the satellite is pretty high in the sky. I understand the dish actually "points" below the satellite for the proper reflection angle so the satellite is actually somewhat higher. So take into account the elevation as well as the azimuth when looking for "line of sight".
I don't think you need a very wide opening either as mine is only about 15 feet side to side but is clear above. Trees may eventually grow to block signal but will worry about that when it happens.
So with some effort in it, was able to find a roof mount location to aim between some trees and over others to get good signal. So much for the installer's "you'll never get reception here".
However, since I am in a rural area with no cable or over the air reception, some TV was better than no TV. I was perfectly happy to just try to get the 101 sat for basic programming and didn't care about local or HD. So I did a DIY install and got reception.
I am surrounded by trees plus a high hill in direction of satellites. So before buying system and doing install, I obtained the azimuth and elevation setting for my location for round dish (off Direct TV web site). Got a good sighting compass and started looking for openings in trees or location I could possibly aim over trees in direction of azimuth bearing. Nothing from ground so got on roof and checked again and was able to locate a suitable mounting site.
When looking for a "line of sight", you have to also consider the elevation angle. Mine was 40 degrees which means the satellite is pretty high in the sky. I understand the dish actually "points" below the satellite for the proper reflection angle so the satellite is actually somewhat higher. So take into account the elevation as well as the azimuth when looking for "line of sight".
I don't think you need a very wide opening either as mine is only about 15 feet side to side but is clear above. Trees may eventually grow to block signal but will worry about that when it happens.
So with some effort in it, was able to find a roof mount location to aim between some trees and over others to get good signal. So much for the installer's "you'll never get reception here".
P.S. to above:
check out the thread titled "Satellites and trees" by ldubin in this form. Look at pictures on page 2 of that thread. If he got signal though that little hole in the trees, may be hope for you unless you are wanting to do a 5 LNB setup also.
check out the thread titled "Satellites and trees" by ldubin in this form. Look at pictures on page 2 of that thread. If he got signal though that little hole in the trees, may be hope for you unless you are wanting to do a 5 LNB setup also.
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