Setting up a satellite dish

Setting up a Satellite Dish - Author = Peedee 

I have recently had problems setting up my system, I could not get a signal. In the course of investigating the problem I consulted various bits of information which I have pulled together in the attached which I thought might prove useful to others. I was to find out my problem was off tune presets on my satellite box and a faulty LNB rather than the dish setting up procedure. 

Setting up a Satellite dish to receive UK transmissions 

If you already have a television, you can buy equipment to receive satellite TV signals for under £100 or you can pay upwards of £2000 for the installation of kits which seek and find the satellites automatically. These instructions apply to the setting up of equipment where the dish has to be pointed manually to find the required satellites. 

Before you set off, it is best to have a practice at home using some of the instructions which follow. It is fairly easy to pick up transmissions here in the UK so practice now and set your box up before you leave. 

What are you trying to achieve? : 

Well you are trying to get a signal from 4 co located satellites (Astra 1N,2A, 2B, 2D, and Eurobird 1) hovering above the earth’s surface. The term hovering is used because 35,786 km above the earth is where near-geostationary orbits are achieved. i.e the satellite appears stationary in the sky. Most communications satellites are located at this height. The ones you are looking for are located between longitudes 28.2 and 28.5 degrees east of the Greenwich Meridian. This is not the compass bearing to the satellite – this is because it would only be right from one point on the earth’s surface. You are also trying to get your LNB oriented with the vertical and horizontal signals coming from the different transponders on those satellites. A transponder is simply a radio receiver which retransmits (beams) the signals it receives in a required direction. 

You can find out more about the allocations of transponders for the above satellites at http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html and the areas which they cover athttp://www.ses-astra.com/business/en/satellite-fleet/index.php 

What do you need: 

1) If you want to receive Sky programs – a Sky digi box – although they are all built to Sky’s spec some are a little better than others at getting weak signals –If you are not bothered about Sky’s offerings any cheap Free to Air receiver will do. 

2) A satellite dish and something to attach it to – A tripod stand is useful, it has the advantage of being easy to move around to obtain a clear view of the sky. If you are only going to use it in the UK a dish of around 60 cm will be ok all the way up to Scotland and out to the West country but if you are going to Spain or Portugal or to East Germany larger dishes are required. Dish size is most important if you want to receive reliable signals, the larger the better. Portability imposes practical limits of about 85cm. 

3) A Universal LNB (Low Noise Block) for the dish. The LNB is the bit at the end of the arm which receives the signal and blocks out unwanted interference. The lower the noise threshhold of the LNB the better. This threshhold is usually described as the noise factor and typical values range from 0.1 up to 0.5db 

4) Some good quality Satellite grade aerial cable to go from the LNB to your receiver box. 

5) A compass and a satellite finder. – Your satellite finder would be best to have both an audible and a visual display. The ones with a meter are far more accurate than those with a set of LEDs. Sat finders can cost as little as £10 but it is certainly not necessary to pay hundreds of pounds for the ones the professionals use. 

So how do we get a picture on the telly? 

Make a short lead up to go from the LNB to a sat finder near the dish. Also have a long lead which will reach from the dish to the receiver. You can get ‘F’ plug to coax plug adapters, from B&Q and many other places should you need these. 

Now connect the short lead to the LNB and the sat finder (side marked LNB) and the long lead from the sat finder to the digi box. Then and only then turn the power on. (there is a low voltage running through the LNB cable and you don’t want to short it whilst connecting cables). 

After checking there are no tall buildings, trees etc to the south of you, set your dish elevation to about 24 degrees. Most dishes have graduated markers to help you do this. With your compass point the dish to 28 degrees east of south (compass bearing 152 if you are on the Greenwich Meridian). If you are East or West of the Greenwich Meridian (It runs more or less through London or if you are in Spain, Benidorm) then either add the number of degrees you are west or subtract the number of degrees you are East. As and example, if you are in Lisbon which is 9 degrees West you would point the dish to 37 degrees East of South (compass bearing 143). It is always good practice to bring your dish from the East on to the correct heading. There are other Astra satellites at 23.5 and 19 degrees and coming the other way your sat box trying may lock on to one of them which might mean that you will have to power it off and start again. 

Now move the dish (slowly) up and down and you should find that your sat finder will make a noise or the needle swings up. Keep adjusting, gradually 1degree at a time, the dish both up and down and slightly side to side until the needle is at it’s highest point then tighten any clamps (It is better to replace any nuts, on your dish mounting, with wing nuts as you will have to do this every time you set up). Depending on the type of dish and LNB you have you may now rotate the LNB in its holder (Sky mini dishes are fixed) to get the best signal. This is so you line up the vertical and horizontal signals coming to the LNB. You may think that you are standing on a horizontal ground but remember the further East or West you go the further you have travelled round the curvature of earths surface whereas the satellite is still broadcasting in the same plane. Again for Lisbon you would have to rotate the LNB by 30 degrees clockwise when facing the dish. (cable pointed to 7 o’clock). 
You can find more information about where to point your dish from different locations at http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/bearings.htm which is also a very good site for general information about television reception in a caravan/motorhome. 

Having got your signal, go to the receiver and check your signal. All boxes should allow you to check a received signal and you should see two horizontal bars, one representing ‘signal strength’ and one ‘signal quality’ (the longer these bars the better the signal). You should also see some indication as to which channel you are on and you should see a picture! On many boxes you can set a default channel so the box always tunes to this channel when it is switched on. After the initial set up, set the default to Sky News UK or Ireland. Why Sky News UK or Ireland? These two channels are beamed from Astra 2A’s south beam which can be received more widely in Europe and beyond. 

If your sat finder is seeing a signal but you can not get a signal to show on the box you are either on the wrong satellite or you are south of Barcelona and the default channel may need to be changed. The default channel is the one that the signal meter, built in to your digi box, is looking for. 

Remember that as you get further south in Spain you will almost certainly lose some channels unless you have a very large dish. The Astra signals are separated in to beams one of which (2D) is pointed at the UK and is fairly tightly focused (you can get it in France and the very north of Spain). Unfortunately 2D carries the BBC and ITV channels so be prepared to watch something else. 


Peedee