Thinking of buying a satellite dish? Here is a basic guide on installing your dish and this has been created through research of the various brands available.
Step 1: Familiarize yourself with your satellite dish equipment: This is not a soft toy, this is technologically advanced equipment or machinery, and therefore knowing the various parts will help you set it up without any problems. The various parts you need to identify include:
o The plate or reflector
LNB
o Mounting hardware such as screws and bolts
Step 2: Determining the type of satellite dish. The second step is to determine if you are setting up an elliptical multi-satellite dish or the standard satellite dish. The elliptical platter measures 18×24 inches while the standard platter has a diameter of 18 inches.
Step 3: Setting up your satellite dish. Here’s how to calculate the angle. You should write them down so that adjustments can be made accordingly.
Azimuth: ____________
Elevation: ____________
Tilt: ____________ (skew)
Step 4: Mounting the satellite dish. Don’t go ahead and ride it; Please refer to the product manual first. The manual has step-by-step instructions for assembling the dish.
Note: The LNB arm needs special mention here. It has a clamp that will slide down over a mast to snap it into place. Once this is accomplished, you can assemble the mast, as well as the set of feet as specified in the manual. To keep the mast straight horizontally and vertically, you must use a plumb bob or a level.
Step 5: Aligning the Satellite Dish – Use a compass and pencil to align your satellite dish in such a way that you can locate the satellite signal. Now slowly mount your assembled cymbal by sliding the clamp down over the neck arm. Now tighten the bolts to keep it secure and remember not to tighten it so hard that it’s impossible to turn later. Now use the skew or tilt coordinates to set the tilt of your dish at the specific location. Once this is done, set up the elevation of the dish using the angle calculator.
Step 6: Locating the signal. Now you need to run the wires from your receiver to the satellite dish. Once you’re in place, turn on your satellite receiver. Remember to put your receiver into Dish or Cue Pointing mode once you enter the setup menu. Consult the manual. The next step will be to stand behind the satellite dish so that it can move 3 degrees to the right. Check if there is signal. If the signal is not there, move your coil three degrees more to the right and check again for a signal. Continue this process until you can achieve optimum signal quality, which should be between 75 and 100 on the receiver’s signal strength meter.