A new decision

This morning we had an unusual visitor. His name was Paul Whitman and he works for Hughes.net, a satellite dish company. He was here to find out if the satellite can be accessed from our house. I have assumed for many years that because we are on the north side of a mountain, we could not see the satellite from our house, because it is in the southern sky. But I decided that maybe I should let an expert tell me that. So I called Hughes net. Paul checked out the situation and he told me that if I could bring down one large birch tree behind the house, we could access the satellite! That came as a surprise. I have always assumed that the satellite was behind the mountain. But it is higher than that. If he is right and if I can get the tree brought down for not too much expense, we could have Wi-Fi here at the house!! There would be no installation fee and it would cost $69 a month. That would be far less expensive than having cable brought in. There are some issues concerning the placement of the dish. It would have to be either on a pole in front of the house, or on the roof. Paul seemed to think either would work. If it were on a pole, it would sort of spoil our view, and we would also have to have a small trench dug to run the cable from the dish to the house underground. Having it on the roof would eliminate the need for a trench and we wouldn't have to stare at it, but if there was snow and ice buildup during the winter that could affect reception, it would be harder to clean out on the roof. So, each option has pros and cons. We have to decide whether to proceed. I guess I'll look into what it would entail to have the tree brought down. If it could just be dropped, that would be simple enough. But it is close enough to the house so that it would have to be dropped in just the right way. Here is a picture – the tall birch tree between the two fir trees is what would have to come down. The satellite is behind that tree. We should probably also talk to people who have satellite dishes and find out how big a problem snow and ice can be.