So what if I get the system and then find I can't get a signal???

[MickBurke]

Planning on getting the 721 any day now and I'm a little worried that I can't be certain if I can get a signal. I'm pretty sure I can, but there are some trees in the gener al area of the signal... SO what happens if the guy comes to install and finds that it dooesn't get a signal lock or whatever???

Mick

[shilton]

Doubt it will happen. I live in an area totally surrounded with trees and have a very strong signal and I have already seen installs with more trees than me and a dish seemingly pointed straight at them. Of course it isn't but you could fool the naked eye. There are so many ways they can do an install today, I doubt that it will fail (although they are not always so called "standard installs" and sometimes you may have to pay extra for a little more work like running long stretches of cable, etc). But if it does not work, I believe Dish's policy is you have to pay a service call for the installers time and that's it! Good Luck!!!

[Cyclone]

Don't worry. Its winter. You won't find out that you can't get a signal until late spring when all of the leaves reappear. :D

Hopefully you'll have a good installer and they'll make sure that you are ok.

[dbronstein]

Originally posted by Cyclone
Don't worry. Its winter. You won't find out that you can't get a signal until late spring when all of the leaves reappear. :D

That actually happened to a friend of mine. The idiot installer put in the Dish so it was pointed right through a bunch of trees. When spring came, no signal. They had to remount it much higher up on the roof.

Dennis

[RJS1111111]

Keep in mind that most dishes used for DBS have a 20-degree
offset angle. This makes the actual look elevation angle
20 degrees higher than it would be for a center-feed dish.

I couldn't install my own dish to look at the 148 slot (for
additional locals); no ladder to reach the second story!

The installer put in a free DISH500-sized dish near
the top north edge of the second-story roof line. Height
can often help clear obstructions. Some people even
put their dishes on poles or towers, if necessary.

[Jacob S]

I live in a hilly state with lots of trees and I have only had maybe 3 out of close to 200 installs result in no signal due to trees. It would not have been possible unless I went through a heck of a lot to get it done like running a wire across a road somehow through a drain if there was one or something, in which things are hard to figure out in that way.

[Mike123abc]

It is a bit deceptive because the dish appears to point at an object but is actually looking over the object. This is because as mentioned above the look angle of the dish. I have a dish pointed strait at a wall, but gets great signal because the satellite is actually above the wall but the dish looks like it is pointing squarely at the wall.

You could use Dish's program: http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/technology/installation/azimuth/index.shtml

to see the elevation of the satellites (and direction) then do a quick survey to scout out locations for the dishs. You know your house best, and picking out a good spot with easy access to where the cable needs to run and hiding the dish, will make it easier.

[PSB]

Remember the installer wont install the dish unless there is a clear line of sight, and there is enough clearance that the system will work for the next few years, its a tough one sometimes, we dont want to letdown the customer, but there is no point installing if the customer will loose his signal a few years down the road, or even worse when spring time comes, they would not be doing ANYONE any favours doing that, the retailer gets charged back for any customer disconnecting within the first year. But in my expeariance where there is a will there is a way. But be prepaired for a letdown, the look angle for most dbs systems is about 34-38 deg. elevation, so its easy to make a bit of cardboard to the right angle for your location, then point it at the satellite to see if it will clear any trees ect. looking along the top edge of cardboard, works every time, I have about one job in twenty with no line of sight, but 50% of these jobs could be done if the customer pays a bit more but round here they dont want to pay a penny more than the FREE INSTALL that has become the norm, and I may add has brought the esteem of being an installer to an all time low!:hi:

[Jacob S]

There was a situation in which someone had a DirecTv system for years (like 4 or 5 years) and the trees leaves must have really grown last year because it blocked his signal finally and I had to run wire a great distance to get him a signal in at a different location in which it was completely clear.