Dish installation away from house?

Tuhhodge

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We live on the border between Essex and Suffolk just outside a village. Our SKY HD dish is attached to a 6ft pole secured to the corner of the house.

The dish was aligned to the south by the SKY installation engineers when they came this time last year after we complained about loss of signal. They did their best but the signal was variable, sometimes very poor, even after the alignment was checked and adjusted.

However, we had few problems over the autumn and winter. Only storms or high wind had an effect. Now that Spring has arrived, the problems has come back.

Basically, the dish is aligned directly towards a bank of trees on the edge of our garden, which means the autumn and winter reception is fine because the trees have no leaves. Once the leaves grow in the spring, we have real problems.

I'm desperate for a solution.

A longer pole was suggested by the SKY engineers but that might not work because those trees on the edge of the garden are tall - mature oak - and it would be even more susceptible to high winds.

Are there any other options? Perhaps installing a pole elsewhere in the garden where there is a clear line of sight to the satellite?

Much obliged for any suggestions. :)
 
Hi,

Who do the trees belong to ? Are any of your neighbours having the same problem ?
 
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just find an area of the garden that has clear line of sight it does not need a pole the dish could even be mounted at ground level
 
Basically, the dish is aligned directly towards a bank of trees on the edge of our garden, which means the autumn and winter reception is fine because the trees have no leaves. Once the leaves grow in the spring, we have real problems.

A longer pole was suggested by the SKY engineers but that might not work because those trees on the edge of the garden are tall - mature oak - and it would be even more susceptible to high winds.

Are there any other options? Perhaps installing a pole elsewhere in the garden where there is a clear line of sight to the satellite?

I seriously doubt that you will ever get a clear line of sight from your property, the further the trees are from your house/dish the worse the problem.

Internet/catch up/On Demand TV?
 

Trees forever grow upwards, ergo you will be trying to re-align around the side of the trees. The further away they are.................it's all trigonometry.:smashin:
 
Trees forever grow upwards, ergo you will be trying to re-align around the side of the trees. The further away they are.................it's all trigonometry.:smashin:

Are you saying that trees a mile away are more of a problem than those in the next door garden? I don't think so. :rolleyes:
 
Thanks for the quick replies.

The trees are 50-75m from the house and I'd estimate the oak tree to be 100ft tall. We are lucky because our garden is surrounded by fields and beyond the trees there are no houses for about 400m. I suspect the oak tree has a tree preservation order on it, so cutting or trimming is not an option.

Realistically, re-siting the dish is feasible, though not on the ground because of the trees along the boundary of the garden. I could erect a pole further down the garden which would probably give an uninterrupted line of sight to the satellite but (a) how does this long cabling effect reception and (b) who could do such an installation?

Thanks.
 
Thinking.....OK, just how far away are the trees from the house and how wide is the total foliage?

(Too much partying at the weekend with all the kids and grandkids for the wife's and my 25th)
 
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Are there any other options?
The first thing to do is to check whether the problem really is due to the trees.
Enter your location and the 28E satellites into dishpointer and use the obstacle checker to find out.
http://www.dishpointer.com/
If they are the problem then find a location where they aren't.
It doesn't matter how far away that is from the house.
 
The first thing to do is to check whether the problem really is due to the trees.
Enter your location and the 28E satellites into dishpointer and use the obstacle checker to find out.
http://www.dishpointer.com/
If they are the problem then find a location where they aren't.
It doesn't matter how far away that is from the house.

Yep, that's what I did last year. The line to the satellite goes straight through the 100ft oak tree. I suspect I can get a good line of sight from partway down the garden.
 
I suspect I can get a good line of sight from partway down the garden.

Doesn't say much for the Sky installers then.........

You would need to move the dish at least the width of the tree's foliage - 75'?
 
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Doesn't say much for the Sky installers then.........

You would need to move the dish at least the width of the tree's foliage - 75'?

The dish was installed for the previous owner and he never complained of problems. But it's certainly been a problem for us and TV is barely watchable right now.

Is it worth paying an engineer to check the current installation before erecting poles all over the garden?
 
You wouldn't find an engineer for that sort of thing, but you can easily find out from Dishpointer where a dish would work and how high it would need to be.
As solidamber said there might be a location where it would work at ground level, and then you could fix it yourself.
 
The dish was installed for the previous owner and he never complained of problems. But it's certainly been a problem for us and TV is barely watchable right now.

Is it worth paying an engineer to check the current installation before erecting poles all over the garden?

It will be expensive but you would be better getting an independent satellite installer in to do a survey and see if they can sort something out.
 
how does this long cabling effect reception

It won't effect it but it could affect it. ;)
Thirty metres is usually no problem for a Sky minidish in southern England. Head north or increase the cable length and you'll get more reliable reception with a larger dish.
 

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