How to: Install a satellite dish (For Freesat, Free-to-view, Sky)

amdaley28

Measure across the diameter of the dish & see what you have.
If you have an 80cm dish there is no reason why you shouldn't get a high % on all the channels on 28.2 in all weathers.
What % are you getting on that BCC channel ?

walus

I haven't changed the dish or the LNB which were working perfect in the previous place. The LNB skew is the same and set at 2. Again I'm not sure what size of dish this is but will check it. The BBC channels are 75% signal strength and 65 signal quality.

After checking a shop that I got the dish from years ago I can confirm that it is a 60 cm dish.

walus

Also it seems that the one channel in question (kids used to watch it - TinyPop) is actually transmitted from Eutelsat 28.5E. I wonder is that 0.3 of a degree that important?

Gerry Wicklow

The BBC channels are on one of the strongest signals. Far better to use the weaker ones from Eutelsat 28.5 for alignment on the basis that the strong Astras have enough lee-way.

amdaley28

walus wrote: »

Also it seems that the one channel in question (kids used to watch it - TinyPop) is actually transmitted from Eutelsat 28.5E. I wonder is that 0.3 of a degree that important?

28.2 is extremely strong.
I would suggest that the dish is slightly off line.
Also check the quality of your cable & F connections.
Look for kinks or damage to the cable & stray strands of the copper braiding at the F connectors.
Have you got a signal meter of any kind ?

Thurston?

walus wrote: »

Also it seems that the one channel in question (kids used to watch it - TinyPop) is actually transmitted from Eutelsat 28.5E. I wonder is that 0.3 of a degree that important?

The fraction of a degree shouldn't make any difference with a dish that size, as its beamwidth is relatively wide. More than likely you haven't got the BBC channels as good as could be either.

As mentioned already, it's more than likely the alignment could be improved. As for cable quality, I would think unless you have really poor cable, that aspect should only become apparent on the kind of long runs from dish to receiver that wouldn't be encountered in the typical domestic setup.

walus

Thurston? wrote: »

The fraction of a degree shouldn't make any difference with a dish that size, as its beamwidth is relatively wide. More than likely you haven't got the BBC channels as good as could be either.

As mentioned already, it's more than likely the alignment could be improved. As for cable quality, I would think unless you have really poor cable, that aspect should only become apparent on the kind of long runs from dish to receiver that wouldn't be encountered in the typical domestic setup.

It's a brand new cable that was put in with the new irony for the entire house. BTW what is a cable attenuation for Satelite signals per meter?
I'll get at it as it's just bugging me too much and I do not do things half way.
I used.the Satelite Finder box that with the scale and buzzer to set it up. I thought tough that having the receiver tuned in on individual signal makes all off the rest sorted as well.

Thurston?

walus wrote: »

... what is a cable attenuation for Satelite signals per meter?

I used.the Satelite Finder box that with the scale and buzzer to set it up. I thought tough that having the receiver tuned in on individual signal makes all off the rest sorted as well.

Makers of decent '100' type cable quote attenuation figures in around 3dB per 10 meters, at the middle of the satellite IF band. (IF = Intermediate Frequency, the frequency band used between LNB & receiver.)

Mightn't be much point comparing receiver signal readings, but any I've seen will have well over 80% for strength & quality on BBC channels from a Z2 Sky dish. (But I'm not anywhere near Cork.)

dirdeen

I am using a satellite dish with decoder picking up freeview from Astra. I want to add an additional tv. Will it work if I split the signal at the TV. My dish currently only has a single LNB so it would be a lot easier for me to put a splitter on and run the cable from there as opposed buying a quad LNB and running from the dish. I can if needs be but would prefer not to.

The Cush

dirdeen wrote: »

I can if needs be but would prefer not to.

Each satellite tuner requires a separate feed from the LNB for independent operation.

dirdeen

The Cush wrote: »

Each satellite tuner requires a separate feed from the LNB for independent operation.

Will it just not work or will the signal be reduced resulting in a weaker signal?

snaps

dirdeen wrote: »

Will it just not work or will the signal be reduced resulting in a weaker signal?

Won't work full stop. You would only be able to watch the same band on both receivers. Eg. Low vertical, low horizontal, high vertical or high horizontal.

The Cush

dirdeen wrote: »

Will it just not work or will the signal be reduced resulting in a weaker signal?

A satellite feed is made up of 2 bands (Hi and Lo), these bands are further split into 2 polarisations (Hor. & Ver.). When you select a channel this selects the band and polarisation where that particular channel is located at the LNB. If the feed is split one receiver changing channel could also change the channel on the other receiver.

shakeymathuna

My chimney-mounted satellite dish has moved for the second time in 12 months due,probably ,to the high winds we are experiencing . As a result I have lost my signal. It has been suggested to me that I should have the dish moved to the side wall of the house. However this location is at the other side of the house from the two tv rooms and would require cabling across the front and back of the house which could be unsightly.

Is it possible to leave the existing cabling in place at the chimney and run a connection to the dish on the side of the house ( across the roof )?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

The Cush

shakeymathuna wrote: »

Is it possible to leave the existing cabling in place at the chimney and run a connection to the dish on the side of the house ( across the roof )?

Yes, using proper F-connectors and joiner and waterproofing it using self-amalgamating tape

shakeymathuna

Thank you. Much appreciated.

Granite Head

Hi
hoping to connect a sat dish and saorview antena. House was recently re-wired with coax cable to a number of rooms originating from attic + 2 more coax cable from attic to outside wall. Presumably the two outside coax cables are to be connected to the dish and antena. I was wondering how I connect the other end of these two coax cables to the "room" coax cables, if that makes sense?

The Cush

How many cables to how many rooms do you have?

Granite Head

The Cush wrote: »

How many cables to how many rooms do you have?

7 rooms wired (one cable each)

Tony

You will need more cables to the dish , up to 8 satellite outputs can be accommodated using an octo lnb but a multiswitch might be easier as it only needs 4 cables from the dish and one from the aerial.

Granite Head

Tony wrote: »

You will need more cables to the dish , up to 8 satellite outputs can be accommodated using an octo lnb but a multiswitch might be easier as it only needs 4 cables from the dish and one from the aerial.

Thanks Tony,
should be able to run additional cables. Do I need a cable for the Saorview antenna as well?

The Cush

Granite Head wrote: »

should be able to run additional cables. Do I need a cable for the Saorview antenna as well?

The recommendation would be 4 cables to the dish and one to the aerial, all back to a multiswitch where the aerial and satellite feed are combined to be split again at each TV point.

One cable to the main TV point could be a disadvantage if you want a satellite recorder which requires 2 separate feeds from the dish or multiswitch.

Tony

Yep as Cush says above

Granite Head wrote: »

Thanks Tony,
should be able to run additional cables. Do I need a cable for the Saorview antenna as well?

com1

Granite Head, I did something similar recently.
Get a whole load of F-Connectors.
Get an octo LNB and run the 8 lines from that and one from the aerial into attic.
Plug the aerial into an 8 way splitter (my signal was strong enough :-)).
Connect each sat cable and aerial cable to a sat / terrestrial combiner (about €5 each) and the output to the cable to each room.
Then, in every room, connect the cable to another sat/terrestrial (to split the signal) then run the satellite and terrestrial cables to your TV / combo box.


BTW it can be useful to label all the cables when you connect them first as there will be a mess of cables and connections to go through if anything goes wrong...

The Cush

com1 wrote: »

Get an octo LNB and run the 8 lines from that and one from the aerial into attic.
Plug the aerial into an 8 way splitter (my signal was strong enough :-)).
Connect each sat cable and aerial cable to a sat / terrestrial combiner (about €5 each) and the output to the cable to each room.
Then, in every room, connect the cable to another sat/terrestrial (to split the signal) then run the satellite and terrestrial cables to your TV / combo box.

That's certainly an option, the multiswitch and 5 external cables would be a neater solution.

Suggestion for a single cable fed splitter wall socket - http://www.vision-products.co.uk/catalogue/product/V33-13STR

Johnboy1951

Are there any octo LNBs with a terrestrial input (combiner)?

I have only seen Quad LNBs so far, like this one

http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/Quad-LNB-Saorview-input.html

Tony

I've not seen an Octo so far and I'm not sure it would be that useful as the saorview signal level could be below threshold splitting 8 ways using a passive antenna .

Tony

That's a nice unit

The Cush wrote: »

Suggestion for a single cable fed splitter wall socket - http://www.vision-products.co.uk/catalogue/product/V33-13STR

The Cush

Tony wrote: »

That's a nice unit

It is, their full range here - http://www.vision-products.co.uk/catalogue/category/wall-sockets. I particularly like their twin sat/terrestrial cable splitter.

Granite Head

Thanks Guys, a bit to digest but I think I have the idea. No doubt I'll be back on when I have all the hardware.

Any links to a suitable "multiswitch"