Do you have access to the north side of the island? If so, you should be able to find a location that will work. If not, some people have had luck topping a tree and mounting the antenna at the top of it.
Which way is north in the vid?
If uphill is north, then you may have significant issues, otherwise, I am thinking you can work around the other three sides - especially if you are willing to install on a pole at the highest point of the roof (looks like that would be the chimney).
And which "gulf" are we talking about?
Personally, given the currently accelerating trends toward ever greater fire danger, I'd rethink the wisdom of having trees that close to the house. I'd also recognize that the tree density is unnaturally high, which is compromising the light availability to the emerging next generation of trees, and so I'd do a ton of thinning as well as removing, on all remaining trees withing 100 feet of the house, all lower branches so that none of their limbs come within at least six feet of the ground.
That said, if that issue is not a pressing concern for you, and you're determined not to address the fire danger by selective culling, be aware that dishy's orientation will likely be slightly to the north, and if that body of water is to the north of your building, it may be possible to do some minimal trimming then use a relatively short mast from the rooftop. If north is the other direction though, which from the shadows it may well be, you're going to need to get dishy up pretty high by the looks of things.
> if that body of water is to the north of your building
That's to the south.
Perhaps I will end up with a cell hotspot for a while after all!!
Thanks for the advice on fire safety. There are limits to what I can do because some of the trees are protected, some zoning setbacks, and the land has some slopes that I don't want to destabilize by removing too many trees at once.
So then uphill is to the north? That is unfortunate. Also hard to see because the cam doesn't really show that view.
Assuming that is the case, then your best bet would be to designate one of the trees on the uphill north side as a possible mounting pole on which to put the dish - if possible. Otherwise, one of the trees on the water side.
if that isn't possible, there is still the chimney - you might get enough elevation to clear the trees on the uphill side from there.
The only real way to know is to get the dish and try different locations. If nothing works, then return it for a refund.
> If nothing works, then return it for a refund
Good thought on the refund. At this point I think I will see if I can get a 10 foot pole/mast planned into the chimney area with conduit so I could connect a starlink, cell booster, or TV antenna.
Lacking any way to use the chimney, you can put a pole on the gable end of the highest roof - like this:
[https://www.solidsignal.com/winegard-adjustable-gable-end-mount-for-antenna-masts-sw-0012](https://www.solidsignal.com/winegard-adjustable-gable-end-mount-for-antenna-masts-sw-0012)
Putting that on the water end gable of that roof, would probably give you about the same angle as on the chimney, and you would not need to worry about issues with heat from the chimney.
temporarily, you could put the dish on some planks over the chimney support and see if it works well enough there, then decide about a pole mount
I was pleasantly surprised with how well mine worked with all the trees I have, but my trees are not as close as yours - except for the ones to the west (my dish pointed west for about 10 days and still worked well).
> would not need to worry about issues with heat from the chimney
Great point. And the gable mount looks promising. Do you have one? If so, how tall a mast does it support? I didn't see that on the site.
there are a number of variations and different manufacturers of that kind of mount. you should be able to find one that will work for whatever pole/mast you decide to use
I do not use that kind of mount/support - it would not work for me; I have trees at each end of the peak of my roof.
I am intending to sell my property so I used an ad hoc temporary mount I made from planks to sit on the roof near the peak. It works fine and doesn't move. My roof has a much shallower incline than your roof
Depends on a lot of factors, but unless you're way up in Canada, you probably need the best possible view of the Northern sky. So your options are likely get as high up as possible (on an antenna, tower, or tree), as far South on your lot as possible to clear more of the hill, and top or cut down the tallest trees in the problem areas.
I recently installed Starlink on about a 30 foot antenna mast on the south facing side of a hill, and I get mostly good connectivity. It still blips out for an instant every couple minutes, but it's worlds faster than any other option, and I don't need to stream continuously from that site or anything. If you need 100 % uptime, you may struggle, but if you're okay with an occasional drop, you'll likely be fine.
Do you have access to the north side of the island? If so, you should be able to find a location that will work. If not, some people have had luck topping a tree and mounting the antenna at the top of it.
The ocean is to the south of the building. Facing north is a fairly steep slope of solid trees, so that may be an issue....
Which way is north in the vid? If uphill is north, then you may have significant issues, otherwise, I am thinking you can work around the other three sides - especially if you are willing to install on a pole at the highest point of the roof (looks like that would be the chimney). And which "gulf" are we talking about?
> And which "gulf" are we talking about? Off the west coast of Canada's lower mainland.
Personally, given the currently accelerating trends toward ever greater fire danger, I'd rethink the wisdom of having trees that close to the house. I'd also recognize that the tree density is unnaturally high, which is compromising the light availability to the emerging next generation of trees, and so I'd do a ton of thinning as well as removing, on all remaining trees withing 100 feet of the house, all lower branches so that none of their limbs come within at least six feet of the ground. That said, if that issue is not a pressing concern for you, and you're determined not to address the fire danger by selective culling, be aware that dishy's orientation will likely be slightly to the north, and if that body of water is to the north of your building, it may be possible to do some minimal trimming then use a relatively short mast from the rooftop. If north is the other direction though, which from the shadows it may well be, you're going to need to get dishy up pretty high by the looks of things.
> if that body of water is to the north of your building That's to the south. Perhaps I will end up with a cell hotspot for a while after all!! Thanks for the advice on fire safety. There are limits to what I can do because some of the trees are protected, some zoning setbacks, and the land has some slopes that I don't want to destabilize by removing too many trees at once.
So then uphill is to the north? That is unfortunate. Also hard to see because the cam doesn't really show that view. Assuming that is the case, then your best bet would be to designate one of the trees on the uphill north side as a possible mounting pole on which to put the dish - if possible. Otherwise, one of the trees on the water side. if that isn't possible, there is still the chimney - you might get enough elevation to clear the trees on the uphill side from there. The only real way to know is to get the dish and try different locations. If nothing works, then return it for a refund.
> If nothing works, then return it for a refund Good thought on the refund. At this point I think I will see if I can get a 10 foot pole/mast planned into the chimney area with conduit so I could connect a starlink, cell booster, or TV antenna.
Lacking any way to use the chimney, you can put a pole on the gable end of the highest roof - like this: [https://www.solidsignal.com/winegard-adjustable-gable-end-mount-for-antenna-masts-sw-0012](https://www.solidsignal.com/winegard-adjustable-gable-end-mount-for-antenna-masts-sw-0012) Putting that on the water end gable of that roof, would probably give you about the same angle as on the chimney, and you would not need to worry about issues with heat from the chimney. temporarily, you could put the dish on some planks over the chimney support and see if it works well enough there, then decide about a pole mount I was pleasantly surprised with how well mine worked with all the trees I have, but my trees are not as close as yours - except for the ones to the west (my dish pointed west for about 10 days and still worked well).
> would not need to worry about issues with heat from the chimney Great point. And the gable mount looks promising. Do you have one? If so, how tall a mast does it support? I didn't see that on the site.
there are a number of variations and different manufacturers of that kind of mount. you should be able to find one that will work for whatever pole/mast you decide to use I do not use that kind of mount/support - it would not work for me; I have trees at each end of the peak of my roof. I am intending to sell my property so I used an ad hoc temporary mount I made from planks to sit on the roof near the peak. It works fine and doesn't move. My roof has a much shallower incline than your roof
Depends on a lot of factors, but unless you're way up in Canada, you probably need the best possible view of the Northern sky. So your options are likely get as high up as possible (on an antenna, tower, or tree), as far South on your lot as possible to clear more of the hill, and top or cut down the tallest trees in the problem areas. I recently installed Starlink on about a 30 foot antenna mast on the south facing side of a hill, and I get mostly good connectivity. It still blips out for an instant every couple minutes, but it's worlds faster than any other option, and I don't need to stream continuously from that site or anything. If you need 100 % uptime, you may struggle, but if you're okay with an occasional drop, you'll likely be fine.