DIY Satellite Installation

Genius147

I hope this will be of help to someone who wants to install their own system.
Prior to beginning you must find out which way is South, South-East. Look at where your neighbour’s dishes are pointing for a rough idea.
Criteria on where to mount the satellite dish is very important, you must have a straight clear line of sight from the dish to the sky. The signal must not be blocked by houses or trees. Trees grow over the years and can slowly start to block out weak signals. (The signal is coming in at 21 degrees to the horizontal from a satellite in space).
Place the dish at the back or gable end of house to minimise visual intrusion. Keep it well up off the ground as it can get misaligned or damaged easily from knocks and bumps. An accidental knock from a ball could result in a signal loss. Birds also land on the dish arm and use it as a rest area. This could cause a temporary signal loss as some birds will be sitting close to the LNB.
Dish must face South East, 141 degrees I think, direction of the sun between 11am and 12 noon approximately.
The wall must be solid and capable of carrying the weight of the dish. The dish needs to be bolted to the wall, and be able to withstand gale force winds without moving. Place cables as straight and as short as possible to the rooms to which the satellite receiver are to be connected to as to minimise signal loss. If possible connect into existing cables in the attic. You may need a multi-meter to be able to identify the correct cable. This is normally much neater but requires additional connectors and can take a bit more time.
Cover wires with conduit that can’t otherwise be hidden.
Keeping satellite wires tidy-hidden may result in longer cable runs, and normally requires the drilling of a hole or two through a wall or window frame.

1. Unpack the box you should have an Instruction manual, Satellite Receiver & Remote control.
2. Check that the remote has batteries.
3. Connect scart lead from TV to 'TV' connection on the back of the satellite box.
4. Plug in the power lead.
5. Turn on the power switch on the back on the box.
6. After a few seconds (about 2 mins for a sky box) the satellite box will come on and should automatically switch the TV to an AV channel.
7. Read the instruction manual on how to set up the system.

Equipment and tools needed to mount a satellite dish.

1. A long ladder or a mini scaffolding tower.
2. Satellite dish and LNB, complete with wall bracket and arm.
Coach bolt M8 x 50mm & 10mm plastic plugs (4).
3. Cordless drill - ideally a 24-36v SDS Drill.
4. 8mm, 10mm, masonry, wood and steel drill bits.
5. 10mm, 13mm socket and ratchet.
6. A claw hammer, a wire snips, a sharp knife or blade, cable stripper, insulation tape, cable clips. Roll of RG 6 Digital Satellite Cable and F-type RG6 connectors.
7. A Satellite meter, beeper is useful, or having a helper looking at the signal strength on the satellite receiver if it is already wired up.
Have someone hold the ladder while you are fixing the dish to the wall.

Place the wall bracket and arm upright and ensure it is in the correct location. Ideally the dish face should have a clear view of the sky with no obstructions.
Use the cordless drill and an 8mm masonry drill bit to drill 4 guide holes for the wall plate. Make sure everything stays vertical, wall plate and arm.
Use 10mm drill bit to drill holes to a depth of 60mm.
Insert the 4 plastic plugs in the holes and mount the wall bracket using the 4 Coach bolts.
Tighten the coach bolts using the 13mm socket and ratchet.
Attach the satellite dish to the arm of the wall plate.
Use 10mm socket to lightly tighten the dish 'U'-bolts so they are fixed to arm but the dish can still rotated.
Next decide how and where to run the cables.
Use a drill and an SDS Drill Bit 10X450 to drill holes through the walls.
Ensure to drill from the inside to the outside. To conceal broken plaster use a hole tidy insert, inside and out before the cable is run.
Feed the end of the satellite cable through the wall, leaving enough cable to reach the front of the satellite box. Tack the cables using cable clips. Fill remainder of holes with silicone to stop draughts and moisture. Use a Cable Cover nailed onto the outside wall after the cable has been run. Outside, ensure that the cable runs down from the hole that been drilled in the wall. Make a little U bend at the base; this will stop water following the cable into the house. Run cables vertically or horizontally but never diagonally. If possible hide cables under the plinth or behind drain pipes using cable ties or insulating tape. Tack the cables using cable clips. Secure the cable to the dish feed arm using either cable ties or insulation tape. Cut the cables leaving enough length to reach the LNB on the dish.
Connect all cables with an 'F-type' connector. Do not leave the inner and outer copper touch each other. Expose inner copper pin by cutting through outer layers slowly with a blade. The cut should be a little longer than the F-type connector. Cut the outer layer of plastic back about 10-15mm don’t cut through the outer copper layer. This outer copper should be folded back over the outer sleeve so that in will be in contact with the inner threads of the F connectors when they are screwed on the cable. You should have a single copper spike protruding in the center of the F connector when finished.

Twist on an F Connector on the each end of the satellite cable. Having already mounted the LNB to the satellite dish, attach your satellite meter to the LNB. Align the dish so that it is vertical, pointing towards the South East (141 degrees?). Rotate the dish very slowly over and back in short steps, stop moving the dish for 5 to 10 seconds between each movement. Repeat this, adjusting the tilt angle upwards by 1 or 2 degrees each time very slowly. Stop moving the dish for 5 to 10 seconds between each movement. Keep repeating until a signal is found. Make sure it is the correct satellite signal you are receiving.

When you are pointing at the right satellite slowly tighten the U-bolts and side bolt using the 10mm & 13mm sockets. Do not move the dish when you are tightening the bolts. Check quality of the signal after each bolt is tightened. A strong quality signal will help a satellite dish from losing signal on a stormy night. Try to get a strong quality level on all channels, when this is done disconnect the satellite meter. Tighten up the F connectors to the LNB and wrap them (connectors) using waterproof Self Amalgamating tape.

Kristopherus

Any chance you could increase the size of the print in your otherwise excellent "How to" post?

John mac

Why a long ladder?

rg6 ?

here is a guide with pics.

Ronnie Raygun

Yep, a simple, concise guide with pictures is worth 10 pages of the kind of over-specific step by step thing in the OP.

channnels

Pictures are good but there is a lot of valuable advice in the OP. If anyone is going to attempt a dish install for the first time this post is very useful.

Not everyone has a short attention span.

St Senan

Ronnie Raygun

channnels wrote: »

Not everyone has a short attention span.

My point was that it's better to outline the general concepts behind reception of satellite signals using a dish antenna & let people figure out their own installation details, rather than attempting a "one size fits all" guide that tries to deal with every detail (& omits important steps such as lnb skew).

It's only a cut & paste job anyway.

John mac

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

It's only a cut & paste job anyway.

That was my initial thought.

A bit like this one http://www.tvtrade.ie/free-to-air-freesat-installation-guide.html

:cool::cool:

jrmam

I am doing a little research ( as I am about to buy a DIY sat kit ) I came across a couple of times

Run cables vertically or horizontally but never diagonally

and see it in this thread also. Now I am wondering is there a technical reason for this or is it purely for aesthetic reasons. In my case I think the satellite dish will go on a side wall, cable up to the attic, cable coming down at front of house where for me it would make sense to lay the cable diagonally following angle of roof ( and snug with the fascia ) until I get to the level that I can break away horizontally ( its a dormer ) to head for the room that I am aiming for. Probably a dumb question ( yes I am a noob ) but anyway... would like to know the reason for the not going diagonally.

Peter Rhea

It's purely for aesthetic reasons: if you have a diagonal building feature that you can use to your advantage, there's no reason not to do so.

jrmam

Peter Rhea wrote: »

It's purely for aesthetic reasons: if you have a diagonal building feature that you can use to your advantage, there's no reason not to do so.

thanks for the info and confirming my suspicions