Dish appears blocked

It may look like it's blocked but it's probably not a problem. If it really was blocked you'd be getting 0's on the sats that where on the blocked portion. It all of your signals are fine I wouldn't worry about it.

jimht said:

Hello,
I am new to Directv. We just had it installed a week ago Friday. I am not happy with the installation for a number of reasons. The main reason is the positioning of the dish. I have attached a picture taken with the camera looking up at about 60 degrees straight at the back of the dish. To me it looks like 50% of the dish is blocked. Can this possibly be better than moving the dish up to the south roof? Is 20 feet of cable really that much of a problem?
I am waiting for a call back from the installer.
Thanks,
Jim

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The dish is actually looking quite a bit higher than is apparent to you. Signal is coming at you from a high angle, bouncing off the dish reflector, then into the LNBs. From picture, looks like the sats are up there in the clear blue sky, well above the trees.

thats just a old single LNB...what are your signal Strenghts? have you had channel dropouts? I think if all your channels are on, and signals are good, its fine as you are not really worried about multiple sats on that dish.

How are your signal readings on each transponder? If you're not having any reception issues, then you're probably just fine. Due to the dish geometry, the satellite is actually higher in the sky than the dish appears to be pointing.

Remember, the signal is coming from a higher angle than where the dish is physically pointing. This is due to the offset of the LNB to the dish.

The calculator says the Satellites are at 54.5 degrees. That's not higher in the sky.

Once again, check your signal readings. If they are all in the 90's (with a couple exceptions), then you are ok. Your picture really can't help us to determine if the house is blocking it. A couple degrees to either side makes a huge difference.

Let me point out two things to you; 1) If you are getting full signal, the dish is in a great spot as the house blocks much of the wind. 2) If you move the dish, you now have extra holes in your roof. If you are getting full readings and you have a problem with the placement, then you should have never let the tech put it there. If you do have an obstruction problem, then yes, the tech should be slapped around a few times for doing a poor job.

The ONLY thing that matters is the signal strength. What are your signal strengths on the various transponders? If they are most/all in the 90s, go get a cold one and watch some TV.

My dish is on a lower roof area, looking over the edge of a higher roof in it's line of sight. Frankly, I'm surprised it gets good signal, but I asked the installer to put it on the back of the house if possible. He got it there, and it gets great signal, so I'm happy as a clam.

There are also other aspects to consider with your current placement. Your dish may get a little bit of shielding from rain/snow/wind being where it is.

jimht said:

The calculator says the Satellites are at 54.5 degrees. That's not higher in the sky.

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If you take the perpendicular angle of the plane of the dish, it is pointed lower than the 54.5 degrees.

jimht said:

The calculator says the Satellites are at 54.5 degrees. That's not higher in the sky.

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If I remember correctly, (IIRC, I had to look it up) the LNBs are angled 22 and a half degrees below the centerline of the dish, so signal bounce would be 45 degrees, and looking at sat 22 and a half degrees above the centerline of the dish. So your dish centerline would be pointing at 32 degrees above the horizon while receiving the sat at 54.5 degrees.

54.5 degrees is pretty high, higher than most in the US. Your round dish is only looking at one sat position at 101W. Hard to tell from your pic (tough to translate the siding to horizonal because of camara angle), but you may have an issue with that location when you upgrade to a 5 LNB dish for HD.

Bottom line right now, if you've got solid picture on the TV now, not breaking up when it rains or the wind blows, then trees are not an issue.

jdspencer said:

If you take the perpendicular angle of the plane of the dish, it is pointed lower than the 54.5 degrees.

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I didn't go perpendicular to the plane of the dish. I eyeballed about 60 degrees. I suppose I could take a protractor out there and measure it.
We asked the installer to put it on the back of the house but he refused saying it was too high. If I had to do it again I would have just sent him packing. There were other problems with the install including the mess he left behind.

jimht said:

I didn't go perpendicular to the plane of the dish. I eyeballed about 60 degrees. I suppose I could take a protractor out there and measure it.
We asked the installer to put it on the back of the house but he refused saying it was too high. If I had to do it again I would have just sent him packing. There were other problems with the install including the mess he left behind.

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But if your signal readings are fine, then you don't need to move the dish.

jimht said:

Hello,
I am new to Directv. We just had it installed a week ago Friday. I am not happy with the installation for a number of reasons. The main reason is the positioning of the dish. I have attached a picture taken with the camera looking up at about 60 degrees straight at the back of the dish. To me it looks like 50% of the dish is blocked. Can this possibly be better than moving the dish up to the south roof? Is 20 feet of cable really that much of a problem?
I am waiting for a call back from the installer.
Thanks,
Jim

View attachment 14494

Click to expand...

You should be glad you actually got your Directv installed and not be worried about it being blocked as it looks fine. I can't even get a system installed! Since the tech said it could not be really done or he just don't want to fool with it because its a 3 level house and a little more trouble then the normal.

Looking at the pic, here's a few things that "jump" out to me.

If it were directly lower, it would most likely be blocked by the portion of the house on the left of your picture.

If it were lower, but moved to the right to clear the house (assuming there is enough room to move it right) then the dish would most likely be more visible from ground level.

To me it looks like it's very well sheltered from winds/weather.

I think the installer is getting a bum rap for the location of the dish.

Actually more to the right would have been less visible from the street. There's a tree in front to the right that would shield it.

How is this thing supposed to be grounded? There are only two cables coming off it and they both are coax cables. Shouldn't there be a separate ground wire?

Ideally, one of the coax cables should have a ground wire bonded to it. It should be attached to the dish on one side and to a ground block on the other. From the ground block, a 10 ga. solid copper wire should run to an approved ground source, such as your power meter.