Dish aiming and angle help needed.

[Tallgntlmn]

I am about to move and one of my requirements is to have a southern view. One of the places I am looking at meets that requirement totally and the other is kind of questionable. I am trying to determine if the latter is doable. I already determined that it has a view of 180-240 so I am good with that part. I need a 45-47 degree angle. I have a round 18" dish with dual LNB, no HD yet. Just a plain old DirecTiVo for me.

The place in question is on the top floor and the issue in question is an overhang. Before I commit to this place, I need to figure out if I will get a signal. I know from experience that the signal comes in higher than one would think based on the aiming of the dish. At one time I had a dish that was maybe 2 feet off the ground (about knee level) and I would block the signal if I stood about 6 inches in front of it. I am 6'9" by the way. I know there is some mathematical calculation having to do with triangulation to figure this out but I have long since forgotten it. At this place, the overhang is probably 3-4' out from the building. It is approximately 8 feet higher than the dish would be mounted. I am guesstimating this based on the fact that the top of the railing is about 3' off the floor, the ceilings are 9' and the overhang is maybe 2' above that.

In another post about an AT9, it was stated by RobertE that "I mount a ODU on the side of a house under an overhang I put the top of the ODU 1 1/2 times the amount of overhang. For example, 1 foot overhang, the top of the ODU shouldn't be any closer than 1.5 feet to the overhang. "

Given his numbers, for a 4' overhang, I would need 6' between the top of my dish and the overhang. I do not have an AT9 or an oval dish so I don't need the 20 degree spread if I am correct. It sounds as if I should be good to go but without a spare dish to take up there and test, I can't be for sure. I need to know with high probability that I can get signal before I sign a lease there. Is there any good way to know this without taking down my dish here and carrying it and my signal meter up there? (that's not out of the realm of possibility, just not preferred)

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated. I just want to be able to keep my dish and not have to pay Comcast $40 more per month for fewer channels and no Sunday Ticket. And if it is not doable, then I will look to sign at the other place.

[veryoldschool]

:welcome_s To the forum.

I'm not too sure of your "numbers" as you seemed to have posted several "pairs".

Your Elevation you say is 45-47, so you would need just a bit more than a 1:1, meaning from the overhang, for every foot back, you would need to be just over a foot down.
"Roughly" it sounds like it is doable, but close. How close I can't tell.
A tape measure and better numbers would help.

[Tallgntlmn]

"Roughly" it sounds like it is doable, but close. How close I can't tell.
A tape measure and better numbers would help.
Thanks for the welcome and quick reply. Been a long time lurker before this post.

I will attempt to get a better number. I can always say I need to measure something. It'll be tough to measure the overhang as it's quite higher than I can reach and being on the 4th floor, not reachable from the ground. I'll get a number on the distance between the ideal mounting spot and the overhang for sure.

According to D*, I need 46.8 but in practice I've noticed it is more like 45-ish. They also say 211 but in practice it's more like 217. At least in the areas of Atlanta that I've been.

The relevant *rough* numbers for this experiment are: top of dish 4 ft off the floor, overhang is approximately 12 feet up from floor and probably sticks out 3-4 feet. So the top of the dish would probably be 8 feet from the overhang.

<sigh> I've just confused myself even more. I'll post real numbers later tonight. LOL!

[veryoldschool]

Thanks for the welcome and quick reply. Been a long time lurker before this post.

I will attempt to get a better number. I can always say I need to measure something. It'll be tough to measure the overhang as it's quite higher than I can reach and being on the 4th floor, not reachable from the ground. I'll get a number on the distance between the ideal mounting spot and the overhang for sure.

According to D*, I need 46.8 but in practice I've noticed it is more like 45-ish. They also say 211 but in practice it's more like 217. At least in the areas of Atlanta that I've been.

The relevant *rough* numbers for this experiment are: top of dish 4 ft off the floor, overhang is approximately 12 feet up from floor and probably sticks out 3-4 feet. So the top of the dish would probably be 8 feet from the overhang.

<sigh> I've just confused myself even more. I'll post real numbers later tonight. LOL!
Azimuth difference most likely [is] the difference between magnetic & true north.

It's only TV so don't kill yourself.
With your "4 & 8" feet numbers there would be no problem, as you would have plenty of room to spare.

[Tallgntlmn]

Real numbers now. Though I still do not know the *exact* length of the overhang, it's too high to measure. and TV is not worth the risk to try. I believe it to be 3 feet. It cannot be any more than 3 feet.

With that said, the distance between what would be the top of the dish and the overhang is 6'. I think that puts me in the safe range as with a 3' overhang if I am right, I would need 4.5 feet between the overhang and the top of the dish.

Of course I am terrible at math and that's why I'm here. :lol: I knew I should have paid more attention in school. :grin:

[veryoldschool]

Real numbers now. Though I still do not know the *exact* length of the overhang, it's too high to measure. and TV is not worth the risk to try. I believe it to be 3 feet. It cannot be any more than 3 feet.

With that said, the distance between what would be the top of the dish and the overhang is 6'. I think that puts me in the safe range as with a 3' overhang if I am right, I would need 4.5 feet between the overhang and the top of the dish.

Of course I am terrible at math and that's why I'm here. :lol: I knew I should have paid more attention in school. :grin:
Since you don't need much more than a 1:1 & you seem to have 2:1, it was OK to have smoked with the boy out in the school parking lot instead of being in math class. :D