If I place the dish behind clear glass window, can it still pick up DTV signal?

[bluemoose]

If I place the dish behind clear glass window, can it still pick up DTV signal? :confused:

[HDTVsportsfan]

IIRC from past questions about this, I think you will have problems with that setup.

[mikbro]

If I place the dish behind clear glass window, can it still pick up DTV signal? :confused:

Back in the "old-days" circa 1995 I had Directv and used the 18" dish (single lnb) to receive a signal with the dish on my living room floor pointed out my patio door (with the glass door closed).

IIRC I had to ditch the screen door. Your success has a lot has to do with the type of glass and it's composition - regular, single pane glass is the best because it hinders the signal the least. Double pane insulated glass is the worst (impossible). If the prorgamming you want to receive is available on the single lnb 18" dish you just might be able to make a go of it if the glass works. I would never try it with the newer, larger 3/5 lnb dishes though - they are too big and would require an opening larger than most windows/patio doors.

I bet if you do some searching on the net (and perhaps even here if they have archive section) I bet you will find posts about it from that time period.

[litzdog911]

Some folks have reported success by replacing their window glass panes with plexiglass. Not a simple solution, though.

[armophob]

I would have to research back to my basic science books. But if I remember right, glass is considered a liquid, not a solid and therefore has reflective properties that plastics do not. I truly cannot remember the specifics.

[BkwSoft]

The biggest issue isn't the glass itself but the low-e coating applied to reduce heat-loss or heat-gain. The low-e glass actually has a metal coating applied to the glass itself or on a separate membrane suspended between the panes of glass. While this microscopic coating doesn’t' inhibit visibility too much, its a killer for the microwaves coming down to satellite dish.

[HD AV]

I would have to research back to my basic science books. But if I remember right, glass is considered a liquid, not a solid and therefore has reflective properties that plastics do not. I truly cannot remember the specifics.

As well as refractive. Aiming could be a B****.

[veryoldschool]

If you can get the Ku to pass, I'd think the Ka signals wouldn't.

[bluemoose]

Well... I did a test this morning. I let my friend take out the window and hold it in front of the 5LNB dish, between the path of the dish and the satellite. The window glass was appx 3 feet by 5 feet. At the same time, I was inside trying every channel I can think of... The satellite signal test looked fine. All the SD and HD channels(MPEG2 and MPEG4) also looked fined.... so I guess problem solved! :)

[litzdog911]

That's a good way to test, assuming that the test glass is the same as your actual window. Let us know how it works out when you're all installed.

[bluemoose]

That's a good way to test, assuming that the test glass is the same as your actual window. Let us know how it works out when you're all installed.


It's for my friend's apartment. There's no patio and roof to put up a dish and the apartment company won't agree to drilling on the exterior glass wall. The whole exterior of the apartment was recently renovated and it now looks like a big glass office building.

He brought the glass window from his apartment and tested it in fromt of the dish at my house.

The DTV installer absolutely refused to install the dish indoors, which is not surprising... :) Now that we've established that the signal can penetrate this piece of glass, I'm going to help him set up the dish this weekend. :)

[sore_bluto]

It's for my friend's apartment. There's no patio and roof to put up a dish and the apartment company won't agree to drilling on the exterior glass wall. The whole exterior of the apartment was recently renovated and it now looks like a big glass office building.

He brought the glass window from his apartment and tested it in fromt of the dish at my house.

The DTV installer absolutely refused to install the dish indoors, which is not surprising... :) Now that we've established that the signal can penetrate this piece of glass, I'm going to help him set up the dish this weekend. :)

I'd love to see a couple of pictures of the finished install as well as a listing of the signal strengths for each satellite!

[AntAltMike]

You're going to lose some signal strength, so you will reach the, "avalanche failure point" with less dense rain than you would otherwise. The amount of signal you lose will depend on the nature of the glass, but also, the angle at which the transmission lines cross the plane of the glass. I used a 30" indoor reflector to get DirecTV and DISH for a year or so each, but the pictures froze up with the lightest rain.

The tricky part will be positioning the antenna such that the signal path is not partially obstructed by the window frame or wall. The signals, even with a round dish, do not come at it from the boresight line. They come at it from about twenty degrees above boresight, and with multiple LNBs, it is even more difficult to visually project the transmission lines.

[Drew2k]

I hope the friend is also not modest and shy at night ... no blinds or heavy curtains on the window you're aiming the dish through!

[netcam]

Please let use know if this works, I would also love to see some pictures of the setup.

Are you planning on using the 18" round dish? or a KaKu dish?

-Netcam

[Michael Hilley]

Been there... Done that...
Definitely will work, and can confirm that the low-e metal deposition, the norm, is the biggest obstacle.
On two different installations, replaced the glass with clear plexiglas, which isn't that difficult, but more expensive than you would think, ~$100 cut-to-size material cost for a typical window.
Got smarter on the second installation, and ordered online, less than half the cost including shipping.
The dish is what's referred to as offset feed, where the feed (LNB) is (just) outside the dish line-of-sight.
A good approximation is to draw an imaginary line from the bottom of the dish to just over the top of the LNB assembly and another line from the top of the dish parallel to the bottom line.
This will define your field-of-view, along with the width of the dish, and is what needs to pass through the glass/plexiglas and frames, overhangs, without obstruction.
The drawback is the magnified susceptibility to rain fade due to the cascading effect of the H2O on the plexiglas surface.
Even in the heaviest rain, it doesn't as adversely affect the normal outdoor installation because the << K-band wavelengths easily pass between droplets with less energy absorption than the H20 film that forms a barrier on the surface of the glass.
Outdoor installations under and behind an overhang without a gutter resulting in a "waterfall" result in similar signal losses.
When I would lose a picture in the rain... I would get up and knock on the window, shaking the latest accumulation of film of H2O from the pane, to restore the picture, not ideal, but it works.

[Lowry666]

I am using this method with great success also. The problem I have is with some transponders on 101 have lousy signal stregnth and I get linited transponders on 110 and 119. ALL of the new 99 and 103 transponders come in beautifully!! I had to set up my dish on a heavy base and it is only 4 or 5 inches off the floor. Had to do this due to the angle of the dish or it wouldn't see any of the sats. I have to tweek it occassionally due to my cat :). It also is a little more picky about weather, what would normally not cause dropouts with the dish outside, do give me occassional dropouts, but it's better than the crappy mono onsite cable they have here in my complex.
If you follow the setup procedure that is in the manual for the 5 lnb dishes you will have great results. If you need any tips or help, PM me. I work tomorrow, but I'll be home by 3pm est.

Good luck and be patient,
Lowry