Line of sight

[Mr.Arizona]

...and here is another question I just came up with, after reading some threads about trees...

Let's imagine that I want to point my dish to a bird which is blocked by trees.
How big should be an opening in the trees to get a decent signal?
As big as the dish? 1 or 2 degrees in every direction? Is there some kind of formula to calculate it?

Thanks!

p.s.: That's just a generic question! I am not talking about a specific bird.

 

[Mr Tony]

I assume you know the dishes "see" 22 degrees higher so the dish that may be in the trees actually may be higher

 

[Mr.Arizona]

I know that

Ok... let's say it's an prime focus dish (C-Band)

 

[CharredPC]

Isn't there some kind of Murphy's Law type rule in FTA hobbying that there will always be a neighbor's tree branch in the way of at least 20 degrees of view? Often compounded with the fact that Galaxy 18 will be smack in the middle of the obstruction?

... sorry, bit of humor

On a serious note, sometimes you can get a signal through tree branches- providing it's winter and there aren't leaves. I can get further east during the colder months than spring/summer. I don't think there's a rule about "a hole has to be this big," as it can come through cracks and sort of build a composite. The big question is if the gaps / holes / spaces are sufficient to get enough signal to achieve watchability. Fluctuating 10% quality? Not so much. 36-40%? Maybe!

 

[brentb636]

I'm going to make a wild ass guess, that a correctly aligned hole, the size of your dish , would be sufficient. Basing my guess on the conical focus parameters from your dish to the satellite. Cash value of this WAG is 1/10 cent.

 

[Mr.Arizona]

Hmm... just while thinking about it...
We have a dish, let's say 6' and a distance to the satellite ~22500 miles.
That should be enough to calculate the "hole" in trees... for 20 feet away...

Let's see... geometry.....
at the end it should be the same size as the dish... minus a thousand of on inch

 

[Blueridge66]

This spring I setup a motorized system and got decent signal quality across the arc..... for my location in northern AZ the true south satellite has an elevation of 48 deg. G10 is approx 45. There was an oak tree that partially blocked G10 but I got watchable signal..... but as the tree leafed out the signal went south.
I'm in the process of remounting another dish off the side of the cabin without interferring trees.

 

[Mr Tony]

for my location in northern AZ the true south satellite has an elevation of 48 deg.

good lord I wish...Here in MN its 38 and G10 around 29

 

[Mr.Arizona]

good lord I wish...Here in MN its 38 and G10 around 29

...well... my true south has an elevation of 51 deg. G10 is 49.3 deg...
Welcome to southern Arizona (Phoenix)

 

[Mr Tony]

I guess I'm accustomed to 4 seasons here
frickin cold
beautiful (I guess thats spring)
frickin hot and humid
beautiful take 2 (fall)

 

[Mr.Arizona]

We have just 2.5 seasons here...
1. nice, dry, pretty warm
2. nice, dry, frickin hot
3. monsun season right now

 

[ussexplroer]

Trees Suck

Even though I enjoy the shade of trees. I to have the same problem. Right now G10 has a bad signal. I lost one transponder and the others are blocky at best. Can't pull in a high signal to save my life. I even adjusted it Now If I go far over to the right out of the trees way. It is fine. The only other problem I Had was getting PBS stations. Talk about picky but that has to be lined up just right to get them. I through originaly it was the overall line up. But I got everything else except PBS. Then when the wind came the first time. I lost pbs but keeped 100% everything else. Stubborn. So to fix my problem for now. I have another dish I'm going to stick in a different spot just for G10. Then in the fall when the leave fall or if I move the motorized dish. I should be good again. AKA when I put the system up. I didn't account for the neighbors tree not having any leaves so it worked great until the first summer came along. LOL

Later,

Josh

 

[marco916]

My View

This is what my view looks like from my 36" dish, I have just enough clearance, and I get very strong KU signals. My backyard is heavily covered with trees. My next only option is from the roof, which I don't want to do.