Satellite Dish On A Apartment Balcony

alwaystherain

Im looking to put a dish on a balcony hidden from view on the ground.

Is this possible.

Can the dish touch the floor or will it need to be raised a bit.

I have a dish already but if this not good i might buy a selfsat, i need it to be right down on the floor out the way. The balcony railing is made of meshed metal. Any ides help be great.

lertsnim

It needs line of sight to the satellite so If your balcony is facing the right direction then you shouldn't have an issue. A dish can sit on the floor but line of sight is all important.

Vic_08

There are various methods of having a discreet dish, either on the floor of a balcony or on a pedestal or bolted to a railing.

Regular dishes can be hidden inside a plastic box or similar.

There was a large globe style light fitting that housed a dish with a working light available, could be freestanding or attached.

Anther option would be a flat panel satellite receiver, these can be expensive but as long as you can place inside the balcony won't really look like a typical sat dish enough to upset the neighbours or apartment management.

As above, the important thing is that you have clear line of sight, In ireland you need to be able to point S-SE, approx 150 degrees.

The metal mesh sounds problematic, it is unlikely reception will work behind that.

alwaystherain

Yes the mesh does seem to be a problem.
I've a old dish what I'm testing and could not get a signal.

I will try again with the dish above the mesh on a table. I just want to test that it works then if so I think my best option is a flat dish hidden behind a plastic screen, or green netting.

I can only but try.

Tony

www.dishpointer.com might be helpful for you . Select 28 east as your satellite position.

Ger Roe

I have previously clamped a dish onto the lower half of an old microphone stand and managed to keep it low behind a solid metal balcony wall.

Maintaining the aligned position is critical so I used some small plumbing u pipe clamps to keep the mic stand feet in position on the balcony slabs.

It was only when it snowed, that I saw how close the line of the incoming signal was to the top of the balcony wall. When an inch of show had settled on the wall, the signal failed. Having said that, it only happened once and a quick brush off solved the problem.

The dish can not be seen above the level of the balcony wall, but as the show fall proved, I had a very small signal path to play around with.

The important aspect to remember when positioning a dish low and behind a barrier is that the line of the incoming signal hitting the face of the dish, is much higher than you might initially think. You really need to try and visualise the angle when trying to position a dish in a confined space. Most people who see the position of my dish, placed almost directly behind a wall, don't believe that it can work.

Take your time and you should get it sorted.

Good luck.

givecredit

Ger Roe wrote: »

I have previously clamped a dish onto the lower half of an old microphone stand and managed to keep it low behind a solid metal balcony wall.

Maintaining the aligned position is critical so I used some small plumbing u pipe clamps to keep the mic stand feet in position on the balcony slabs.

It was only when it snowed, that I saw how close the line of the incoming signal was to the top of the balcony wall. When an inch of show had settled on the wall, the signal failed. Having said that, it only happened once and a quick brush off solved the problem.

The dish can not be seen above the level of the balcony wall, but as the show fall proved, I had a very small signal path to play around with.

The important aspect to remember when positioning a dish low and behind a barrier is that the line of the incoming signal hitting the face of the dish, is much higher than you might initially think. You really need to try and visualise the angle when trying to position a dish in a confined space. Most people who see the position of my dish, placed almost directly behind a wall, don't believe that it can work.

Take your time and you should get it sorted.

Good luck.

Photo might help if you can provide.

Apogee

The selfsats and globesat are probably a little on the small side for Ireland, especially considering amount of rainfall. There are cheaper alternatives, however, such as mounting a dish horizontally or behind a screen.



Remember too that the line of sight on an offset dish is usually higher than you might predict:

alwaystherain

So far i have put the Satellite Dish on a table and connected to the box.
I used a sat beeper to locate the Satellite Astra 28.2E.

It was a quick set up just to see what would happen.
I was able to pick up Challenge channels qvc channels sky news and a few others.

I now know it can work. I will spend more time over next few days and set it up as in the last photo showed on a frame on the floor.

I will take some photos when done.