Don't count out the Dish eastern arc sats west of the Mississippi. We didn't have line of site for the western arc from our site in AZ a couple of years ago, but the eastern arc was an easy shot. Right now, we're in southern VA and don't have a good eastern arc view, but the western arc is clear. If I was looking for a portable automatic dome dish, the Pathway X2 would be my only choice among the current models. Similar situations have occurred many times for us on moderate to heavily treed sites, and having the arc choice means we have never failed to get a usable signal so far.