Dish install on apartment patio

[Bogey62]

I live in an apartment complex that will only allow me to mount a dish to a pole that is then attached to the patio's metal railing.

I plan on using a piece of pipe attached to the corner of the railing with U-clamps. Assuming I can shim the pole level vertically and horizontally, I should be able to make this setup work, as others have done in the complex.

What I need to find out, however, is how do I determine the length of pipe I need to clear some trees across the street? I remember seeing an article somewhere with a diagram that showed how to make a simple elevation sighting tool from cardboard using a protractor. I can't remember where I saw this, but I believe that you were to use the protractor to mark the cardboard with the elevation in your area (28 degrees for me) and extend this drawn line out to the edge of the cardbaord and cut out your angle guide. Next, you used a level across the horizontal edge to level your cardboard and sight up the angle with your eye to see if any obstructions were evident.

Does this sound correct? Does anyone else know where I may have seen this article (on the Internet, in a manual, etc.)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[boba]

Bill do you have a roof over your patio? If you do you will have to stay low enough that signal gets to your dish that could be as important as looking over trees accross the road.

[Bogey62]

Bill do you have a roof over your patio? If you do you will have to stay low enough that signal gets to your dish that could be as important as looking over trees accross the road.

No, there is no roof to worry about here.

[firephoto]

I'd just guesstimate the height of the trees across the road and the distance from your install location and do a little geometry to figure out the elevation angle to the top of the trees. Just change the heighth factor at your install location till you come out with a clear shot angle that allows the trees to grow a little.

[Bogey62]

I'd just guesstimate the height of the trees across the road and the distance from your install location and do a little geometry to figure out the elevation angle to the top of the trees. Just change the heighth factor at your install location till you come out with a clear shot angle that allows the trees to grow a little.

I can do that, but I was looking for a more accurate way to determine how tall of a pipe I needed to buy to mount the dish on to clear the trees. Oh well...

[AntAltMike]

Using a long pipe to clear trees is an exercise in futility. Long pipes can get you over fences and buildings, but the amount by which you move up your dish is exactly equal to the amount by which the transmission line over the tree will be elevated. If you are being impeded measurably by a tree, then if you move the dish up even ten feet, you will probably still be impeded by the tree, though by a portion that is not as dense.