The “Wally”

[Marjorue9869]

Can the dish “Wally” find a Satellite thru glass.

 

[Steltek]

I presume you are considering installing a satellite dish inside a residence (like in an apartment in a building that prohibits satellite dish installs)? Also, since you specified the Wally (which is a portable receiver), are you also talking about using a portable antenna like a Tailgater or Playmaker with it, or just a standard Dish 1000 dish? A little more info regarding the situation is needed.

It is possible to use a standard satellite dish from inside a residence - I've seen it done before. However, you have to have a window pointing in the correct direction supplying a clear view to the satellite(s) at the correct elevation. If the window has a screen, you may have to remove it. Also, if the window is double-paned (especially those with energy efficient features, like gas between the panes or a reflective coating on the outside) it significantly decreases the likelihood it will work.

In short, you won't know until you try.

 

[Marjorue9869]

Sorry, yes I am using a tailgater.
i think I have a window with only 1 pane and no coating on it. It is about 24 inches wide and 50 inches tall. It does face true south. How about that?

 

[Steltek]

Never heard of trying it with a Tailgater, but I'd say there is a good chance it will work.

Your biggest concern will be placement of the dish to make sure it can access all three orbital locations. The Tailgater dish moves automatically between at least 3 different satellites for channels on demand, so you need to get a compass and make sure that all three would be seen clearly by the dish based upon your location. I very vaguely recall the the regular Tailgater only accesses "hybrid" western arc Dish satellites at 61.5 degrees (an eastern arc satellite) along with satellites at 110 and 119 degrees from the western arc satellites, (although, I also dimly recall there might be a more expensive RV Tailgater version that can maybe access more satellites).

Unfortunately, this is something that you'll just have to try to see if it will work for you. You can prepare as much as possible by verifying what satellites the Tailgater you are getting uses and by verifying those satellites are available from the window with a compass. If the dish can "see" those satellites clearly from that Window, I'd say it will work.

I will say this, though. If you have access to good high speed Internet without data caps, you may instead want to look at access via streaming services instead of satellite. Dish has gotten to be very overpriced the last few years for what it now offers (especially since the HBO/Cinemax channels were pulled from the service).

 

[Marjorue9869]

when the satellite search fails, how do I know where to turn it now? Right, left or up? How do I know where these satellite are. Is there a map or website that shows that information ,

 

[Marjorue9869]

All my answers say get a compass and make sure the dish can see the satellites. What satellites? Where are they? How does a compass tell me where they are?

 

[Steltek]

Is there any way you can set the dish up outside temporarily, maybe for "testing" to see where it should be aimed? It is self-aiming, so it will find the satellites itself as long as it has clear sky in front of it.

If not, you will need to look in your manual to determine what satellites your dish uses (will probably be three of these four: 61.5, 110, 119, or 129 -- the first three constitute the "hybrid" Dish Western arc satellites, while the last three are called the Dish Western arc satellites) and then use a calculator like this or this (use multi-LNB on the 2nd one) to determine based upon your location an approximate azimuth (side to side direction) and elevation (up and down angle) to each of the satellites. With this information, you can use a compass (or even an dish pointer app for your smartphone, for that matter) to determine approximately where the satellites are in the sky horizontally and vertically relative to you to make sure that they are available from the window you are using.