How To Align And Set Up A Satellite Dish
Essentials You Will Need....
1. Compass
2. Cheap Sat Finder
3. 10mm, 13mm, 15mm spanners
4. Satellite Dish
5. Satellite Receiver
6. Cable
The basics of satellite orbital positions follow as, all satellite positions are taken from South
So on a compass South is 180°, so when you hear that the Sky Broadcast is set at 28.2° East, it refers to Sky Being 28.2° East of South,”only with true North South” so on your compass you would set the directional at approx 152° , this reference will vary depending on your location, you will now be facing in the general direction of the Sky Satellite. This is referred to as the “Azimuth.”
Now you have the general direction in which you need to face the dish. Please be sure to have a clear line of sight facing South.
Next is to find the elevation of the dish for the satellite you require.
From the bearing South on the Compass, Satellite Positions Start Sweeping from South to East And South To West, South being the highest point of elevation then dropping in elevation as it sweeps East And West, this is referred to as The Clarke Belt or Arc of Satellite Orbital Positions.
Your elevation and Azimuth will vary depending on how far North or South, West or East your current location is.
You can find Elevation,Azimuth,Longitude,Latitude settings using this link SatFind
The general setting for the Sky Broadcast in the UK ranges from 20° in the South and 30° in the North for elevation, these figures are stamped on the rear of most Satellite dishes. Including the Sky mini dish.
Now you hopefully have your satellite dish set in approx the right direction and approx elevation.
You will now need your Sat Finder, connect the end marked LNB to the LNB “thing on end of dish” with the cable provided. Connect the cable from your satellite receiver to the connection marked receiver on the Sat Finder, turn the power on your receiver and select the satellite you wish to find, if it is a Freesat receiver it will be preset to Sky at 28.2°.
Your Sat Finder combined with a Compass is a valuable piece of equipment even though
it costs very little. You should now hear a high pitched tone being generated by
the Sat Finder and the needle indicator should be moving, if this is not the case,
you need to turn the gain control knob up. Once you have tone being generated you
will need to adjust the dish position with very slight movement, you will either
hear the pitch getting higher in tone or lower, if it gets lower you are moving away
from the satellite broadcast, if it gets higher and reaches the peak on the needle
indicator you now need to turn the gain control knob “DOWN” only slightly. Now try
to peak the signal as much as you can, once you have peaked the signal you can return
to you TV And Satellite receiver and visually check the signal indicator on screen,
or you may even have a picture if your satellite receiver is pre-
We have used the Sky Broadcast at 28.2° East as a example for ease of use and for our Caravan Customers.
The same principles can be applied to any of the satellite broadcasts available using inexpensive satellite finding equipment.
A1 Digital Aerial & Satellite
218 Middlewood Road
Sheffield
South Yorkshire
S6 1TE
UK
0114 2838920
Approximate Satellite Dish Sizes Required For Sky 28.2° East Broadcast