no line of sight!

[eddieras]

after much deliberation regarding switching from directv to dish (for Centre Ice/ hockey reasons) and after 10 years with directv i finally made up my mind.

the tech comes out today but can't get a line of sight on the hd sat. there's a tree in the way. now i'm not a tech guy, but i'm wondering if there's something more that can be done- a pole, etc? i was also wondering about using separate dishes (as i see many homes with more than one) but of course i don't know. so i've come to you guys where i always get educated...

i guess i've become jaded about techs and thinking that sometimes they just take the easy way out.

 

[HIFI]

where are you located,and do you have LOS to 61.5?

 

[eddieras]

i'm in deerfield IL - about 28 miles north of chicago - he said he can get two sats, but not the HD one. i really don't know about the sat names/ numbers. i just found this site
DishPointer.com » Satellite Dish Pointer / Alignment Calculator with Google Maps but i'm still trying to figure out how to use it

i feel like i'm under the gun to - i want the centre ice package with whomever i'm with but there's no refunds on it. i can wait while i sort this out but then i miss games too!

any advise would be so appreciated!

 

[JimK2]

I use 2 dishes to get around a big tree.

You can use google earth to find your Lat and Long and altitude
Google Earth

Then use "DishPoint" to find best location for 110, 119, and for HD 129 or 61.5 (only one needed). Use the 'drag tool' to find maxium heigth of obstacle from any distance from dish, then use altitude from google earth and add how tall tree is.
DishPointer.com » Satellite Dish Pointer / Alignment Calculator with Google Maps

 

[Liquidforce88]

Just call again and have another tech come out. If he tells you the same thing then it's true.

 

[topcat0399]

Just call again and have another tech come out. If he tells you the same thing then it's true.

and make sure you ask the tech pointedly about both 129 and 61.5 sats. dont ignore a possible 2 dish solution.

in your area 129 is around compass heading 230-233 degress and about 26+ degrees up. 61.5 is around 140-143 and about 34 degrees up. make sure he checks it from diffrent places on your property. pole, roof, soffit, garage roof, whatever.

 

[eddieras]

thank you so much - everyone- for your help!

i just checked everything out as instructed- 129 is not listed on dishpointer... 61.5 is, tho.

the tech was scoping the southwest and pointed to the tree (about 10 feet off the house) saying that was the culprit. however, according to dishpointer, 61.5 is to the southEAST!! not even in the direction he was checking!

He did tell me the only sat he couldn't get was the HD- which is the 129. why then did he not check for the 61.5??

dishpointer did have an Echostar 9 121.0W which was a bit marginal as far as clearance - i don't know what this sat is, tho.

the only sats on dishpointer in the direction of the tree are the 119 and this 121 sat. the 110 is slightly more south, and not obstructed by the tree i believe.

i did ask about 2 dishes. but again he said since he couldn't get the HD, that was not going to help.

seems like he just ignored the 61.5. it appears he would have been able to shoot one dish at the 61.5 and a second dish at the others. am i correct in understanding this?

also, if the above is correct, i assume these two dishes still integrate seamlessly into the dish receiver, correct?

 

[whatchel1]

1 dish

thank you so much - everyone- for your help!

i just checked everything out as instructed- 129 is not listed on dishpointer... 61.5 is, tho.

the tech was scoping the southwest and pointed to the tree (about 10 feet off the house) saying that was the culprit. however, according to dishpointer, 61.5 is to the southEAST!! not even in the direction he was checking!

He did tell me the only sat he couldn't get was the HD- which is the 129. why then did he not check for the 61.5??

dishpointer did have an Echostar 9 121.0W which was a bit marginal as far as clearance - i don't know what this sat is, tho.

the only sats on dishpointer in the direction of the tree are the 119 and this 121 sat. the 110 is slightly more south, and not obstructed by the tree i believe.

i did ask about 2 dishes. but again he said since he couldn't get the HD, that was not going to help.

seems like he just ignored the 61.5. it appears he would have been able to shoot one dish at the 61.5 and a second dish at the others. am i correct in understanding this?

also, if the above is correct, i assume these two dishes still integrate seamlessly into the dish receiver, correct?

You had an installer that is so used to putting in a single dish hitting all 3 sat that he doesn't know anything else. You will need to get someone else out there that will look at both a single and dual dishes. The LOS maybe that he thought that tree was in the way of 129 which is W of 119.

 

[eddieras]

so it could be done- one dish at the 61.5 and the other dish at the other 2 sats, right?

i heard that the 61.5 may not get all the locals- where can i find out this info out and if it effects me?

 

[osu1991]

The chicago hd locals and the rsn for chicago come off 129. All the national hd is mirrored on 61.5

EKB: Dish HD Locals

 

[eddieras]

thanks for that.. since i can't get the 129, any chance they let me get the locals from another city? NYC is on 61.5

 

[JimK2]

thanks for that.. since i can't get the 129, any chance they let me get the locals from another city? NYC is on 61.5

DISH can't give you out of market broadcasts, some people change their service address to another city and "move" (wink). Dishpointer does not have 129w so use 127.0W Galaxy 13 and 131.0W C-Band AMC 11. Seems if its only a tree, there must be some place on your property with LOS to 129.0W.

 

[eddieras]

thanks.... so i can actually get everything but my locals and local rsn? i do have an OTA, but as i understand it i would not get guide info for my OTA without the locals. is this all correct?

 

[cparker]

I have a 2 dish system. We use 110/119 here on one dish and 61.5 on the other. The dishes obviously do not have to be mounted right next to each other, but it CAN require a bit of a creative install in terms of cabling, etc. I have seen dish installs in my area where one dish is at the front of the house and the other is all the way at the back of the rear yard in order to hit the other satellite.

Interesting question about the guide info. If you subscribe to locals, but those locals are on 129 and you can't SEE 129... would you still get guide info? I don't know that. I have always assumed the guide info for the locals comes from the same satellite as the locals themselves. I may be incorrect in that thinking.

 

[osu1991]

guide info comes from 110 for the dvrs extended guide. You just have to subscribe to locals from dish to get guide info.

 

[GravelChan]

thanks.... so i can actually get everything but my locals and local rsn? i do have an OTA, but as i understand it i would not get guide info for my OTA without the locals. is this all correct?

Most SD locals are on 110, a subscription to locals gives you both SD and HD locals (if Dish has HD locals for your area).

A subscription to locals will give you guide info for OTA locals whether Dish
has your HD locals or not (as long as they have the SD locals). Exception, if you're watching OTA locals on a translator/repeater station you are out of luck on the guide info.

 

[eddieras]

Thanks again guys... i get OTA HD locals without a problem. so if i go with two dishes, one at the 61.5 and the other at 110 & 119, i'll get everything (i'm subscribing to AEP, Locals, and Centre Ice) except the local hds (and local hd rsn) correct? and i'll still get guide info for my OTA...

would two dishes be considered a 'typical' install?

also, (dumb question) with two dishes i assume everything's integrated into one receiver and from a user standpoint i wouldn't even notice the difference. is this true?

 

[Hall]

guide info comes from 110 for the dvrs extended guide.

The "virtual" channels, i.e. local digital sub-channels, guide data come from the same satellite as the locals themselves though, so if his locals are off of 129', he'll get "Digital Service" for all of the sub-channels.

 

[Andrewwski]

would two dishes be considered a 'typical' install?

also, (dumb question) with two dishes i assume everything's integrated into one receiver and from a user standpoint i wouldn't even notice the difference. is this true?

True.

And I'd think two dishes would be typical, but that's only a probably. Around here it is standard (about half the installs get them) because we are too far east for 129, so almost everyone uses 61.5.

Whether or not that's true in your area though, I'm not sure.

 

[KAB]

so it could be done- one dish at the 61.5 and the other dish at the other 2 sats, right?

i heard that the 61.5 may not get all the locals- where can i find out this info out and if it effects me?

I had the same exact scenario...except my tech looked SE. I have two dishes.