Sounds like your aim is off on your dish buddy.
How to install your Dish for FTA
- Free to Air Installation -
A satellite free to air installation can be accomplished by most people that have the patience to follow instructions and a moderate electronic knowledge. If this is not for you, it will be far easier for you to contact a local satellite installer in your area to assist you. This tutorial assumes you wish to receive multiple satellites using a dish mover or rotor. If you only wish to receive a single satellite, your task is much easier as you have but one satellite to locate and your dish will be fixed on the single location. For most broadcasts in the United States and Southern Canada, a dish size of 90cm - 1.2 Meters (30" - 48") is sufficient. Larger dish sizes may be required for more northern or out of footprint locations.
Definitions to Know
Elevation this is the angle between the broadcast satellite above the horizon and your physical location on Earth, where your receiving satellite dish will be. This is the up/down adjustment on the satellite dish. All commercial satellites in geo-stationary orbit are located 22 300 miles above the Earth. The curvature of the Earth means that the farther you advance East or West from the satellite orbital location, the more you will need to adjust your
Elevation . For example, if the satellite orbital location is located directly over the state of Texas, your
Elevation in New York will be lower than that of someone living in Texas.
Azimuth this is the compass
Direction to your satellites location. This is the left/right adjustment on the satellite dish. For example, to find a satellite located at 101 degrees longitude, your
Azimuth in Los Angeles, California will be 137 degrees. Also, as there is a difference between true and magnetic North, to find a satellite, you may also need to compensate or correct your values for magnetic deviation. (See below image) For Los Angeles, the 137 degree
Azimuth must be corrected by subtracting 14 degrees, so the true compass
Direction is 123 degrees. This corrected value is known as your declination angle.
Polarization this is the correction that compensates for curvature of the Earth relative to the satellite signal for linearly polarized satellites. This is also known as tilt or
SKEW . Linearly polarized satellites use both vertical and horizontal
Polarization . To correctly receive signals on satellite transponders, your dish must be adjusted so as to receive the signals head on. Your
Polarization adjustment compensates for the curvature of the Earth by rotating the
LNBF left or right. Note that some fixed dish configurations adjust the
Polarization by tilting the entire dish rather than the
LNBF . A negative
Polarization is in a clockwise
Direction from vertical. A positive
Polarization is in a counterclockwise
Direction from vertical.
The first step in a free to air installation is critical as it will determine your eligibility to receive satellite signals. Not all homes are capable of receiving signals as natural barriers such as trees, mountains and also man-made barriers such as buildings and other structures can block signals. Because the signal from the satellite is relatively weak, it must have an un-obstructed view of the satellite in order to receive a satisfactory signal. Also bear in mind, seasonal changes, in particular to homes with seasonal vegetation or shrubs, so you do not end up installing your satellite in a location that will be blocked when spring comes and leaves from trees obstruct your signal.
Many areas will be able to receive some satellites, but possibly not others because of these barriers. If your site survey reveals that you are not able to receive the entire satellite belt, you will need to determine the best location for your dish to be able to receive the satellites of most importance to you. Bear in mind that if a particular location in your yard is not suitable; moving the location 100 feet or more can make a tremendous difference.
Consult here pay particular attention to the satellites that you are interested in receiving. Each satellite will have an orbital slot, such as 119 degrees west. You should now choose the furthest Eastern satellite and note down the orbital location. Now choose the furthest Western satellite and note down the orbital location. The difference in the two locations is your ideal uncorrected satellite range that you will be aiming to receive. Note that your actual pointing
Direction will require correction due to the difference between true and magnetic North. You will now need to lookup your Eastern and Western satellite locations here in order to receive your corrected values. Select the city nearest to you and select the far eastern satellite from the list. Your "Azimuth" or compass heading will be calculated, note it down. This is the precise compass
Direction that you will need to point to in order to receive that satellite. Now repeat the procedure for the far western satellite.
The two locations are your corrected ideal range of view. Additionally, if there is a particular satellite of paramount importance to you, willl also want to note down the
Azimuth for it as well, as you will want to ensure that you can receive it, even if it means not being able to receive some others. Also make a note of the
Elevation of the satellite. The lower the
Elevation , the closer it is to the horizon. You will also need to bear in mind of your physical location. If you live near the East coast, the farthest western satellites will be much farther down on the horizon that the Eastern satellites. This will make it more likely that trees to buildings can block the signals. If you live near the West coast, the opposite is true.
You will now need a good compass. Walk outside and locate your far eastern satellite
Azimuth on your compass. If the
Elevation for the satellite is low to the ground, such as 5-10 degrees, you will want to make sure that there are no tall trees or other obstacles in your path within 200-400 feet from you. Now slowly sweep your compass west until your reach your far western satellite
Azimuth . As well make sure there are no tall trees in the way. Are there any tall trees in between the two points? If so, you may want to try other areas of your yard to see if a better location is available. If there are some tall trees in your way and there is a particular satellite of interest to you, you will want to compromise so as to favor reception of that particular satellite over some less important ones. Once you have located an ideal location, ensure that you will be able to install a pole in the ground at that location and also that you will be able to bury the coaxial cable from the location to your house.
Acquire and Install Mounting Pole
You will now need to determine the diameter of your mounting pole as well as the height of the pole. Most small Ku band dishes use a 1 5/8" diameter pole. Larger dishes will require a larger diameter of pole. If you already have your dish, consult the manual or measure the mounting bracket. Your pole should be a minimum of 5' above the ground and 18-24" below the ground. If you have some obstacles to overcome, you may wish to use a taller mounting pole. Your pole will need to be secured with numerous bags of concrete to prevent movement. A general rule of thumb is one bag for every foot of pole height. Stormy locations may require more. For best results, use a steel pole which can be obtained from most steel fabricators. You will also need a 4' level and a small torpedo level.
Dig a hole 18-24" or more below the surface. Install the pole and fill the hole with concrete. You will also want to use a generous amount of concrete above the surface or you will need to bury the pole deeper. Assuming the cut on the top of the pole is a square 90 degree cut, place the torpedo level on the top of the pole and the 4' level on the sides of the pole. The pole must be both plumb (90 degrees vertically) and level (90 degrees horizontally). Check for plumb in three directions on the pole and also place some sort of brace against the pole, preventing movement while concrete is curing. You will need to check the pole for plumb several times in the first few hours to ensure no movement has occurred and correct it if it has. You also need to allow 24-48 hours to the concrete to harden before attempting to mount the dish. Once cured, the dish should be solidly mounted and should not move if shook. If movement occurs, you will need to further solidify the pole with additional concrete above the surface.
Acquire and Install Mounting Pole
you will now need to determine the diameter of your mounting pole as well as the height of the pole. Most small Ku band dishes use a 1 5/8" diameter pole. Larger dishes will require a larger diameter of pole. If you already have your dish, consult the manual or measure the mounting bracket. Your pole should be a minimum of 5' above the ground and 18-24" below the ground. If you have some obstacles to overcome, you may wish to use a taller mounting pole. Your pole will need to be secured with numerous bags of concrete to prevent movement. A general rule of thumb is one bag for every foot of pole height. Stormy locations may require more. For best results, use a steel pole which can be obtained from most steel fabricators. You will also need a 4' level and a small torpedo level.
Dig a hole 18-24" or more below the surface. Install the pole and fill the hole with concrete. You will also want to use a generous amount of concrete above the surface or you will need to bury the pole deeper. Assuming the cut on the top of the pole is a square 90 degree cut, place the torpedo level on the top of the pole and the 4' level on the sides of the pole. The pole must be both plumb (90 degrees vertically) and level (90 degrees horizontally). Check for plumb in three directions on the pole and also place some sort of brace against the pole, preventing movement while concrete is curing. You will need to check the pole for plumb several times in the first few hours to ensure no movement has occurred and correct it if it has. You also need to allow 24-48 hours to the concrete to harden before attempting to mount the dish. Once cured, the dish should be solidly mounted and should not move if shook. If movement occurs, you will need to further solidify the pole with additional concrete above the surface.
Install Dish
Installation of standard stationary free to air satellite dish
A standard installation of a stationary satellite dish or several dishes connected to a DiSc switch is fairly straight forward. Many late model digital receivers come with an on-screen dish signal meter, however you may find it far easier to purchase a low cost satellite signal finder, available from most satellite retailers for under $25. The signal finder will allow you to locate Ku band satellite signals as well as fine tune them for optimum operation.
Your first step will be to run your coaxial cable from your house and satellite receiver to your dish location, allowing for enough cable to secure it to your mounting pole and run through your dish and to your
LNBF . It is always better to leave too much cable until your permanently mount your dish rather than too little. For best results, you should staple the cable to the side of your house and bury any exposed portion that runs across the ground to prevent damage. When stapling, ensure that your staple does not penetrate the cable or you will have a short which will prevent your system from operating.
Assuming that you have a pole in the ground in in some cases a mounting bracket affixed to a solid surface and assuming that you have checked the mounting pole or bracket to insure that it is both plumb and level, you should assemble the dish and
LNBF mounting arm assembly. At this time, you should have all your satellite locations as well as all your
Elevation and
Azimuth settings. As your dish will be fixed in one position in the sky, you will be limited to whatever programming is on the satellite of choice. Locate your chosen satellites
Elevation and set the
Elevation angle on your satellite dish, you will find the
Elevation reference points on the side of your dish. Bear in mind that you may still need to fine tune it after you have located your signal. Mount the dish to your mounting pole, run your coaxial cable to your
LNBF , set your satellite dish
Polarization by adjusting or rotating the
LNBF to the required setting and secure your
LNBF to your dish. Most dish manufacturers include a
Polarization scale that you can use as a reference. You will still need to adjust this setting later, so tighten the
LNBF just enough to prevent movement. If you are using an external signal finder, connect the
LNBF end to the
LNBF and the coaxial from your house to the receiver side of the finder..
Free to Air Receiver Setup
You should now have your dish mounted temporarily outside and your coaxial cable connected to it. The dish should be set to the
Elevation and
Polarization that you calculated earlier. Connect the coaxial from your satellite dish to the receiver and connect the receiver to your television. Consult your receivers operating manual for the setup setting. Initial satellite setup varies from receiver to receiver, some are easier than others. Follow the setup procedure and setup the satellite from which you will be receiving programming from. Once you have this complete, you will want to return outside to your satellite dish in order to locate your desired satellite.
: Satellite Dish Alignment
Assuming that you have your
Elevation and
Polarization setting correct, and assuming that you have a signal finder connected to your dish, set your signal meters sensitivity to the half way point. Move the dish to the far left and slowly rotate it right until your signal meter picks up an active signal. One you have locked onto an active signal, you will need to adjust the signal finders sensitivity so that you can find the optimum signal strength. Once you have peaked the signal by adjusting the dishes
Azimuth , you should return inside to insure that you have locked onto the correct satellite. Peruse the available satellite channels and compare them to your satellite channel reference. If you are locked onto the wrong satellite, you need to return outside and continue searching for the correct satellite. Once you have the correct satellite, you now should return to the on screen dish tuning meter and return outside. Once again, ensure you have optimum signal by minutely adjusting the sign from left to right until you have peaked the signal. Once you have achieved the optimum signal, you should lock the dish into position by securing the
Azimuth adjustment bolts which secure it to your mounting pole.
You now need to loosen the
Elevation bolts so that you can slowly adjust the dishes
Elevation for optimum signal strength. Once again, you may need to adjust your signal finder’s sensitivity to achieve this. Slowly move the dish up and down again until you have peaked the signal strength and lock the dish into position.
The final setting is to fine tune the
Polarization setting. Some receivers have a separate meter for this, consult your manual for details on accessing this feature. You may find it easier to have a person on the inside watching the meter while you are adjusting the dish on the outside. Loosen the
LNBF and slowly rotate it clockwise and counterclockwise until you have achieved the optimum signal. Once complete, disconnect the signal finder from the
LNBF , measure the final coaxial cable length, allowing a short drip loop to hang from the bottom of the
LNBF mounting arm and permanently secure the
LNBF and all other mounting bolts.
Your final signal strength should be in excess of 60% or more. If it is below that level, you will need to check for obstacles in the satellites path, such as trees. A low signal will cause outages in heavy rain or other weather. This is known as
Rain Fade . If you have a tree in your way, you my find upgrading to a larger dish is necessary. This is also true of satellites that do not specifically target your area in their footprint.
Once you have achieved a good signal, congratulations and enjoy your free to air system.
Using USALS to find "True South"
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The purpose of this post is to put in one place information that can make installing your dish/motor relatively easy. Many of the posts here discuss finding "true south", which is not always easy, even if you understand about magnetic variation and how to use a compass. You can come close, but lots of this relates back to the steps we needed to go thru to put up our
C-Band BUD's or installing KU dishes without USALS.
The first thing is to be sure that you have a solid pole that is perfectly vertical. If your pole is not vertical you will not be able to track the entire arc accurately. This may be a bit less critical if you are using a very small (18") dish, but you should probably try to get a 30=36" dish if you can. Note that the larger a dish is, the greater the gain, but the sharper the focus - meaning that larger dishes are harder to aim than smaller ones. Try setting up Ku on a
BUD for a challenge
Check with the manual that came with your dish to determine the
Elevation and offset angles for your location. You need these numbers to be as accurate as possible in order to get as many satellites as possible. The 2 numbers work together to aim the dish vertically and to alter the arc that the dish follows.
Mount the dish assembly on the motor and mount the positioner/dish combination on your pole. Be sure the positioned is at "0" (your
IRD can drive it there). Point the whole assembly to an approximate "South". Tighten the bolts enough to hold everything, but not so tight that you can't move the assembly east/west as necessary.
Now, go to Lyngsat to find your southernmost satellite. If you are using only a circular polarity
LNB the southern
Bird for you may be several degrees off of "true" south, but that is NOT a problem. You will have more choices if your primary
LNB is linear.
The southernmost satellite is the one that corresponds most closely to your Longitude. For example, my longitude in Albany, NY is 73.8 degrees so my southernmost (ie. highest) satellite is SBS6 at 74 degrees. If I were only using a circular
LNB my highest
Bird would be Nimiq 2 at 82 degrees.
Using your
IRD (receiver) enter your longitude and other information for your southern satellite and drive the dish - using USALS - to the location of that satellite. Check with Lyngsat to find a active transponder and set your program on that TP.
Go back to the dish and SLOWLY move the dish/positioner ASSEMBLY east or west on the pole until you get a signal. Maximize that signal with very small movements and then tighten the bolts holding the motor to the pole. Once you have done this you may want to try to max out the vertical setting by gently pressing on the top or bottom of the dish to slightly change look angle.
Verify that the dish you are looking at is the correct one by scanning a single transponder and comparing what you get with the Lyngsat or SATCO DX lists. If you have the wrong
Bird you will need to move the dish/positioner assembly a few degrees ON THE POLE until you find the one you are looking for.
Almost done!!!
Now that you have your highest satellite all set use the USALS program to drive the dish to a satellite at the end of the arc. I use G10R on one end, Echostar 3 on the other. Once the dish has moved there again use your program to scan a transponder that you know is active. You MAY need to make a few minor adjustments, but you should now be able to find all the satellites you can see from your position - USALS will go directly to them.
If you are using 2 LNBs on your dish you should be sure to put the linear
LNB at the primary focus point and strap the circular
LNB to the side of it (Either side is OK). You can compensate for this offset by changing your Longitude FOR THE CIRCULAR POLARITY satellites (
BEV , D***). Other messages here suggest trying an offset of about 5 degrees - either east or west of your true location - depending on whether you mounted the second
LNB on the "east" or "west" side of the linear LNB.
You are now done
Oh yes - how to find "True South". Using your installation program drive the dish to the "reference" (0) position. Go outside and look where the dish is pointing -- that is "True South". Notice that we did all this without knowing where "True South" was or even using a compass.
COUNTRY FIRST-REFORM-PROSPERITY-PEACE- THE CHANGE WE NEED FOR A BETTER AMERICA!!!!!!
