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Getting a better signal through trees?

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586 views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  Drkailey  
#1 · (Edited)
Standard 20" dish was installed fifteen years ago, receiver is a 9241 with a new DPP twin LNB, new connectors installed on each end of the cable. The dish was carefully aligned for maximum signal on 91, skew is correct for location, even adjusted slightly with no change to signal strength.

The signal on the 91 side goes through quite a lot of trees, 82 is clear. There's no other location to mount the dish that would give a better line of sight. Max signal on 91, TP21 is about 60, dropping to 50 occasionally although the signal still shows green and locked. Signal on 82 is 100%. Check switch shows OK for both birds.

My mother likes to watch CBC on 1564 (91 TP 21) but it drops out a lot. I read somewhere that channels are moving to 91, maybe this is one of them?

Any way to get a better signal through a bunch of trees? I see there might be a 24" elliptical dish that could work? Possibly a larger (60, 90cm) single dish fed into the LNB port on the DPP twin? Or just two separate dishes?

Thanks, first post, did a bunch of reading and seems there's lots of experience here.
 
#2 ·
Any way to get a better signal through a bunch of trees? I see there might be a 24" elliptical dish that could work? Possibly a larger (60, 90cm) single dish fed into the LNB port on the DPP twin? Or just two separate dishes?
If at all possible, it's best to avoid any obstructions such as trees. It's difficult to tell what's possible, maybe a picture would help. Dish location is quite flexible. Is it possible to go under the trees, mount on the far side of the trees or to find a hole in the leaves? Is cutting off a branch or two possible?

Using a larger elliptical dish might work but it would require a different LNB designed for that dish. That, or two separate dishes might not be necessary as Bell is moving its HD channels to 91. As long as the channels left on 82 (if any) are not required, a single dish pointed at 91 may be sufficient. A larger dish will almost always provide a better signal. I'm not sure if a legacy single LNB could be made to work with one satellite and a DPP receiver. Maybe someone else knows.
 
#6 ·
Just a thought. Have you considered moving to Rogers (Shaw) Direct? It's now on a single Satellite (G1 at 107.3W) and much higher in the sky that Bell's Birds.

I'd get a Satellite finder App for your smart phone to see if that'll get you away from shooting through the trees before doing anything else.
 
#9 ·
Just a thought. Have you considered moving to Rogers (Shaw) Direct? It's now on a single Satellite (G1 at 107.3W) and much higher in the sky that Bell's Birds.

I'd get a Satellite finder App for your smart phone to see if that'll get you away from shooting through the trees before doing anything else.
Thanks for the reply but 107W is worse, it might actually be blocked by the neighbors house.

If everything is going to 91W I'm starting to think about a commercial 60 or 90cm dish (standard 20" is 51cm) for just the 91 bird.
 
#7 ·
That depends on location. In western Canada Shaw direct is higher. In central Canada it doesn't make much difference, though direction may help avoid some obstacles. In eastern Canada, Bell's satellite(s) may be higher. At this point in time, it's not worth investing much in DBS satellite equipment as they both seem to be nearing EOL.
 
#10 ·
wait for mother nature to give em a haircut, or chain saw.
Probably more realistic to relocate the antenna for an unobstructed view of the sky.
 
#13 ·
Success, well sort of. Used the 24" dish with a single head Dish Pro LNB and was able to get low 70's through the jungle, could only manage about 50 with the the 20" dish and dual head 82/91 DDP.

So far it seems to be enough for channels to work but it was a clear today, not sure how it will be in the rain, snow might not be as bad as the leaves will be gone of course.

It looks like everything is done on 82 by the end of the month if not already.

Looking from behind the dish it's pointing right at that large tree with only 37* elevation.


Image
 
#17 · (Edited)
I aimed the dish with a meter and the legacy LNB I got with the 60cm package ($40 on Kijiji) and for some reason it just stopped working, no signal at all, not sure what happened but maybe the 9142 isn't compatible and burned it out?

So I switched to the DP (not DPP) unit I got off Fleebay (item number 146146330467). As mentioned the separator didn't work but I got a solid 70-72 on TP 11. I tested both inputs individually and they worked but with the separator the check switch only showed one input (seemed to pick one at random) so we're just using one.

So far it's working good and mom can watch her "regime" media again on CBC, "elbow up". :LOL: