Placement of Directv Dish

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brbowen

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Jan 15, 2008
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Hi guys...i've been reading this site for several months now and loving it. In fact, i recently got myself a pub membership. Anyway, i just had a quick question for your tech minds. I currently have Dish HD, and i'm adding Directv as well. When they installed the Dish1000, they had to move my dish from the back corner of my yard to the front-side yard, because it wasn't getting a signal on the HD satellite, because of trees. Once the installer moved it, it worked like a charm. My question is, are the satellites for Direct very similar? Will the dish for Direct need to be installed in the same area as the Dish network dish? or is it possible it may be mounted somewhere else? I'm just curious about what to expect when they come out to install. I want to have both, so that i'm getting the most HD i can get. Thanks in advance for any information you could provide!
 
The placement will be different. The DIRECTV satellites are generally east of the constellation that DISH uses. DIRECTV's satellites are in a range from 99W to 119W and DISHes satellites are either 61.5W to 119W or 110W to 129W.

The DISH antenna points at 119W and the DIRECTV dish points at 101W.

It is conceivable that the DIRECTV dish could reside on the roof as their satellites aren't out on the "wings" so much as DISH's are. Note that the mounts are not interchangeable.
 
Elevation is whats the factor here, since the 129 sat that gets the HD comes in so low. Is Directs hd sat come in at a higher elevation?
 
All the satellites are in the Clarke Belt. Several of the DISH and DIRECTV satellites are co-located.

Depending on where you live, the satellites might be higher or lower in the sky. Those who live on the East Coast typically can't see 129W while those who live on the West Coast typically have trouble with 61.5W.

DIRECTV's primary HD satellites are located at 99W and 101W.

DISH's primary HD satellites are at 61.5W or 129W.

You have to run an aiming program to tell which is higher or lower, but for those on the West Coast, the DISH satellite is much higher than the DIRECTV satellites.

Of course, none of this matters if you can't see in a particular direction.
 
Elevation is whats the factor here, since the 129 sat that gets the HD comes in so low. Is Directs hd sat come in at a higher elevation?

Yes, if you are east of Texas. If you are west, they appear lower in the sky. The newer hd sats are at 99 and 103. There is some hd on the 110 and 119 sats, but it will eventually be moved to 99 and 103.
 
Thanks guys...good info! I am scheduled to be installed today, so we'll see how it goes!
 
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