Aligning a Satellite Dish

[propersplitbrainme]

Question for anyone who knows about aligning a dish.

One of the lads in the office is having reception problems and wants to check the alignment of his dish. He asked if anyone has a meter that the dish installers use to check the strength of the signal.

"You don't need one" chimes in the office 'Elevenerife'. Just sign out a multi-meter from stores and check the strength of the signal using that.
<General looks of confusion all around>
"How does that work then"? ask I. "Surely the LNB is powered by the box, where do you connect the meter to and what are you reading, amps, volts, what?"
Well apparently he reckons you unplug the cable where it goes into the digibox, connect the meter across the end of the connector (somehow) and measure the current as you move the dish around :S

Sounds like he just made it up on the spot to me, and a google search doesn't reveal anoyone suggesting any similar method. Anyone know if this would work before our chap fries his kit?

 

[Hu Jardon]

He might be right though I wouldn't like to try it -

Most receivers have a setup menu which shows you signal strength and can be set up to give a tone through the TV speakers the higher the tone the better the signal

This site has some simplistic destructions

http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/

 

[techie_tubby]

There are Sat Finders you can buy, we have them for the sat equipment we use on 90SU. Sometimes the best thing to do is the old move it a wee bit then get someone to shout if it's better or not. a few mils up, down can make all the difference.

 

[propersplitbrainme]

There are Sat Finders you can buy, we have them for the sat equipment we use on 90SU.

Thats the sort of thing I was thinking about, you connect them in-line with the LNB, well the ones I've seen do anyway. Never heard of anyone using an ammeter and like Hu says, wouldn't try it myself.

As an add-on question, has anyone with Sky got the new Programming Guide yet? I believe it lets you watch ITV HD on your sky kit without having to buy a freesat setup, but it seems it was due out last year.

 

[Scaley brat]

connect your box's out put to a poratble TV fecing your window, or use wife/kid to tell you the reading. Go into system setup and watch the two bars for strength and quality.
point it east, slowly (like 1 degree a second) rotate to your right the Sky sat is the first you come to. Set your calibrated PDT_Xtremez_31 dish to roughly 25 degrees for southern England.

It's a fiddle, but I set up the one on my caravan every time the van is moved and I've got it down to a fine art now. If you like, I'll write a more detailed guide including the inclination angle for your location.

 

[propersplitbrainme]

SB, thanks for that, I've passed this on to the chap concerned and he's going to have a fish around on the web for more detailed info.

 

[Scaley brat]

PBSM, I think THIS is the site I first used. It's been updated, but still has the simle basics to start with. Mostly, it's getting used to the reaction time of your unit. My Panasonic is quite fast DT_Xtremez_14:

 

[Hu Jardon]

PBSM, I think THIS is the site I first used. It's been updated, but still has the simle basics to start with. Mostly, it's getting used to the reaction time of your unit. My Panasonic is quite fast DT_Xtremez_14:

That's the same site I highlighted in post 2DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[Scaley brat]

That's the same site I highlighted in post 2DT_Xtremez_42:

OOps, so it is DT_Xtremez_14: Sorry.

The meter your mate is talking about sounds like the ones the installers use. You can buy them, but they're not that cheap.

There was a couple that stayed on my campsite earlier this year, he had a similar meter. I watched him struggle for a few minutes then, when his missus got involved, I went over to point him in the right direction. I pointed to my dish to give him the idea but he had the meter, so what did I know. I sat watching the simpsons while he pointed the dish roughly North and started to turn it around.

A little patience and a compass is all you need. Trust me, I do it about 5 times a year when I move my van ::

 

[Stevienics]

Just as a matter of interest, have you managed it when you are in Euro-land? I recall living in Hungary and then Austria and trying a set-up manually. First, you need a dish the size of the Hubble just to get Sky, then you need the finesse and dexterity of a brain surgeon to get it in the right place.......soemthing to do with the angle of dangle of the satellite

 

[Scaley brat]

The link Hu posted has a "footprint" map for Sky, if you're near the edge a bigger dish can help, but the satellite is almost straight up by the time you get to Spain. Not that you're supposed to be able to get a Sky card in Spain or Greece anyway DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[Shugster]

The Multimeter idea is crazy.

As you said the LNB is powered from the box and how do you know which frequency you've picked up? And I'm guessing the signal will be in the mV range at best.

The finders are cheap enough if you only want to know the signal strength...

http://www.reichelt.de/?;ACTION=3;L...wQARsAAF8W-XMf2f1eb794a0964acd25dc51780988402

Or for the richer pocket...

http://www.reichelt.de/?;ACTION=3;L...wQARsAAF8W-XMf2f1eb794a0964acd25dc51780988402

I know it's a German site but you can find similar in UK.

I've used the first one for 6 Euros and it worked fine.

 

[Hu Jardon]

Like Scaley Brat I too have a Caravan and a mobile satellite system, its not rocket science and if you follow Dave Sullivans site you won't need any fancy kit. I used the sat finder meter in teh early days but it only screams when you are on a satellite, you need to spend serious money for a sat finder that tells you which satellite you've found. BUt like I said in the earlier post if you fek around with the receiver you will find a menu that displays signal strength and quality and will give an audible tone far superior to a cheap sat finder. In a nutshell though point your Dish South pointing barely above the horizon and rotate it anti clockwise till you get a signal - the Astra satellite is 28.2 degrees east (anticlockwise) from south.

 

[gemarriott]

Like Scaley Brat I too have a Caravan and a mobile satellite system, its not rocket science and if you follow Dave Sullivans site you won't need any fancy kit. I used the sat finder meter in teh early days but it only screams when you are on a satellite, you need to spend serious money for a sat finder that tells you which satellite you've found. BUt like I said in the earlier post if you fek around with the receiver you will find a menu that displays signal strength and quality and will give an audible tone far superior to a cheap sat finder. In a nutshell though point your Dish South pointing barely above the horizon and rotate it anti clockwise till you get a signal - the Astra satellite is 28.2 degrees east (anticlockwise) from south.

What happens if you get birdies in PD with all this fecking about? I'm fcuked if I'm coming over to Chav central to take the seatpan out of your fecking caravan DT_Xtremez_42:DT_Xtremez_30:

 

[grumpyoldb]

What is it with sitting in a caravan, in a field, watching television................???

Don't go in the first place.........................!DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[Tashy_Man]

What is it with sitting in a caravan, in a field, watching television................???

Don't go in the first place.........................!DT_Xtremez_42:

Indeedy....forget the TV.....Caravans.....WHY ?

I remember my childhood, a week in porthcawl in a caravan....it was sh1te

Crack on.....................DT_Xtremez_09:

 

[Scaley brat]

Indeedy....forget the TV.....Caravans.....WHY ?

I remember my childhood, a week in porthcawl in a caravan....it was sh1te

Crack on.....................DT_Xtremez_09:

Because it puts a bed 140 odd miles closer to where I work. Now THAT is helping the environment ::

Porthcawl !! ffs man. Was Barry Island full ? DT_Xtremez_31: