VOOM in San Francisco

larrykenney

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Mar 16, 2004
552
222
San Francisco, CA
A couple of weeks ago I signed up for the VOOM satellite service. Today was the day for the dish to be installed, but it was a no go. With the VOOM satellite at 61.5 degrees west longitude, the azimuth from my home was 93 degrees with an elevation of only 14 degrees. Buildings and trees on the hill to the east of us are too high and they block access to the satellite.

The installer said that if I could get the dish about 25 feet higher I'd be able to get over the top of the buildings and trees, but putting the dish on a pole that high would make it too unstable for reliable service, especially if it was windy.

The installer said that over half of the people who have signed up for VOOM here in the San Francisco Bay Area haven't been able to get it due to obstructions. You have to have a low clear shot to the east, and this area is just too hilly.

I was really looking forward to receiving VOOM service. I downloaded and printed the station lists, the instructions for installation, and the hints for problems afterwards, all for not. Oh well... I'll try again when they get service on a satellite that's more to the west.

Larry
SF
 
Welcome Larry to the Satellite Guys. I've enjoyed your posts on the SF-HDTV Yahoo group and I'm glad to see you made it here. Sorry the VOOM install didn't work for you, but that 61.5 sat is so low for us in the bay area I think you would have a better chance of LOS in Hawaii :D

I'm still undecided on VOOM, but I do know I have LOS (just bearly) since I'm using the 61.5 for DISH
 
I'm about 100 miles south of SF, and I got Dish E*3 @ 61.5 w/ 94 Az and 15 Elev w/ 107 signal strength on Tp 20. Checked before I ordered Voom. Had to trim some limbs and just barely clear an adjacent bldg. Didn't look as if I would get a clear look using a compass and cinometer.

If you're sat intall savy, have and 18-inch dish, LNB, and DN IRD or a BirDog meter, you can check before ordering VOOM. E*3 is at 61.51W and Rainbow 1 is at 61.62W (3/24/04). Both gave 200 strength and 99 quality on the BirDog.
 
here on the east coast i can't get the E*& D* hdtv Birds for the same reason, i do get regular D* 101..The angle for the others were low 20's with tall trees and buildings, thats a killer..61.5 is nice and high in the sky for me 41 deg
 
rang1995 said:
larry, did dish take off the hd's from 148??

148 has 9428 PPVHD, 9430 SHOHD, 9440 HBOHD, 9454 CBSHD(West). 9454 is moving to 9484 (8PSK). It is unclear if 9484 wil be on 105 only or on both 148 and 105.
 
Dish HD

Thanks for the welcome, styxfix.

rang1995 asked: larry, did dish take off the hd's from 148??
I'm not familiar with where Dish's HD channels are located. You'll have to rely on the info from johnewhite. I have Dish, but haven't subscribed to their HD service. The receiver is too expensive for the small number of channels they offer. That's why I was going with Voom and their receiver/antenna rental program.

Larry
 
I guess this is the San Francisco Voom thread, although the title is misleading. I live near Mission Dolores and get good sat reception (95). Haven't had rain fade, despite some nasty weather, in the couple of days I've had Voom.

OTA reception is quirky; I'm less than 2 miles from Sutro with clear LOS, but only got a few channels when the installer aimed the Winegard Sensar right at the tower. When I turned it 90 degrees (aimed right at a 6-story building across the street), I got 14 locals instead of 5, but I lost most of the 5 I had originally. Is it normal to get such a wide difference in reception, even with stations broadcasting from the same location?
 
I've heard that people living right next to Sutro have almost as a difficult time getting the digital OTA stations as those living very far away. I would probably guess that many of your local stations that your a difficult time getting are due the strong signal bouncing all over the place. I would you suggest you trying putting an attenuator on your OTA cable to weaken the signal a bit or moving your antenna to a better location or direction.

PS Be sure to also check out the local links on LarryKenny's website: http://www.choisser.com/broadcst.html
 
Im in santa clara on a 4 story building at the top, i have clear shot at Easterly direction and aimed the dish myself. The sat is so low it looks like my dish pointing to the ground! Luckily i have to building or trees in the way. I get a 95% signal strength for voom but dont get OTA reception.
 
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