Line of Sight Question: Dish vs Direct

[harperjj04]

Was hoping someone could help explain the differences between Dish and Direct's line of sight angles for me. I am an existing Dish customer and just moved to Raleigh NC. The tech said there was no good line of sight unless the Dish was mounted on the roof and thats the only restriction the landlord has. He also said he'd have to mount 2 Dishes versus the 1 Dish I previously had. So since Dish isn't an option, I'm looking at Direct next with the deals they have going.

So my question is this, I recall being told by Directv that their "viewing angle" for line of sight is better than Dish Networks, and I'm thinking that they may be able to install it on the ground behind the house vs. the roof install. For comparison (and just speculative) Dish has a 45 degree angle for line of sight vs. Direct has a 60 degree angle. I ask because there is a space behind the house that points to the SW sky that would probably work without a roof install, I just want to get some feedback on if anyone thinks Direct would have a better chance installing than Dish did. I just don't want to go with TWC and their paltry HD lineup. Here's a pic of the viewing angle I took standing behind the house and behind the roof spot the Dish guy talking about installing on:

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Thanks to anyone with some feedback on the situation!!

 

[Liquidforce88]

Dish has two Arc's they can point at. One is western and that is what you were probably looking at if you have older equipment. If Dishnetwork can't get line of site for the western arc Direct probably wont either, unless you are in a DMA that only uses 99, 101 and 103. Both Dish and Direct use 110 and 119 so look angles are the same. So it really depends on what satellite locations you need.

 

[raoul5788]

The look angles aren't the same, but the view necessary is. The Dish azimuth is between the 110 and 119 sats, for Directv it's at the 110 sat to pick up 101 and 119, also. It's kind of a difference without a distinction. BTW, it looks like you have a good los in the picture. What is the direction the picture is pointing to?

 

[harperjj04]

I have a 722k receiver which got installed August 2009 in Greenville NC. Now I'm in Raleigh NC. The angle of the PIC is to the SW; however the tech was mentioning that the HD signal would have to point in a different direction, but I'm not sure. The Dish tech seemed to think that the Dish would have to be on the roof, but not able to mount on the ground behind the house, which is why I was thinking the Directv with the azimuth being better might be able to mount on the ground, and hopefully to have all sats all on one dish. Does Directv have the ability to get all your channels on one dish, or would they have multiple dishes like the Dish Network tech was suggesting?

I also have the option of AT&T U-Verse, so I'm thinking of saving myself the hassle and potential 24 month agreement and just going with them. I just don't like cableco's (since I work for a telco) and would prefer to stay away from TWC.

 

[raoul5788]

I have a 722k receiver which got installed August 2009 in Greenville NC. Now I'm in Raleigh NC. The angle of the PIC is to the SW; however the tech was mentioning that the HD signal would have to point in a different direction, but I'm not sure. The Dish tech seemed to think that the Dish would have to be on the roof, but not able to mount on the ground behind the house, which is why I was thinking the Directv with the azimuth being better might be able to mount on the ground, and hopefully to have all sats all on one dish. Does Directv have the ability to get all your channels on one dish, or would they have multiple dishes like the Dish Network tech was suggesting?

I also have the option of AT&T U-Verse, so I'm thinking of saving myself the hassle and potential 24 month agreement and just going with them. I just don't like cableco's (since I work for a telco) and would prefer to stay away from TWC.

You only need only dish with Directv.

 

[Jimbo]

If Ral is a HD market , you'll only need a 3 lnb dish that covers the 99, 101 and 103 sats, only 4* of viewing angle.

I doubt that you'll have any trouble getting a LOS from D*.

Do you know what your set up co ordinates are, if you have a compass you can go out behind your house and point in the azimuth direction and see exactly where it needs to point.

Edit:
From looking at the transponder map, your locals in HD are on the 103 sat, tp 21 and your locals come from the 101 sat as well, so you should only need 1 dish a Slimline 3 would work fine and get you your HD as well as your locals, SD as well.

 

[harperjj04]

Thanks for the info all. I've ordered D* and am going to give them a try. Hopefully they won't say it needs to be on the roof too. I'm a bit leary of signing another 24 month contract, but we'll see how it goes!

 

[Jimbo]

Talk with the installer when he gets there, go thru everything your having done.
Ask him about doing a pole mount and if he does and everything is to your approval give him a good tip.

Fwiw, for some reason, your picture is no longer accessible.