It's the trees, not my dish. Right?

[gpflepsen]

You can make a "poor man's sextant" by cutting a wedge of wood at the elevation angle of 125w, ~24 degrees? Hold the bottom level and sight along the top at the elevation and see if there are obstructions.

Similarly, use a phone level app to sight the elevation line for obstructions.

Do you know your roof pitch? 24 degrees is about a 5-1/2 pitch. You could use that as a reference to estimate the line of sight.

 

[FaT Air]

Hard to tell from the pics but,would it help to move it to the other end of the roof?

Agree here. If you can't see over it, look around it. Move the dish south Simplest solution. K.I.S.S.

 

[harshness]

Now it looks like the OTA/FM setup is right in the way (if not still the chimney).

 

[oldsmobile]

You can make a "poor man's sextant" by cutting a wedge of wood at the elevation angle of 125w, ~24 degrees? Hold the bottom level and sight along the top at the elevation and see if there are obstructions.

Okay, here's a piece of wood cut to 22.5 degrees. My dish angle per the guide here for 125 is 22.6. And this is a fine example of how ill-prepared I am in geometry and such. I'm unsure how to hold and sight it.

 

[oldsmobile]

I really like the idea of that 6-foot dish for 125, and I remember when someone posted that a seller had a few for ~150. I was tempted, but I didn't have the capital at the time. I'm keeping my eyes open for deals on craigslist, as I'm sure most of us do.

I found that I do have a longer mast in my garage for the FM6 on the rotor, so I'm going to see if some height on it helps my original position. It's easier for me to stand on the ladder to adjust the 90cm dish near the roof than it would be to try to do it at the of peak AND watch for the signal on the TV. That's a fairly simple thing to try.

It's not looking promising to go south and look around that big tree. A disadvantage of living in town, I suppose.

Motorized dish in front yard that isn't seeing 121 at this point. It used to, though.:

 

[oldsmobile]

This is the view from the sidewalk in the front of the house. South end of the roof doesn't have a Commdeck as I hadn't planned to need any sighting from here. Obstruction tree is again marked.

 

[oldsmobile]

View from ground level at the southwest corner of the house in the baqck yard.

 

[oldsmobile]

And here is my fixed 90cm on 103 in the back yard, with a fine view. I haven't done exhaustive testing, but I know that 97 is visible from ground level in the back yard too. I'm potentially looking to do 103 C on a mini BUD if 125 proves to be elusive.

I really appreciate all the thoughts and suggestions.

 

[gpflepsen]

Okay, here's a piece of wood cut to 22.5 degrees. My dish angle per the guide here for 125 is 22.6. And this is a fine example of how ill-prepared I am in geometry and such. I'm unsure how to hold and sight it.

Hold the long edge away from you in a vertical orientation in the direction of 125w. Site along the angled cut, which will be ~22.5 degrees elevation. Do this from the dish mount location. You should see any obstruction pretty easily.

 

[oldsmobile]

Thanks for the picture. ..that's very clear and helpful.

 

[a33]

Best way to check visibility of various satellites from different positions: The sun-outage period (twice a year), when the sun is exacly behind the clarke belt.
If a dish is in the shadow at a specific time at sunoutage, you certainly know reception for a specific satellite is impossible.

There are very helpfull calculators for that; No need for the elevation instrument that you just made.

Outside the sun-outage period, you can also use the suncalculators for exact azimuth positions of satellites. The sun is often a better calibrated instrument than a phone-app .
Outside the sunoutage period, you need your elevation instrument though....

greetz,
A33

 

[oldsmobile]

The sun-outage period (twice a year), when the sun is exacly behind the clarke belt.
If a dish is in the shadow at a specific time at sunoutage, you certainly know reception for a specific satellite is impossible.

greetz,
A33

Hey, that's a great idea. I had forgotten about that possibility. I certainly understand a lot more about the arc and aiming than I did a few years ago. Now, I'm still hoping for some success with PBS before the next applicability period in October, though. ;-)

 

[harshness]

Best way to check visibility of various satellites from different positions: The sun-outage period (twice a year), when the sun is exacly behind the clarke belt.

At this point in time, it will be a long time before that opportunity comes around again (assuming the sun isn't obscured at the appointed time); especially given that the elevation is relatively low. Sun reckoning can be very dicey when the issue is deciduous trees that haven't filled in or have shed their leaves (as may be more likely at low look angles).

 

[a33]

harshness :
That might be.
But you can easily distinguish between high risk zones (near tree shadow) and low risk zones (further away from tree shadow) for satellite reception, I would say.

Greetz,
A33

 

[Borisov-54]

Motorized dish in front yard that isn't seeing 121 at this point. It used to, though.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are young in dushe.Zalezat on top of the tree and cut down dereva.I not any problems there.

 

[fred555]

How about I send you some pine bark beetles?
If it is a cypress, I can send you some caterpillars that will destroy it also.

 

[Titanium]

Aiming hint: On the GSP 90cm dish, look up the underneath side of the center LNBF support arm when aimed at the target satellite. Does the arm point into clear sky or into an object? On the GSP 90cm, the satellite offset angle is slightly higher than the arm angle.

 

[Titanium]

Adding to the last post:

The offset look angle of the GSP 90cm dish is 6 degrees higher than the center LNB support arm angle. What does that mean?
Example: If the target satellite elevation is 25 degrees, the center LNB support arm angle will be measured at 19 degrees (19 + 6 = 25)

I am confused as to why are your attempting to use the dual LNBF bracket on a motorized dish? Why not just use a single LNBF on a motorized dish? What at am I missing?

If you are set on using the dual LNBF bracket on a motorized dish, set the bracket scale at "0" skew and use DiSEqC 1.2 or offset the target satellites orbital slots by +2 or -2 degrees (depending on which LNBF will be used) and use USALS.

 

[oldsmobile]

Titanium, thanks for the tips on where to point/aim.

I apparently could have been clearer. No, I'm not crazy enough to try to use the dual bracket on a motorized. (Talk about complicated!) The motorized dish in the front yard at chest level has a single LNBF on it. From there, when I set it up last year, I had good view from 72 degrees to 121 degrees. 123 and 125 were occasionally viewable from the motorized, but I never could get a decent lock. Now, because of that one tree on my neighbor's lot, I believe I'm out of luck for anything on the extreme western side.

Which is why I'm using the dual kit on another GSP 90cm, fixed, on the roof, just for 121 and 125. Hopefully. This weekend I'm hoping to get up there again and give it some more effort. I do have an extra-tall J pole that I'd used for an OTA antenna, which appears to be the same diameter as the GSP mount. Another several inches might help.

 

[harshness]

But you can easily distinguish between high risk zones (near tree shadow) and low risk zones (further away from tree shadow) for satellite reception, I would say.

You could say that, but only within days of the Clarke Belt Crossing. Timing is everything when using this method or you end up being afraid of your own shadow.