I purchased a new Toshiba 56" 1080P DLP a few months back in preparation for going HD. My plan is to watch the entire 2006 World Cup in HD since we're not going to Germany to see it first hand. So I call DirecTV, I did my homework, I know if I replace my existing 2 LNB with a new dish and go HD, they are going to give me a 3 LNB (we don't get HD locals over Sat until May) which means they'll simply replace it again in a few months with what I want now, a 5 LNB dish.
So I try and work a deal, after all, I have been a subsriber for 8 years now, they seem to want to make me happy nowadays. No matter how hard I push, it seems they simply can't give me the 5 LNB now because they don't have enough to supply the markets where they DO have local HD channels over Sat. So I hang up, look online and in less than 5 minutes, purchase a 5 LNB and H20 MPEG 4 compatible receiver over the internet. 4 days later, it's in my livingroom.
I call DirecTV again, my 2 LNB dish was damaged in one of the Hurricanes this past summer, I figure they can turn me on to an installer and if they give me a difficult time, I can use the damaged dish (held together with duct tape) as a great excuse. To my surprise (and embarrassment), they tell me they'd love to help but since they dont yet have the 5 LNB's in my market, the installers wont know how to install them! The guy wishes me luck and appologizes, I can't really fault them as I went and purchased the hardware on my own.
So, I have mounted my own 2 LNB dish a few times, seems quite simple but I do understand with 5 satellites, I now have to worry about tilt angle when I mount this one. My question to those that have installed these is this, how hard is it, if I get the mounting mast fastened and plumb (using the included ball-level) and set the elevation and tilt per the settings for my zip code, can I expect to rotate to the correct azimuth usuing a compass and get a good signal (assuming I set the 110/119 degree LNB correctly - position 2 for me)?
I know the signal strength meter in the receiver isn't a good way to do this, and IF necessary I'll buy the signal strength meter but I figure as tightly manufactured as this new mounting base is (quite a fine mounting system), shouldn't it be as simple as getting the settings dialed in properly and rotating until I get the stongest signal?
