How can I determine my being able to "see" the signal?

How can I determine if I have an appropriate location on my house/lot that will be able to see the signal before going to the trouble to pull my own wire?

I have determined the elevation/azimuth for my location, but with plenty of trees and a close proximity to a neighbors house it is not a given that I can see the signals.

Do I pull the cables to each room first, then take the chance and schedule the install or can I determine before the trouble of running the cable whether or not I can receive? The chicken or egg first?

I had same question when I set up my first dish. I handheld the dish with one line going directly to a receiver hooked up to a small portable tv outside. I basically raised and lowered the dish around my front yard and found three spots to put it and used that info to determine where I wanted to hang the dish. An installer came later when I wanted to upgrade the dish and he was surprised I found the signal where I did.

One method I used a while back when I was tryng to determine if I could get that other satellite service into a differnt place was some commercial astronomy software (Starry Night) and a laptop computer. The program could also track and project satellites against the stars on the computer.

It was a simple matter to approximate the location of the satellites by seeing where they were against the starfield. That location was shooting one of the satellites just over a stand of trees which were some 100 feet from the dish location.

If you're near St. Louis, I might be able to help with your line of sight.
And, actually, your install should come with cabling to a point.
Happy HD Hunting!
Highdef Jeff

Geeeeez,

call a LOCAL retail dealer, he may do a free sight check for you.
(I did one today for a 622, 211, 311 install next week)
I had to verify 129 los.

fred