[LarryChanin]

Jim:


I can't tell what to do, but I can tell you what not to do. Don't do what I did, have a professional tree triming firm come in and top your tree for about $500 only to find out it was the wrong one. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/redface.gif


Now in the growing season I can only get the 101 satellite. I have to wait for the winter to get HBO HD. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/mad.gif


Larry




[This message has been edited by LarryChanin (edited 07-12-2001).]

 

[JasonATL]

Jim,


I suggest a simple(?) experiment to figure this out:

Take a piece of cardboard out to the dish location. Get someone to watch the signal meter. Then, move the cardboard in front of the dish to the left and right (simulating the tree). Whichever side kills the signal is the culprit.


Of course, this only works if there is still some signal with the HD satellite coming through the tree. If I were at home right now, I'd do this for you. So, if you don't have any way to do this, let me know and I'll run the experiment. By that time, someone might have already posted the answer anyway.


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-Jason

 

[jcthomas]

If I understand your your question, I believe that you will find that the tree to the right of your line-of-site as you look out from behind your dish is the offending tree.


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J Thomas

 

[Jim Ferguson]

Thanks guys. The tree on the left has received a death sentence (for being too close to the house, not for blocking the satellite.) The tree on right will be pruned back to a respectable height http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif


Gotta get this fixed soon. Eventually HBO-HD may actually show an HD movie I'm interested in watching http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

[Curtis]

I'm probably not far behind in losing significant signal. In my case the growth is inching up and within 6 months the dish will be blind. Standing behind the dish today at least 40% of it is blocked, yet I still get strong signals from both satellites. This will not be an easy trimming because it's several trees growing at a California clip. Wish me luck.

 

[Ken H]

As always, the moral of the story is trim, trim, trim, heavy on the trim.


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"Better living thru modern, expensive electronics devices"

tm

 

[Jim Ferguson]

A story problem:


I've had the oval-dish DirecTV setup getting regular and HDTV signals for some time now. Even at first the signal from the satellite containing the HD signals (119?) was slightly weaker, and fluctuated more, than the signals from the regular satellite.


Basically I'm shooting up between a narrow gap between two large coniferous trees.


In the last couple of weeks the signal strenght on the HD transponders has petered out almost completely. It fluctuates between 0 and 15 or 20.


My question is, I'm not sure which tree is the problem. From the POV of a person sitting BEHIND the oval dish, looking up into the sky (and shooting between the two trees), which tree is it that is blocking the transponders for the HD channels? I'm thinking it's the tree on the left, but they're both getting a little overgrown.


Clues?

 

[Jim Ferguson]

Here's a followup to my Tree Saga.


Today the Tree People were out and did some amazing things with cranes and wood chippers. Makes me want to watch "Fargo" again...


If you recall, my HD satellite reception had gotten progressively worse over the spring, and and stopped altogether a couple of weeks ago. I was shooting up into a very small gap between two very large pine trees.


Well, the tree on the left is now gone. RIP. It was a beautiful tree, but it was way too close to the house, and the branches come down on the roof when there is snow or a rainstorm. Not good.


The tree on the right, which is the one that was actually blocking the satellite as it turns out, has now been pruned out and shaped up, and looks much better. Even more important http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif I have at least six feet of "air" between the tree and the line of sight to the satellite. Hopefully that will hold for a couple of years at least.


Of course now I have LOTS of clear line of sight through where the removed tree was. I already have two off-air antennas and a DirecTV dish on the roof. Maybe I should add two more for DishNet. Hmmmmm.....

 

[ni]

A couple of years ago I was watching the first period of a Stanley Cup game I really wanted to see. From the start, it was pixelizing badly and was only going to get worse. Between the first and second period I went out and cut down the offending trees (two). The picture became perfect, and I cleaned up the trees the next day.

 

[Hans_Moleman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jim Ferguson: Here's a followup to my Tree Saga. The tree on the right, which is the one that was actually blocking the satellite as it turns out, has now been pruned out and shaped up, and looks much better. Even more important http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif I have at least six feet of "air" between the tree and the line of sight to the satellite. Hopefully that will hold for a couple of years at least.

Well, I'm a little late to the party, but future reference for anyone else facing this problem, the 119 satellite that provides the HD feeds is located further west than the 101 satellite. This makes for an extra whammy to east coast dwellers in that it (the 119 bird) is also closer to the horizon (lower elevation angle).