Line of sight issue with Direct - is Dish coordinate different?

[mikeythemars]

I've just gone through an almost endless set of iterations with the local Direct TV installer. Five scheduled appointments, they only showed up for three, during which I got three different people and three different assessments of whether I could get line of sight.

First was "yes, if you take down those branches on that tree" (which I subsequently did). Next installer said he could pick up some but not all the required satelllites and said even more branches from said tree needed to come down. At that point I said "I want to talk to a manager," two weeks later he finally shows up and without even going up on the roof says I can't get line of sight without completely taking down two very large trees in our front yard.

Is he right? I don't know, but fed up with the inconsistency I say to heck with them and Direct.

I then do some googling and see a few general references to the Dish Network line of sight "being different" than Direct.

I realize coordinates vary by location; I'm about 40 miles north of NYC and was told by the Direct "manager" that the coordinates he needed to have line of sight to were to the southwest (which makes sense, given I'd heard "if you're east of the Mississippi, the Direct TV equipment needs to point towards Texas." Would Dish be different? I have much less obstruction when looking towards the West/ North West.

Any insight appreciated!!!

 

[rad]

I then do some googling and see a few general references to the Dish Network line of sight "being different" than Direct.

DirecTV has satellites at 99, 101, 103, 110 and 119 degrees west. 101 is where the core of their SD programming is and 110,119 is where the older MPEG2 HD channels are. 99 and 103 are for the MPEG4 HD locals and new national channels. Because programming is currently spread out on all locations DirecTV requires LOS to all 5 positions.

Dish has 110 and 119 for most of their programming with a number of channels also at 61.5 and 129. Some places can get by with 110/119 and either 61.5 or 129 while others need all four IIRC, depends on your programming.

You can use DishPointer.com - Satellite Dish Pointer / Alignment Calculator with Google Maps to help you determine where you have to point for LOS to all satellites.

 

[mikeythemars]

Rad, thanks - the site you linked to (as I expected) shows a primarily southwest view for the Dish Network satellites. That stated, given the differing subjective assessments of LOS I got from the Direct installer du jour, I'm now seriously considering contacting Dish to see if I can get a referral to a credible local installer who I could retain for a solely "check LOS" visit. Ergo, before contracting for anything find out if an install is even feasible.

 

[charper1]

I've just gone through an almost endless set of iterations with the local Direct TV installer. Five scheduled appointments, they only showed up for three, during which I got three different people and three different assessments of whether I could get line of sight.

First was "yes, if you take down those branches on that tree" (which I subsequently did). Next installer said he could pick up some but not all the required satelllites and said even more branches from said tree needed to come down. At that point I said "I want to talk to a manager," two weeks later he finally shows up and without even going up on the roof says I can't get line of sight without completely taking down two very large trees in our front yard.

Is he right? I don't know, but fed up with the inconsistency I say to heck with them and Direct.

I then do some googling and see a few general references to the Dish Network line of sight "being different" than Direct.

I realize coordinates vary by location; I'm about 40 miles north of NYC and was told by the Direct "manager" that the coordinates he needed to have line of sight to were to the southwest (which makes sense, given I'd heard "if you're east of the Mississippi, the Direct TV equipment needs to point towards Texas." Would Dish be different? I have much less obstruction when looking towards the West/ North West.

Any insight appreciated!!!

I would bet about a 75% - 85% change they are not right, but likely have found or see something they do not want to deal with and personally deem the job "not worth the trouble". They do not work for DirecTV and being contractors I guess this is their right to turn down work. If you really want DirecTV; post around on the board here looking for someone very helpful that might be in or near your area to help you.