3 lnb LOS same as 5 lnb?

[keller814]

Im getting my new 5lnb dish next week. Right now my 3lnb is getting great signal, but there are some trees in the area that worry me. If My 3lnb is going strong is there any reason I should be stressing the 5lnb? I just dont know how far away the HD birds are from the ones I curently using.

 

[harshness]

Assuming that they are going to be able to mount the dish in roughly the same location, you should be fine. The new behemoth dish is much larger and requires a very sturdy mount.

The newest satellite, DIRECTV 10, will be inside the range of the existing satellites, but the next satellite will be going a couple of degrees to the East of 101W. Your existing dish points at 110W and the new dish will point at 101W.

 

[keller814]

Oh, I didnt know the 5 lnb was alot bigger. My dish right now is on a tripod that the installer put on my balcony. Hopefully that is good enough.

 

[iwc5893]

Generally, the tripod won't be enough. The new dish uses a 2" OD pole, and the old one used a 1 5/8" OD pole. There are some tripods you can purchase that are designed for the 5 LNB dish, but the installer probably won't have them on his truck.

The window for the 3 LNB dish is from the 101 to the 119. For the 5 LNB, it is from the 99 to the 119. If your 3 LNB was installed with proper LOS, including the extra spacing on each side of the window, the 5 LNB won't have a problem either.

 

[charper1]

The dish is no behemoth; but as IWC said above, tripod and balcony will end up 1 of 2 ways IMHO.

1. An installer willing to "rig it up" which will likely leave you as a bitter customer in the long term.

2. An installer that will put 2 + 2 together and say "no way".

 

[atp1313]

Depending on metal or wood framed balcony, can't the installer either:
1) cable-strap the pole to the top and bottom rail or at least at several points along the balustrades?
2) drill some angle-brackets the pole and then to the railing/balustrades?

Then there is the old handy-dandy 5-gallon pickle bucket filled with cement.

 

[charper1]

Well attaching/drilling ANYTHING to any walls, ceilings, floors or railings of a rental property are a NO-NO. AND, to do it, you best have a very lieniant landlords, stay on their good side, get approval in writting beforehand, and be willing to through all that out the window if they ever sell.

 

[keller814]

Yeah i just called the local install office and they dont have a tripod for the 5lnb. However my tripod is currently bolted to my balcony, last dude used a masonry drill. So hopefully the installer I get this time wont have a problem since the tripod is secured? I am pretty disheartened about not being able to get HD after I just bought my first HDTV

 

[iwc5893]

Yeah i just called the local install office and they dont have a tripod for the 5lnb. However my tripod is currently bolted to my balcony, last dude used a masonry drill. So hopefully the installer I get this time wont have a problem since the tripod is secured? I am pretty disheartened about not being able to get HD after I just bought my first HDTV

The pole that is inside the tripod is a smaller diameter than the one for a 5 LNB dish, by 3/8".

 

[atp1313]

Well attaching/drilling ANYTHING to any walls, ceilings, floors or railings of a rental property are a NO-NO. AND, to do it, you best have a very lieniant landlords, stay on their good side, get approval in writting beforehand, and be willing to through all that out the window if they ever sell.

I was really only talking about those thin metal tightening rings that you screw down to make tighter, similar in design to the ring clamp you use to connect your dryer hose to the external vent pipe.

But seeing as how the OP states that there are already drilled holes, the precedent is in place. And even if new holes have to be drilled in case the old ones don't line up, the new mounting bracket would likely hide the old holes and it would appear that the new bracket is in the same holes/location as the old mount/holes.

 

[charper1]

Sorry, was not specifically pointing to your post, but as general info to the OP. And really, regardless of what he may or may not already have in place, if they decide to change hands or crap on his parade, he will still have no legal leg to stand on AND any installer can still refuse to do the work is all am saying; just background info so he can be prepared for the more common of situations and not feel that DirecTV is trying to screw him or that he is being singled out.

 

[HDinCincy]

My installer has stated that at times he has taken the new 2" pipe mount, cut off the bend and slid it OVER the existing mount. Then drilled through both and bolted together. my advice is be ready to help (and tip) the dude if he's willing to do it. BTW... he didn't actually do this on my install just said he'd done it before. HTH

 

[keller814]

Yeah I will just have to offer the installer help and a tip if he can do what your describing. I will just hope for the best.

Also good to see another person from cincy on here too, Who Dey!


Update; Looks like the problem is solved, I got permission to use the balcony rail mounts from my apt office. So I told D* to bring those bad boys. I'll be glad to get rid of that big tripod on my balcont as well.

 

[charper1]

Make damn sure to get that in writing and signed by someone of "real" authority.

 

[keller814]

Make damn sure to get that in writing and signed by someone of "real" authority.

Ive got the official directv permission form signed, so I should be good. My apartment complex seems to be pretty lax on the whole satellite issue.
What do you mean "real" authority by the way? Should'nt someone from the apt. office suffice?

Heres what I have signed; this is OK right?
http://www.directv.com/see/pdf/installationpermissionform.pdf

 

[iwc5893]

Ive got the official directv permission form signed, so I should be good. My apartment complex seems to be pretty lax on the whole satellite issue.
What do you mean "real" authority by the way? Should'nt someone from the apt. office suffice?

Heres what I have signed; this is OK right?
http://www.directv.com/see/pdf/installationpermissionform.pdf

That's all the installer should need to mount the dish. I would also recommend that you keep a copy for future reference because the installer will take the original.

 

[charper1]

Ive got the official directv permission form signed, so I should be good. My apartment complex seems to be pretty lax on the whole satellite issue.
What do you mean "real" authority by the way? Should'nt someone from the apt. office suffice?

Heres what I have signed; this is OK right?
http://www.directv.com/see/pdf/installationpermissionform.pdf

Amen on you then for getting the signed documents; most don't and them pitch a hissy that they are being screwed by the big corporation after the fact. A "real" person of authority would be the maint mgr and/or the on-site mgr; not just any underpaid phone monkey or general complex lackey.. (if you knew the back-story this is no slam)

And heed IWC's advise make a copy or two.

 

[Horn_for_life]

The pole that is inside the tripod is a smaller diameter than the one for a 5 LNB dish, by 3/8".

So if my dish is on my roof, literally bolted through the shingles as this was the only place I could get a clear shot, do they have to pull that up to put in a 5 lnb dish? That would really suck. I would hope that the mounts are the same and they can just replace the pole and not take out the lag bolts that are through my shingles. It has never leaked, lots of caulk, and I don't want to mess with it.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

So if my dish is on my roof, literally bolted through the shingles as this was the only place I could get a clear shot, do they have to pull that up to put in a 5 lnb dish? That would really suck. I would hope that the mounts are the same and they can just replace the pole and not take out the lag bolts that are through my shingles. It has never leaked, lots of caulk, and I don't want to mess with it.

The mounting plate is larger and the holes don't line up. They left my old dish up and mounted the new one nearby. I removed the old dish, leaving the mounting plate because I didn't want to risk leaks.