How To : Installing and pointing a satellite dish

It could be nice if you can DIY this dish pointing work yourself - point your dish to multiple satellites ie three (3) dish pointing to - Astro, Indovision & ST1. Oh wow, 400-500 channels oh! It would be nice if you can fix your Astro dish yourself after been blown by the strong wind as well!

Tools needed : an adjustable spanner & a compass

Print this out .. click on the image to see bigger view

The dish must be connected to your decoder ie Dreambox ..
Mount it all, including the LNB, and screw on tightly, except the screws that I marked on red. This is because you will need to turn and move the dish to point it to the right direction.

Pointing the dish to a satellite..

Wich satellite should you point the dish to?

It depends. You should have a view at LyngSat to find out what satellite is the most interesting for you. Then, you can visit Dishpointer to get the azimut, elevation and polarisation.

Well, it is time to point your dish.
You need three pieces of information : azimut, elevation and LNB polarization / skew.
Note that down on anything for your reference when you are up the roof later.

Azimut

This is the dish position in respect to north. It is mesaured in degrees.

Elevation

This is the satellite signal beam inclination that reaches the dish. It is measured in degrees. To adjust it, you must have a look at the numbers on the rear side of the dish.

Polarisation / LNB Skew

The polarisation is the LNB rotation in respect to floor. It is measured in degrees.

All these pieces of information depend on two factors:

• Your geographical location.
• The position of the satellite you want to point to.

A practical case, example only, pointing to Astra satellite in Madrid (Spain)

I have found out the three pieces of information in this page.

Azimut, 147º

Firstly, let's move the dish using the right azimut. Mark azimut (147º)

Locate north with the compass, and turn the piece of paper until the two "norths" are lined up.

 

Turn the dish according to the mark in respect to the center.

Elevation, 38º

Let's elevate the dish. Skew the dish until the right position is reached, looking at the numbers and nut on the dish support.

Polarisation, 25 º

Use the piece of paper that you printed before.

If the polarisation value is negative, you must turn back the piece of paper.
Well, it is done.

You must do the final adjustments using the receiver's signal strength indicator. You must modify the previous dish positions, very precisely and smoothly, until optimal signal quality is obtained.

Basically youre done! Congratulations!

Contains materials by puntodepartida.com - Juan Jesús Gómez Hinestrosa. Thank You.