Rural Satellite TV not available everywhere?

[Phils]

Yes, seriously. They are two different gizmos. Your ten buck cracker jack compass will not find an opening in the trees to point your dish. Fail on you for not looking closer.

I've seen those Align-a-site in use and have wanted one since. I only haven't bought because of the price! For finding a satellite signal through a bunch of trees at a campsite it can't be beat.

For finding a signal one time at a house, I'd let the installer do it.

Phil

 

[ultrarunner]

Updates with no solution...

Comcast engineering final number to install is $10,800. This price includes 600' x $18 a foot install, engineering and county permit/right of way issues.

Direct and Dish, through the local Dealer have officially said there is nothing they can do. I called and learned the tenant renting the home wasted a lot of the Satelite Folks time and several site visits... a price was given for TV and Internet package.

The Tenant found a better deal for Internet and took it and the Direct/Dish Franchise owner wishes them the best of luck in getting TV. Seems like the Tenant was acting like a jerk...

I've learned more than I ever wanted to about TV and Internet... Until recently, I was on dial-up for internet and I have yet to live in a home with cable or satellite TV... good old rabbit ears with a convertor box for me...

What about some of the RV systems that say they work everywhere? Anyone have a portable TV system? How do you like it and where are they bought?

 

[Pirate]

Updates with no solution...

Comcast engineering final number to install is $10,800. This price includes 600' x $18 a foot install, engineering and county permit/right of way issues.

Direct and Dish, through the local Dealer have officially said there is nothing they can do. I called and learned the tenant renting the home wasted a lot of the Satelite Folks time and several site visits... a price was given for TV and Internet package.

The Tenant found a better deal for Internet and took it and the Direct/Dish Franchise owner wishes them the best of luck in getting TV. Seems like the Tenant was acting like a jerk...

I've learned more than I ever wanted to about TV and Internet... Until recently, I was on dial-up for internet and I have yet to live in a home with cable or satellite TV... good old rabbit ears with a convertor box for me...

What about some of the RV systems that say they work everywhere? Anyone have a portable TV system? How do you like it and where are they bought?

There is no portable RV system that can shoot through trees. I use a tripod and a standard oval Direct dish. With the align-a-site, you can find an opening to place the tripod. Did the Direct installer come out and try to find an opening? I have used up to 200' of coax to remotely locate my dish on a tripod.

 

[beppington]

... if we get a ice storm the signal can have problems. This really surprised me since I figured the leaves would be an issue not ice.

Satellite frequencies not only can't penetrate solid things very well, they are about the same size as water drops. That's why rain can sometimes affects reception, & of course ice as well, whether it's in solid or liquid form.

 

[ultrarunner]

There is no portable RV system that can shoot through trees. I use a tripod and a standard oval Direct dish. With the align-a-site, you can find an opening to place the tripod. Did the Direct installer come out and try to find an opening? I have used up to 200' of coax to remotely locate my dish on a tripod.

The first installer said to call him back when 5 heritage firs were removed... didn't sound right to me.

The Tenant got very demanding with another installer and I spoke with the owner of the company after he went out... he flatly told me he was not interested in working with difficult people and had already spent much too much time with the tenant and then find they went to a competitor for SAT Internet...

My understanding is in WA State, SAT internet providers are unregulated... basically, can't force a business to do business with you...

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

Try this site to get info as to what direction / elevation to point the dish. With the tie-in to Google Earth you should be able move the pointer to the exact location where your friend is located.

Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com

An alternative that has not been suggested - investigate Bell ExpressVu - the Canadian Sat service. While not "legal" there are probably gray market solutions to provide the necessary billing address and payments.

Reason for suggestion is that most Bell SD programming is on Nimiq @ 91.0W and most of the HD is on Nimiq @ 82.0W. The direction / elevation of these two birds is sufficiently different from the Direct / Dish birds there may be an opening through the trees in those directions.

If you can find a friend with Dish TV and borrow his dish / receiver you could use it to search for the 91 / 82 birds. When aiming you should get a message such as "Locked - Wrong Sat", but it will tell you if it is 91 or 82.

Since it is a problem area - look for the SD bird at 91W first. With Basic service, the BEV system will give him all the major US & CDN networks. For additional $$$ US Super Stations, Movies, Sports etc can be added.

 

[schmism]

Yes, seriously. They are two different gizmos. Your ten buck cracker jack compass will not find an opening in the trees to point your dish. Fail on you for not looking closer.

you obviously have never used and or navigated with a SIGHTING compass as it does EXACTLY that.... you line up some small point in the distance and then take a bearing on that point. if you DONT sight a small point then you end up wandering off course by 5's of 10's of degrees which puts you WAY off course.

 

[orezok]

A compass and guessing at elevation is primitive. $170 for a optical "guesser" is outrageous. If you have a smart phone (iPhone or Android), less than $20 will give you an absolute solution. View the video on the right side

iPhone 3G Satellite Finder on the Move | DishPointer.com

 

[Pirate]

you obviously have never used and or navigated with a SIGHTING compass as it does EXACTLY that.... you line up some small point in the distance and then take a bearing on that point. if you DONT sight a small point then you end up wandering off course by 5's of 10's of degrees which puts you WAY off course.

Yes, of course, all the direct TV satellites are just over the next hill, thus a regular compass is the way to go. I knew I spent too much money on that device when my Cracker Jack device would have sufficed.

 

[RadarTech]

Folks,
A few comments here..
1. DSL-- Depending on your area it is not always distance from the Central Office.. In the NC / SC area (and I suspect many other areas) there are fiber huts (little bldgs along the road) that contain DSLAMs (DSL Access Multiplexers). A DSLAM is where the DSL service comes from to the home. DSLAMS are installed in phone company offices and fiber huts, repeater sheds etc... As long as you are less than 18000 electrical feet from a DSLAM your good... It is electrical feet because the gauge of the phone line can change the distance that DSL works. 8 years ago when I was working for a CLEC, we had a customer that could not get DSL that was 8,000 feet from the CO. we found out that the cable was spliced, bridge tapped, and had load coils and changed gauges with both solid and stranded cable.. (small town)... so with all that said a simple measurement is not all it takes.


2. In the mountains with trees, Direct TV is still possible in many cases. It depends on how good the installer is and how much trouble he will go thru..
At our house the dish is mounted on an outside wall just about 18-20 feet up and in a path thru some trees.. he took almost 30 min to find a location and then moved his ladder twice as he checked angles from hieght.
A friend has a radio tower for his HAM radio and his antenna is mounted on it 30 feet above the ground..... Of course the tower is 60 feet tall....


So can it always be done? likely not..

As everyone says-- It is all about the installer..

Kinda like doing stuff with your tractor...
The things I can do now after 280 hours I would not have thought I would do when I first got it...

IE-- changing the "tilt" of an ATV trail-- It had a real pucker factor, but I learned how to use the box blade rippers.. and it was good.


anyway--- that's my story and I am sticking to it..

J