Trees in the way of 61.5. Help!

[Fgsilva]

I livve in California in an area surrounded by pine trees. Last time someone from Dish checked the lowest angle they could go without the tree being in the way was around 20 (which would translate to getting a fix on satellite "70). Now, when they install dish they normally point somewhere in between 110-119. So, going to the point: how far can I be from 61.5 in terms of angle to still be able to get a lock? Has anybody been in a similar situation?

Any questions appreciated!

 

[mudder1310]

You can't be off by much, maybe 1 or 2 degrees if you want your service to still work all the time. I think elevation for 61.5 from Ca is about 12* so if the lowest you can go is 20*, you're boned. You would have to mount the dish on a tower the same height as the trees you're trying to clear so you have some room for growth.

 

[j5races]

actually my 921 said elevation in so. cali for 61.5 was 19 degrees. So it might work for you. Try it. if you have a dish at 148 try swinging it about 90 degrees counter-clockwise and slowly play with the elevation and azimuth there. Get on the cell phone with someone in front of your tv and see if it will show up for you. It worked for me. Remember to go slow it take the reciever a second or two to see the changes you make at the dish.

Jon

PS i was about to give up on mine (getting 61.5) here in Westminster, CA but then the wife told me it flashed a few percent, and then we dialed it in to 98-101 strength!! woohoo! vooming now. Man those channels look awesome. Seem better then other HD chans, maybe not.

 

[xan_user]

frisco is more like 14 deg. good luck. It seemed that Voom's 61.5 was way more sensitive to trees, rain, wind, cosmic rays.....than dish's locals at 61.5.
I've seen many Dish setups right through trees, but with VOOM so much as a twig, or in some casees a fly, would cause problems. It will be interesting to see how "sensitive" Dish's VOOM beam will be for us west coasters.
I always wrote VOOM's signal testyness off on the thier lack of compression.....

 

[larrystotler]

Sounds like a chainsaw is the answer.....

 

[Fgsilva]

actually my 921 said elevation in so. cali for 61.5 was 19 degrees. So it might work for you. Try it. if you have a dish at 148 try swinging it about 90 degrees counter-clockwise and slowly play with the elevation and azimuth there. Get on the cell phone with someone in front of your tv and see if it will show up for you. It worked for me. Remember to go slow it take the reciever a second or two to see the changes you make at the dish.

Jon

PS i was about to give up on mine (getting 61.5) here in Westminster, CA but then the wife told me it flashed a few percent, and then we dialed it in to 98-101 strength!! woohoo! vooming now. Man those channels look awesome. Seem better then other HD chans, maybe not.

I've ran it through a web page and also dish's own calculator and it says ~15. But when the dish guy checked he was still around 3 feet lower than where the actual dish is. Well, I guess it's a matter of really going up the roof (if only I weren't afraid of heights!!!) and testing it. And yes, right now my dish is pointed at 148. Now, would I have to also change the skew?

Thanks everyone for their replies. it was realy appreciated!

 

[Fgsilva]

Sounds like a chainsaw is the answer.....

Don't I wish. but neighbours may get mad if I cut their 100+ feet trees!

 

[larrystotler]

Skew should be at 90 for both the 148 and the 61.5. And 15 degress is low, so you will probably have to wait and hope they start mirroring on the 148 soon.

 

[Jordan420]

Well don't feel bad, I'm looking at an elevation of 11 in Seattle & I'm surrounded by trees.

 

[larrystotler]

The 148 is 6 degrees out east here. I'm wondering if the 157 will be 0 or 1...........

 

[Fgsilva]

The 148 is 6 degrees out east here. I'm wondering if the 157 will be 0 or 1...........

hmmm, dumb question: what's on 157???

 

[carload]

Sometimes you've got to reverse-engineer these things. Find a gap in the trees to the east -- any gap. Then, using the compass angle indicated by your Dish receiver, draw an imaginary line from that gap at that angle through your property. Somewhere along that line is where you should install the 61.5 dish.

 

[bcshields]

poles for dishes can be easily found at Home depot. 1 5/16th" fence post, beat one end flat, get a bag of quickcrete. Once you find your spot set the pole, mix the quickcrete in the hole with the pole around it and **make sure the pole is level on all sides.**

It'll cost ya maybe $15, and a fun afternoon watching the missus shake her head.

 

[larrystotler]

hmmm, dumb question: what's on 157???

Nothing yet. They own the slot and have one of the sats there for testing right now.

 

[Fgsilva]

poles for dishes can be easily found at Home depot. 1 5/16th" fence post, beat one end flat, get a bag of quickcrete. Once you find your spot set the pole, mix the quickcrete in the hole with the pole around it and **make sure the pole is level on all sides.**

It'll cost ya maybe $15, and a fun afternoon watching the missus shake her head.

hi And thanks! But the pole would have to go up in the roof. there's where my current dish that is pointing to 148 is. if I have the pole on the ground it would have to be perhaps like 20-30 foot tall. can i make one that tall and still stable enough?

 

[carload]

if I have the pole on the ground it would have to be perhaps like 20-30 foot tall.

Why? If you have lined up your spot with a gap in the trees, a regular ground-based dish ought to work. Otherwise for every 10 feet of obstacle (tree, fence) height, you need to be back about 37 feet from the obstacle's base. (Approximately, given an elevation angle of 15 degrees.)