DTV signal w/ tree/obstruction

[rondon600]

My roomate had DTV here a while ago and when the leaves came back in the spring he had signal issues and lost the HD bird. This has been over 3yrs. Im driving down the road and I see DTV Sat dishes on peoples roof tops aimed at their 3rd story or a neighbors McMansion (I cant physicall see where they have line of sight) but these people must be getting a signal. Also Ive seen sat dishes at the boat show, under huge carnival tents, and you can shake the damn dish and the signal didnt flinch.

My question is:
Has anything changed in the signal strength over recent years? I want to dump VZ FiOS for DTV but fear that I will have issues again with leaves.

 

[randyk47]

Hard to say what your roomate's signal problems might have been. I replaced cable 8 years ago with D*. Over that time I've moved to a whole different region of the country, gone through 3 dish version upgrades, and upgraded a number of satellite receivers, audio receivers, televisions, etc., etc. I've stuck with D* because through all of this the signal has been consistently outstanding, better than anything I ever got from cable. I've transitioned from standard definition to high definition, from stereo to full surround sound and it's all been good and getting better. All I could recommend is that you get D* out to your place and see if you have a good dish installation location with no loss of signal issues.

 

[shmeff]

Three years ago most if not all the HD channels were received from the 119 satellite. The new national HD channels are coming from the new 103 sat which has a higher elevation than the 119. The 119 still has programming and is helpful when installing the 5-LNB dish. Trees obviously grow; don’t know how much in three years though. Best thing to know for sure, though as an installer it drives me nuts, would be to schedule an install (hopefully you don’t get one of the lying bad apples). Signal still will not penetrate foliage or carnival tents for that matter (probably just a display).

 

[raoul5788]

Three years ago most if not all the HD channels were received from the 119 satellite. The new national HD channels are coming from the new 103 sat which has a higher elevation than the 119. The 119 still has programming and is helpful when installing the 5-LNB dish. Trees obviously grow; don’t know how much in three years though. Best thing to know for sure, though as an installer it drives me nuts, would be to schedule an install (hopefully you don’t get one of the lying bad apples). Signal still will not penetrate foliage or carnival tents for that matter (probably just a display).

103 is higher in elevation in the east, but lower if you are on the west coast.

 

[rcman2]

My installer wouldn't even attempt to install the new dish when he saw some tree branches in the line of sight.

 

[shmeff]

103 is higher in elevation in the east, but lower if you are on the west coast.

I see

 

[aa9vi]

My installer wouldn't even attempt to install the new dish when he saw some tree branches in the line of sight.

Don't buy it! I have a 35' tree about 20 feet from my dish, a rather leafy one that that. It's clearly blocking line of sight of the 5LNB dish to satellite signal. SD Signal punches right through the tree though. The HD signals are reliable 97% of the time. I only get some pixelation when we have huge storms moving in. It lasts a few minutes at the most. It's hard to say without seeing a picture, but those tree branches would probably have to be very high or very close to the dish to present a problem. I'd recommend he/she check it out with a signal meter to prove it to you before saying for sure "no way."

 

[rcman2]

Don't buy it! I have a 35' tree about 20 feet from my dish, a rather leafy one that that. It's clearly blocking line of sight of the 5LNB dish to satellite signal. SD Signal punches right through the tree though. The HD signals are reliable 97% of the time. I only get some pixelation when we have huge storms moving in. It lasts a few minutes at the most. It's hard to say without seeing a picture, but those tree branches would probably have to be very high or very close to the dish to present a problem. I'd recommend he/she check it out with a signal meter to prove it to you before saying for sure "no way."

I didn't understand that either. I have a 3LNB dish already and the new dish will basically be in the same spot. I will take some pictures and update this post tomorrow.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Don't buy it! I have a 35' tree about 20 feet from my dish, a rather leafy one that that. It's clearly blocking line of sight of the 5LNB dish to satellite signal. SD Signal punches right through the tree though. The HD signals are reliable 97% of the time. I only get some pixelation when we have huge storms moving in. It lasts a few minutes at the most. It's hard to say without seeing a picture, but those tree branches would probably have to be very high or very close to the dish to present a problem. I'd recommend he/she check it out with a signal meter to prove it to you before saying for sure "no way."

aa9vi,
Now you have half of the picture. The other part is that the installer is a contractor looking at a possible profit job. If he expends an hour or more to set up a rig and the reception comes out as you described....many customers would refuse to accept the poor results. Dtv would not open the account. The installer would not be paid.
So they look and move on. There was a time when a No Line of Sight(NLOS) was paid $25.00 to show up and explain the problem to the customer and then close the job as NLOS.
Them days are gone.

Joe

 

[mboogey73]

I had an installer tell me my picture would pixilate too much in the wind. I ahve some big ass palm out back. He was trying to install the 5 lnb dish. He showed me the meter. One satellite was strong and consistent. The other fluctuated from 97% to 77% with wind. He said that would be a problem. I'm thinking about getting someone else out here. It's not terribly windy where I live (Miami,) and honestly, I can't deal with the local cable company. I'd rather take my chances with the wind. He said the signal was good higher on the building, but since it's concrete over wood he said it wouldn't support the slimline 5 lnb.

 

[shmeff]

Don't buy it! I have a 35' tree about 20 feet from my dish, a rather leafy one that that. It's clearly blocking line of sight of the 5LNB dish to satellite signal. SD Signal punches right through the tree though.

Satellite signal does not punch right through trees, just ask any spring-time tech.

I'd recommend he/she check it out with a signal meter to prove it to you before saying for sure "no way.".

Who wants ten holes in their roof to just see if it will work?

 

[dishcomm]

Don't buy it! I have a 35' tree about 20 feet from my dish, a rather leafy one that that. It's clearly blocking line of sight of the 5LNB dish to satellite signal. SD Signal punches right through the tree though. The HD signals are reliable 97% of the time. I only get some pixelation when we have huge storms moving in. It lasts a few minutes at the most. It's hard to say without seeing a picture, but those tree branches would probably have to be very high or very close to the dish to present a problem. I'd recommend he/she check it out with a signal meter to prove it to you before saying for sure "no way."

Don't bet on it. You may think the dish is pointed at the tree but it isn't. And don't come on here thinking you knw something. You don't. It is IMPOSSIBLE for a digital signal to pass through a solid object. So therefore the dish is NOT pointed at the tree.
If you are such an expert, strap on a toolbelt and join us. Then we will see your expertise in action.

 

[dishcomm]

aa9vi,
Now you have half of the picture. The other part is that the installer is a contractor looking at a possible profit job. If he expends an hour or more to set up a rig and the reception comes out as you described....many customers would refuse to accept the poor results. Dtv would not open the account. The installer would not be paid.
So they look and move on. There was a time when a No Line of Sight(NLOS) was paid $25.00 to show up and explain the problem to the customer and then close the job as NLOS.
Them days are gone.

Joe

some customers attempt to insist that we put the dish in anyway to "prove' to them the LOS is no good. Yeah, like I have two hours to dig ,place a pole and pour concrete to come to a conclusion I already know the result of.
I hate walking away from work. Hate it. But I am not going to get creamed with trouble calls either. So my call is final. I have integrity issues to deal with. If I start slapping in weak assed installs, who is the jerk then? ME!

 

[kingofku]

Don't bet on it. You may think the dish is pointed at the tree but it isn't. And don't come on here thinking you knw something. You don't. It is IMPOSSIBLE for a digital signal to pass through a solid object. So therefore the dish is NOT pointed at the tree.
If you are such an expert, strap on a toolbelt and join us. Then we will see your expertise in action.

The antenna has a 22.5degree offset due to the location of the lnb's, so you may think the dish is looking at an obstruction but it is actually looking over it.