Conference quark::satellite

I won a Dishnet system as a door prize at an open house and am planning to do
the installation myself. I have a couple of questions regarding installation.

First, are there any concerns I should have with mounting the dish closer to the
ground? Like are they frequent targets of vandals, animals, birds, etc?
Ironically, my best bet might be mounting it lower than higher because there is
a line of trees fairly close to the west of my house. If I mount the dish high
(like on the roof) I might not get above them. If I mount it low (like to the
deck posts or a pole sunk into the ground) I could point it between the tree
trunks but under the canopy of branches. If worse came to worse I might get away
with strategically trimming a few branches of the trees (they are on town land).
I might try sinking a pole in the ground near the line of trees and running the
wire underground to the house. This would give me a wider arc to point the dish
and make it a bit easier to do repairs and make adjustments. I'd have to buy
tougher wire too. This isn't practical right now because the yard isn't
landscaped yet (work to begin on this soon). I wouldn't want them do dig it up
with the bulldozer.  

Second, if I mount to the roof or siding, how do I prevent the bolts and wire
from causing water leaks? Is silicone enough?  

Steve B.

The important thing is a clear line of sight to the satellite, which is
perched over Texas (or thereabouts).  You want to avoid having tree branches
in the way - this will seriously degrade reception.

As for height - given that the signal has travelled over 22,000 miles to reach 
you, a difference of 20 feet isn't going to matter much.  Vandals will hit
anything, though, so you take your chances.

When bolting to the siding, silicone caulk around the bolt will be sufficient.

I presume you "won" the system, and still have to pay for the service.  The
hardware itself is pretty much given away nowadays.

				Steve

    
    Yeah, I "won" the system (or a $200 credit toward a more expensive
    model) and I have to pay for the programming a year in advance. It
    comes out to only $25 a month though. 
    
    Maybe I'll just strap it to one of those trees that might be in the
    way...
    
    Steve B.

    I've heard that some of these small dish services do provide 
    a service to help the owner determine if they can "see" the 
    satellite. They may be able to provide you with an elevation 
    and azimuth for the satellite based on your location, and 
    knowing this you should be able to "site" the satellite from
    locations on your property until you find one where you get
    a clear signal.
    
    Bob

Yes, there should be azimuth/elevation info provided - on some of the systems,
you punch in your zip code into the remote and it tells you the figures.

The DISH network seems like a good deal overall, even if you buy the hardware.

			Steve

Yes, they will come out and map out the best areas to set up your dish. I just
called this morning to sign up for it. I should be all set as far as elevation
(22�) goes because that thin line of trees has an open field on the other side.
I just need to be able to see between them. There are a couple of clear areas
between the tree trunks. I'm hoping I'll be able to mount the dish low so I
don't have to go up on the roof. I would have been able to do the site survey
myself, but I don't own a compass and haven't been able to locate a cheap one. I
tried going by the sun but I don't know how far off of due west the setting sun
is (I think it varies with the seasons too). 

Steve B.

    
    
    Mount it so you can reach it with a broom.  Sometimes in heavy wet
    snow the dish can accumulate snow and the signal lock is lost.
    A quick swipe with a broom will clear it right up.  Kinda hard to do
    if its way up on the roof, and everything is covered in snow!
    
    --Bert (18" dish RCA system)
     

    
    Yes, I really don't want to go with a roof mount for a number of
    reasons. The primary one being that I don't want to put holes in a new
    roof. Snow removal is a concern but mostly because if it's on the roof
    it could get BURIED when we get a large amount of snow. If I mount it
    on the side of the house about 6 feet up, it'll only get buried once
    every ten years or so ;-).
    
    If I have to go with a roof mount, I'll reconsider cable. Unless there
    is a way to safely mount it without compromising the roof or spending a
    fortune on special mounting hardware. Perhaps if it can be mounted on
    the garage roof, I won't be as concerned (no plaster ceilings in the
    garage). 
            
    Steve B.

    Something which a lot of people do is to mount it besides a
    window on the south/west side of the house. Then even in the
    winter, the most you have to do is open the window up, lean
    out and brush the snow off the dish. It also makes it easy
    to adjust too. Yo can roll a small portable tv near the window
    and tweak the dish while looking at the picture and/or the
    LED display some receivers have.
    
    bob

Actually, the side of the house is better than the roof - the dish is more
protected that way.  You don't need anything special - just a wall-mount
bracket which should be included.

					Steve

    I put mine in the ground. So far so good.  
    I did put the pole in cement and as far down as I could go.
    I think 4' is good up here to be below the frost line.
    These dishes are pretty sensitive to small changes so you dont
    want the pole moving ... in any direction.
    I also had to lay the the cable underground from the dish to the house.
    In my case that was close to 100' and it was not fun digging a 
    6" (minimum) by 1" trench in NH soil.
    
    Good Luck,
    Larry

Well, the site survey was done yesterday. He gave me two choices, the best being
to mount it to the deck railing as close to the side of the house as possible. I
was able to convince my wife that it wouldn't really be an eyesore so she'll let
me put it there. This will be ideal because I won't have to go on the roof and
I'll have easy access to it when it gets buried in snow. I'll also be able to
hide the wiring along the edge of the post until it goes into the house. 

The other choice was the garage roof but he had a few problems with that one.
First the dish would be pointing just above a fairly young tree that would
eventually grow high enough to be in the way. The othe problem is that placement
would be tricky because the clear area is really small. He said that one would
be difficult for them and next to impossible for a DIY. 
 
The system I "won" comes with a single LNB dish. Later on, if I want to add
another reciever, can I just buy a dual LNB for the same dish? Or would I need
to buy a whole new dish? 

I sort of wish that they sold the pieces seperately. All of the systems out
there only have the dual LNB with the deluxe models instead of giving you a
choice. 

Can't wait to put it up!!

Steve B.

    Dunno for sure about the echostar/primestar dishes, but I know
    for the 18" rca/sony/toshiba dbs systems you can buy replacement 
    single or dual LNB in the neighborhood of $100.  On the 18" dishes
    the lnb is attached by a single screw to the dish arm and has a 
    standard screw on cable connector for the receiver connection.
    
    You might try some of the online sellers of sat equipment, as they
    seem to sell 'parts' at more reasonable prices.
    
    --bert

    
    Well, I picked up my system on Friday and finished installing it on
    Sunday. I was a little annoyed at the price of the installation kit
    ($69!!) but I bought it anyway. I also had to buy a ground rod and
    clamp and a phone extension box ($12). The manual was really vague
    about how to read the elevation on the dish mount so I had to call
    their service number. I ended up taking off the indicator points
    because they wouldn't let me bring the elevation to less than ~27
    degrees (I needed 23). I also had to file down one of the bolts almost
    down to the nut because it was in the way (it should have been shorter). 
    
    I hooked the dish up to the box and a portable tv so I could point
    it without any help. The strongest signal I've been able to get so
    far has been about 70%. I think there might be some small branches in the
    way. I'll look around for a pole saw to borrow and see if I can improve
    the signal strength. I plan to move the dish to the backyard if we have
    too many problems with rain/snow fade. Besides, my wife doesn't really
    like having the dish mounted to the deck railing because it spoils the
    view out the kitchen window. 
    
    The guy who did the site survey recommended mounting the dish to the
    deck railing. The manual explicitly says NOT to mount the dish to a
    railing. Any ideas why? I think it could be because it could get bumped
    by people walking by. That's not really a problem where I have it
    because it's in a corner where there won't be much traffic at all. Any
    other reasons you can think of? 
    
    It works great so far. Picture excellent, sound awesome. My wife really
    likes the program guide and I really like the "browse" feature that
    lets you keep one program on the screen and still flip through the
    channels. Haven't tried PPV yet, but I did hook the box up to it's own
    phone extension so we'll be able to do it from the couch ;-). 
    
    Great new toy!
    
    Steve B.  
    
     

    70% is not too bad.  I think mine is about 75-78 on a good day.
    The only time I lost signal was in extrememly windy weather with
    leaves on trees.  Cutting a branch off thats obscuring the signal
    could make a big difference.
    I cant think of a reason why not to put it in on the deck other than the
    potential for movement ... person hitting it, wood warping, settling
    etc.  as you probably found out very slight movements made a huge
    difference.
    It is great isnt it though!  I've had one for over 6 months and still love
    the quality of the picture and sound.  BTW its at its very best if
    you can use S-vidio connections ... makes a substantial difference,  at
    least it did for me.  
    Have fun,
    Larry

    
    Yeah, I hooked up the S-video input, the colors and the detail look
    noticeably better. During one of the first movies I saw I noticed some
    blemishes (probably scars) on Debra Winger's face that I know I never
    would have seen otherwise. 
    
    I did have to shim the bottom of the mounting plate to get it plumb. I just
    stuck a piece of vinyl (from the siding scraps lying around) underneath.
    
    Next project will probably be to move the dish to a pole in the back yard. 
    I probably won't get to it until next summer though. It works fine for
    now. 
    
    Thanks for all the advice. 
    
    Steve B.