Sky Q dish position on new install

[Flipper444]

Had Sky Q installed about a week ago. The engineer was a nice bloke, friendly, and did a good job.

He was, however, a bit concerned by a line of council-owned trees used to screen off the road at the back of us and said that they may interfere with the signal. It was great for the first couple of days but the last two or three days have been really windy and we're getting constant stuttering, making almost any programme unwatchable.

I understand the problem of signal propogation/interference but given that the engineer knew about (or at the very least, suspected) the problem, shouldn't he have just mounted the dish on a longer pole to get it up above the trees? Can anything be done about it now? We only moved into this property about 10 days ago but there are a lot of well-established Sky subscribers here already, so it's not an insurmountable problem.

[oldfella · Accepted solution]

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@Flipper444 wrote:

Had Sky Q installed about a week ago. The engineer was a nice bloke, friendly, and did a good job.

He was, however, a bit concerned by a line of council-owned trees used to screen off the road at the back of us and said that they may interfere with the signal. It was great for the first couple of days but the last two or three days have been really windy and we're getting constant stuttering, making almost any programme unwatchable.

I understand the problem of signal propogation/interference but given that the engineer knew about (or at the very least, suspected) the problem, shouldn't he have just mounted the dish on a longer pole to get it up above the trees? Can anything be done about it now? We only moved into this property about 10 days ago but there are a lot of well-established Sky subscribers here already, so it's not an insurmountable problem.

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Hi @Flipper444 

Afraid Sky installers are not equipped to pole mount the Satellite dish.

[Flipper444]

Thanks for your reply my friend, but seriously?

All it needs is a 6ft, maybe 10ft max, pole to replace this offset short pole and that'd solve all my problems:

[TimmyBGood]

@Flipper444 

If that's not something Sky supplies to its installers then they can't install it.

Independent satellite contractors haved considerably more leeway.

[Godfrey]

@Flipper444  Whilst an independent installer might well be able to install your satellite dish on a thicker, longer pole, in order to allow a 'line of sight' from your receiving dish to the Astra 28.2 East satellite cluster this season, bear in mind that healthy established tall trees can easily grow up to a metre in height every year, and the wind loading on a dish will not allow pole mounts to be very long if reception is to remain stable in high wind conditions. Additionally a long pole will certainly put quite a high load on this part of your wall in high wind conditions.

When I am installing where tall trees are involved I use dishpointer.com to establish the elevation for 'line of sight' to the satellites and then look through a clinometer in order to establish if that elevation is being blocked by the foliage.

Godfrey.

[Flipper444]

Fair enough.

I just find it really weird that they don't have/use/supply long(er) poles when they know full well that some properties will need them. It sort of smacks of doing half a job and not being bothered by that, i.e., "You get what you're given and if it doesn't work it's up to you to sort it out at your own expense."

A strange way of doing business.

[Daniel0210]

@Flipper444 

Also be aware that should you have the dish raised by an independent company, if you have issues in the future, Sky could refuse to work on the dish due to their working at height policy.

[Flipper444]

Good point Daniel and one that I confess I hadn't thought about.

However, as a radio ham I'm no stranger to erecting aerials and so could do it myself. I've also had planning approval granted (in principle) for my 40ft telescopic tower to be put up, so worst case scenario is that I lash the dish to the tower.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Flipper444 wrote:

 It sort of smacks of doing half a job and not being bothered by that, i.e., "You get what you're given and if it doesn't work it's up to you to sort it out at your own expense."

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Well, kind of, yes.  Reception of satellite television isn't a right and Sky don't have to facilitate every possible installation: if the current setup isn't viable for Q to function then I suspect they'd be quite prepared to end your contract without penalty.

As @Daniel0210 indicates, we do have to advise that even where an independent contractor has resolved such a situation, Sky won't necessarily support its use if this contradicts their own working practices