Would this be possible?

[mini1]

I wanted D*. They came out today and said no-go because eves are blocking satellite signal. I live in South FL and I'm in a condo. I can only install on screened-in balcony. I watched the installer test the slimline dish with a meter and he couldn't get a signal worth using. The eves of the roof are cutting off the signal and I cannot move the dish beyond the railing.
I went back onto Dishpointer and noticed that a Dish 1000.2's elevation is 14.1 degrees lower than a slimline. Do you think that would make a difference or I am hoping for too much? Am I stuck with crappy overpriced cable? Uverse is nowhere to be seen yet.

1000.2 Superdish 37.5°
SWM slimline 51.6°

 

[CK SatGuy]

That would make a difference if the elevation is too high and the eves are in the way.

 

[mini1]

Who is the official install company like Mastec for D*? I will give them a call and see if they can do a site survey.

 

[Mike500]

First, how close to the floor did the tech try to mount the slimline? If mounted really close to the floor, does it get the proper angle for a signal? Unfortunately, most technicians are ill equiped to fully determine if you can get line of signt in balcony installs. They usually only mount to balcony rails. As I recall, the slimline dish pan is about 20 inches in height.

You can do an experiment with string and an "angular pitch gauge or clinomenter that can be had at Home Depot for about $7. Tape the string in the direction and angle of the satellite that you are trying to determine "line of sight" at the top pf the balcony. Tape a piece of pvc pipe vertically to the railing right below the point at which the string is fastened to the top of the balcony. Tape another string parallel and directly to the first, so that the parallel spacing between the two is 20 inches. Using this method, you can determine if the dish will habe "full lone of sight." This will tell you, if you can get a full apreature for the dish and exactly were to place it to receive a full signal.

You can do the same for the Dish Network dish that you complemplate.

I developed this simple method 10 years, ago, when I did a lot of apartment installs. I have since retired from satellite installs. I also developed a mount that is simple and inexpensive to mount dishes like the Slimline as close to the floor as possible. This allow for the situation such as yours and creates a very stable mount.

 

[boba]

I wanted D*. They came out today and said no-go because eves are blocking satellite signal. I live in South FL and I'm in a condo. I can only install on screened-in balcony. I watched the installer test the slimline dish with a meter and he couldn't get a signal worth using. The eves of the roof are cutting off the signal and I cannot move the dish beyond the railing.
I went back onto Dishpointer and noticed that a Dish 1000.2's elevation is 14.1 degrees lower than a slimline. Do you think that would make a difference or I am hoping for too much? Am I stuck with crappy overpriced cable? Uverse is nowhere to be seen yet.

1000.2 Superdish 37.5°
SWM slimline 51.6°

What type of screening do you have on the screened in balcony? Metal will kill any microwave signals coming down.

For DISH you would be looking at a 1000.4 dish not a 1000.2 and you could be looking at either Western Arc or Eastern Arc from S.FL probably Eastern Arc seeing 129 would be very hard to see.

 

[Grampaw]

Miami DMA is Western Arc, West Palm Beach DMA is Eastern Arc, don't ask me why...

Walt

 

[mini1]

I would be picking up Miami locals. I took a long walk around the area last night and looked at every balcony. I saw one with a Dish 500 dual LNB and a Dish 500 with a single LNB, both facing different directions. Can Dish 500 get HD? Which satellite are the Miami locals in HD on? If I wanted Top 200 with Miami locals in and HD free for life what dishes would work for a two dish solution?

 

[TG2]

how tall is the condo (number of floors and which floor are you on) and can they install on the roof? can't they install on an outside wall .. like some condo's have HVAC units through the porch area, with grills facing outside .. etc.. just trying to think outside the box..

 

[3HaloODST]

I would be picking up Miami locals. I took a long walk around the area last night and looked at every balcony. I saw one with a Dish 500 dual LNB and a Dish 500 with a single LNB, both facing different directions. Can Dish 500 get HD? Which satellite are the Miami locals in HD on? If I wanted Top 200 with Miami locals in and HD free for life what dishes would work for a two dish solution?

What you saw was someone with a mixed-arc setup. The Twin is pointed at 110/119 and the single (or dual) is pointed at 61.5 most likely. That's no longer supported as you will be missing many HD channels. Looks like most of your locals including HD are on 110 and 119. WLRN (PBS) is on 129. With a single DISH 500 pointed at 110/119, you will get very few national HD channels and most of your HD locals. You will need a DISH 1000.2 or 1000.4 WA (Western Arc LNBF, 110/119/129) in order to get all national HD channels including locals.

 

[mini1]

how tall is the condo (number of floors and which floor are you on) and can they install on the roof? can't they install on an outside wall .. like some condo's have HVAC units through the porch area, with grills facing outside .. etc.. just trying to think outside the box..

The unit is 3 floors. The only place I can put the dish (without fighting the board) is on a second story screened-in balcony. No installs are allowed on outside walls, railings, or any common areas. The only grey area I can find is the A/C condensing unit. I need to get condo docs and determine exactly what that area is considered. I could install either a D* or E* dish near or on top of it and it would get all signals. Nobody else in the 350+ unit community has an exterior mounted dish.

 

[englishtycoon]

The unit is 3 floors. The only place I can put the dish (without fighting the board) is on a second story screened-in balcony. No installs are allowed on outside walls, railings, or any common areas. The only grey area I can find is the A/C condensing unit. I need to get condo docs and determine exactly what that area is considered. I could install either a D* or E* dish near or on top of it and it would get all signals. Nobody else in the 350+ unit community has an exterior mounted dish.

You may want to check this as FCC has rules on this and boards can only block common areas and areas of safety, if it is on the outside wall of your condo, you may be ok

 

[mini1]

You may want to check this as FCC has rules on this and boards can only block common areas and areas of safety, if it is on the outside wall of your condo, you may be ok

I read all the rules. I don't own the outside of the building. It is a common element. I cannot attach a dish. This will be the last condo I live in! If I was in a townhouse I could mount it outside no matter what the HOA said, because I would own the exterior of the building around my unit.

 

[mini1]

Nobody knows who the authorized standard installer is for South FL?

 

[boba]

Nobody knows who the authorized standard installer is for South FL?

Probably DNSC, Dish Network Service Corporation for a guess.

 

[Liquidforce88]

Well since Directv uses 99,101 & 103 for the HD that is higher in the sky. If you are on WA with Dish and it sounds like you are, You only need to hit 110, 119 & 129. So you should be fine.

 

[Mike500]

Even simpler...........

the Craftsman Digital Torpedo Level?


Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

...or the 10 in. Digital LaserTrac® Level?

Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more


I have the Craftsman 10 in. Digital LaserTrac® Level and find it very handy in finding solid obstructions and determining LOS issues in apartment balcony installs. It has a laser pointer attached to a digital clinometer.

All you need to do is to tilt the digital clinometer on the easy to read screen to the elevation adjustment of the satellite that you want to determine for LOS and move it around the balcony. If the laser pointer hits any obstruction, you will know that that is the boundary of the obstruction. The distance is short, so the laser dot can easily be seen during the day.

At night, this instrument can be very very useful for seing how a particular location is treed out. This has become very useful eapecially when you have a map on dishpointer.com.

For a particular location, I'd point the red laser dot to the ground and tilt the clinometer up the leaves in the tree until I clear the top of the tree. That's when the laser dot can no longer be seen. If the angle seen on the clinometer screen is within a few degrees of the desired elevation, it will likely be treed out sometime in the future.

If you haven't used one of these, you'd be surprised on how easy it is to use and how well it works.

And, it's a good demo tool for customers, who can actually see if they have a good LOS.

It's worth a try. If you don't like it, you can always take it back to Sears and get a full refund.

 

[rocket69]

Aa dish pointer app for your smart phone would be your saving grace.

If you looking for the DIY rout dont forget to add 15Deg to the elivation your looking for as D* and E* dish are off set by 15 ded