Dish through a skylight

statalite

statalite

Member
My Satellite Setup
SF8008
DiSEqC motor with 1m dish
Zone 1 @ 28.2°E
Zone 2 @ 28.2°E
Channel Master 1.0m (to be setup)
Channel Master 1.2m (to be setup)
SMR 1224
My Location
UK Midlands
Excuse me for my lack of knowledge, and would like some advice (not for the first time please).

It has just came to me that I would be able to get an 80cm dish for example into the attic (as its boarded out) and I could point it towards the skylight window to get a signal.
This may be a very basic question (please forgive me) but if I have a dish that is wider than the window, will I be restricted to by the size of the window?
I understand that pointing through a window will have a great detrimental affect on the received signal full stop but would I have more trouble with a window (skylight) that is the same angle as the roof, has anyone tried this unusual way?

thanks guys.
 
I've had a dish behind a window, and reception was not bad at all, actually :-)
Signal blockage depends on type of glass, though.

I only had bad reception when the window was wet with rain.
With a skylight window that would be much worse, i guess...

Greetz,
A33
 
a33 said:
I've had a dish behind a window, and reception was not bad at all, actually :)
Signal blockage depends on type of glass, though.

I only had bad reception when the window was wet with rain.
With a skylight window that would be much worse, i guess...

Greetz,
A33
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply, I need to double check the type of glass tomorrow, I don't know how I will identify it but I will definitely look.
The point you make about the rain is a very good one, I could just hope it doesn't rain (but this is the UK after all) when its dry I can pull the skylight down, which may help me also.
 
I think the glass is about 60cm wide, I think this will restrict me also?
 
statalite said:
I think the glass is about 60cm wide, I think this will restrict me also?
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It's all about absorbtion of the microwaves.
Roof and windows will absorb microwaves.
Rooves mostly because of mass. Windows partly due to glass, but mostly due to metal in glass.
Type of window determines how much absorption.
Size of window does not, but the size of the window determines how much roof and window frame is in the signal path.

If you are looking at 28.2E or 19.2E or some other strong sat, you might get lucky pointing through a skylight.
Anything smelling remotely of fringe reception - don't even bother.
Stick the dish on the outside - you will get more result with a smaller dish.
Remember, we are talking about very faint signals already.
Looking through windows may work for strong sats, but it not advisably for fringe stuff.

But the real test: Try it and see what happens... :)
 
What satellite are you hoping to receive? What compass direction does the skylight face and what angle is it to horizontal?

Type of glass is extremely important - most modern glass will block the signal and double glazing will severely decrease the signal. Large angles of skylight to satellite both horizontal and vertical will increase reflection of the signal and hence decrease the signal received.

I tried this a few years ago and had reasonable success on Astra 1, 2 and Hotbird through over 20 year old single pane windows.
 
IIRC, "perspex"/polycarbonate is supposed to transmit microwave frequencies better than glass - probably because it does not contain metallic elements.
 
I cases where the dish had to be inside and looking through a window, we would replace the window glass with plexiglass, it is transparent to 5 to 12 GHz microwaves.

Most modern windows that are dual pane have an IR rejection coating on them, this is a micron thin metal coating, the microwaves used for satellite signals do not like this coating.

Also some very old window glass gave us a problem, found out that the glass had lead in it, made for all sorts of problems when we tried to get permission to replace the glass with plexy, it was a historical building, we had to save the old piece of glass and promised to replace it if the satellite dish was to be removed, so far no calls to do so.

So if your in and old building check the glass to see if you have some ripples in it, this could be the very old style glass, and may have a lead content.
 
davemurgtroyd said:
What satellite are you hoping to receive? What compass direction does the skylight face and what angle is it to horizontal?

Type of glass is extremely important - most modern glass will block the signal and double glazing will severely decrease the signal. Large angles of skylight to satellite both horizontal and vertical will increase reflection of the signal and hence decrease the signal received.

I tried this a few years ago and had reasonable success on Astra 1, 2 and Hotbird through over 20 year old single pane windows.
Click to expand...

I was hoping to get 13e as a minimum. The skylight is south facing to get 28.2 it's 144.4° from North. I'm guessing the glass is 70 degrees to horizontal.

I wouldn't be in a position to replace the window as I don't own the property and I don't want to put the dish on the outer wall as it would stick out like a sore thumb on this narrow street.

In terms of the glass all can gather is that its a Velux centre-pivot roof window. As it's Velux, does this automatically mean its double glazing? I can see a single line dotted spacer, i suspect its double glazing in which case its game over :(
 
Almost certainly double-glazed!

As for an exterior dish, what you could consider is painting it to match the brickwork/wall paint.

OTOH, in another thread about 6-8 weeks ago IIRC (but which I can't find ATM), someone in the MK area (so roughly your's) got a good signal from 13E on a normal Zone 1 minidish pointed in the right direction - so maybe that would work without standing out like a sore thumb?
 
jeallen01 said:
Almost certainly double-glazed!

As for an exterior dish, what you could consider is painting it to match the brickwork/wall paint.

OTOH, in another thread about 6-8 weeks ago IIRC (but which I can't find ATM), someone in the MK area (so roughly your's) got a good signal from 13E on a normal Zone 1 minidish pointed in the right direction - so maybe that would work without standing out like a sore thumb?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be comfortable changing my existing 28.2 with 19.2e add on for another dish (on the same south facing wall) as it would stick out and I would be conscious of it. Adding a third lnb to the zone 1, I don't want to disturb what I have so, I just have to put up with what I have at the moment.

Thanks for the advice guys.
 
I believe you could successfully mount 3LNBs on a Zone 2 dish, with the centre one aimed at 19E
 
And back to the skylight, if it is the center pivot type then the panel could be removed and a wooden frame made up with plexy as a replacement. (if not done right it could leak like a sieve)

And there is a product warning posted for that type of window, see this.

Code: 
http://velux-pw.velux.co.uk/

And here are a few ideas on how to hide a dish.

Code: 
http://www.dishcamo.com/dishcamo.htm
 
Terryl said:
And here are a few ideas on how to hide a dish.
Code: 
http://www.dishcamo.com/dishcamo.htm
Click to expand...

Some of those things and camo ideas look great, but I think that others would draw more attention, in a small/narrow street, than a correctly aligned Zone 2 dish with 3LNBs (especially if the whole assy is paint-sprayed - car spray paint!) to match the wall!
 
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