FREESAT TV DISH | FREESAT DISH INSTALLATION | FREESAT DIY SATELLITE DISH ERECTION

FREESAT TUTORIAL FOR EASY DISH INSTALLATION AND ERECTION.

TOOLS NEEDED FOR SATELLITE DISH INSTALLATION;

SATELLITE METER - COST APPROX. £10.
AMALGAMATING TAPE - COST APPROX. £5.
SATELLITE DISH - COST APPROX. £20.
LOW NOISE BLOCK(lnb) POINTS TO THE CENTRE OF YOUR DISH - COST APPROX. £5 - £10.
HAMMER DRILL - IF DRILLING INTO STONE OR BRICK.
SHARP KNIFE.
SPANNERS FOR DISH ADJUSTMENTS.
COMPASS.

Freesat is an easy satellite dish to erect and fit, anybody skilled in a little DIY will manage this very easily. Please read this thoroughly before attempting fitting the dish as there are a few little points which you should try and digest first and although easy enough to do you will find very small movements are best for satellite dish erection. Please note this tutorial is written for the complete novice who has never installed or fitted a satellite dish before.

Tools you will need and some background information;

Satellite dish - an 80 cm satellite dish will cover most fringe areas in the U.K. although the average size is 60 cm the same as those with Sky dishes. It makes good sense to use an LNB with a low noise figure of around .2 or .3 Called point 2 or point 3) this unlike many things means the lower the noise figure (ie; .2 or .3) usually means a better picture result on your lounge TV. If fitted properly, the larger the dish the better the signal, so it makes perfect sense to have the largest dish with an LNB with the lowest noise figure for perfect reception. Freesat reception comes through loud and clear using a 60 cm satellite dish in most of the U.K. we would advise those in the outer fringes of Scotland for example to consider an 80 cm dish for a few pounds more and the best chance of keeping their picture in a blizzard.
Most viewers will either use an old Sky dish or possibly use the exact same dish for both Sky and Freesat and in this case the tools you need are suggested elsewhere in this website or snippets can be gleaned in this tutorial.
Some will want to bolt their satellite dish onto a pole, be it wooden,concrete or perhaps metal - either way it is a MUST that any post whatever it is made from be 100% vertical(this cannot be stressed enough) and concreted into the ground or pegged so that no matter what wind gets thrown at it, it will remain completely solid and unmoving. This same suggestion also can apply to those thinking about setting up a motorised satellite dish. If you set up a solid pole and it is not 100% vertical and solid using a spirit level your satellite dish positioning has been wasted as it will badly affect your motor finding the various satellites on the "Clark Belt". (named after Arthur C. Clarke who suggested this form of communication many years ago.)
For this tutorial we are going to do the very easy set up of bolting the satellite dish to a brick or stone building;
When you buy your satellite dish and LNB remember the bracket, four bolts and bolt plugs - assuming you have these we now want to place your dish on a wall and you have to find the satellite. To tune into Freesat your dish must point at the 28.2 degrees East, this is exactly the same spot that Sky transmit from so the signal is very strong. The 28.2 degrees East is the Astra satellite and this is what you are aiming your dish towards to pick up Freesat.
To understand this a little better, consider pointing your dish to London - London is the recognised 0 degrees (zero degrees) I should point out at this time that whether you are North, East or West of London or even Dover you still point your dish South to find the 0 degrees position. To find this position is quite straightforward and for this example we are going to go through the idea that we are fitting our satellite dish from the North of Scotland using an 80 cm dish.
Those viewers who live in dense population will have little trouble tuning in their satellite dishes simply by following other established dishes pointing to the exact same slot the millions of Sky subscribers are pointing towards, but for this tutorial we are in the middle of nowhere in the North of Scotland.
The simple use of either compass or a map will give you a good idea of where due South is - for fitting Freesat it is not imperative to be spot on the 0 degrees.
SATELLITE DISH ERECTION NITTY GRITTY;

Satellite dishes perform much better when they have a clear line of sight with the selected satellite, in this case; the Astra satellite at 28.2 degrees East. Clear line of sight means the whole face of the dish has an unblocked view of the satellite. This does not mean you will not pick up this particular satellite, it means your picture will not be as sharp as the person who has their satellite dish installed properly and they have full and clear line of sight. You must have seen yourself that some satellite dishes are pointing to what looks like impossible reception points and still they get a TV picture so do not be alarmed at these suggestions as it is for information only.
HERE GOES;

On your chosen satellite dish position, drill four holes and plug them, place your bracket onto the wall and bolt the bracket onto the wall - make sure your dish is absolutely solid, if anything is loose or slack here then sort it now - do not go beyond this point if your plug is not doing it's job or the bolts are running free, sort it.
Next we place the satellite dish onto the bracket - depending on where you are sighting the dish will determine whether you want to have the LNB already screwed into it's position within the dish - we advise fitting before placing at extreme heights. To fit your LNB, you simply secure the LNB in the bracket provided and point it towards the centre of your dish - your dish is called an offset type - some older dishes are called prime focus dishes (usually for motorised although slowly being overtaken with offset types). Once your LNB is connected properly the next step is finding satellites.
You run a length of coax cable from your Freesat receiver be it HD or a simple freesat SD box both need the same connection, the connection to the satellite receiver is by connectors called F-connectors - the F-connector is screwed onto the end of the coax, while connecting the F-connector make sure the centre core does not touch any of the outer sleaves and comes through the centre of the f-connector without touching the sides - the outer sleaves of the f-connector need to touch the casing of the f-connector which they do when you screw the f-connector onto the end of the coax - this same policy is applicable when using f-connectors and coax cables for this whole tutorial.
The other end of the coax goes into your satellite finder the position is marked on the satellite meter finder - you then need a seperate length of coax which connects your LNB and the other connection your satellite meter finder - this seperate length of coax needs an f-connector screwed into both ends and the same rules apply to your f-connector connection with the coax making sure the outer parts of the coax do not touch the centre core. The idea is when the f-connector is screwed onto the coax you screw it on enough for the centre core to protrude from the centre of the f-connector about 6mm and the outer sleaves touch the metal for ground when you screw on the f-connector - at no time should your centre wire touch anything, the f-connector is only a means to this end.
You should have now; the satelite dish loosely bolted onto the wall bracket, the coax running from your Freesat receiver into your satellite meter and a short coax run(about a metre is fine) from your satellite meter into your LNB - the dish should be pointing as close to true South as you can get it.
The face of the dish should be facing South and standing loosely bracketed in a vertical position; next we have to find the satellite position and please take note at this point while you are moving the dish the satellite meter will squeal a bit and the readable face of the satellite meter will show positions by the meter hand jumping.
For this exercise we are standing behind the dish with the face of the dish pointing South - IT IS NOW TIME TO SWITCH ON THE FREESAT RECEIVER INSIDE YOUR LOUNGE anywhere we move the dish to the left is East and to the right is West - so slowly move the dish to the LEFT as we are looking for 28.2 East (Astra) you may get satellite meter squeals at 13 degrees East (Hotbird) and 19 degrees East but please be aware your Freesat receiver WILL NOT pick anything else up except at the Freesat position at 28 East. I mention this because you may think you have the satellite and tighten all the bolts etc...only to find you have tuned in Hotbird and your satellite receiver willl find nothing to do with freesat, so a swift check of your receiver indoors will tell you if you have landed on the wrong satellite - your Freesat receiver on first set up will always ask your postal code and it will tell you if it cannot find the Freesat although your satellite meter may be screaming. Either way it s not a problem as you simply go back ouside and move your satellite dish a little further East to the left until you eventually get your satellite position.
Once you find the 28.2 East position, slightly tighten the satellite dish bolts making sure the satellite meter shows a strong signal. You may have to slightly raise or lower your dish to get the best signal, and if your satellite meter has on it knobs to lower the signal strength then do this and again tweak for best signal until your happy.
Once you get the best possible signal it is time to tighten the bolts until they are solid but do not go crazy - make sure you do not lose the signal while tightening the bolts and the best results are by tightening the bolts at random keeping your eye on the satellite meter while doing it.
It is now time to SWITCH OFF THE SATELLITE RECEIVER in the lounge. Once switched off you can unscrew the satellite meter from the LNB, and unscrew the coax from the other end of the satellite meter - the coax from your Freesat receiver now gets screwed directly into the LNB making sure it is finger tight.
O.K. it is time to go and check out your efforts;
Switch on your Freesat receiver and enter your Postal Code and following the Freesat onscreen instructions let the box find all your Freesat channels - if you have fitted it correctly, pat yourself on the back, job well done.
Now that you have a fully loaded Freesat receiver it's time to finish off - go back to the LNB point and tighten the little f-connector using a small spanner, (do not overtighten), you may have a sleeve with your LNB which should have been fitted on the coax to start with or like most professional you will use a length of Amalgamating Tape once the f-connector is tightened. Make sure when you wrap the Amalgamating Tape around the f-connectors connection into the LNB it will keep all water and foul weather away. Do not cut corners at this point as it will degrade your LNB if it gets water bound, ordinary black electrical tape is useless and encourages dampness if used outside so make sure you use a good sealer. Waterproof mastic or bicycle repair rubber fluid will do the trick at the LNB connection point but Amalgamating Tape bonds to itself to form a rubberised seal which in time has to be cut off if you need access.
I have tried to cover every eventuality with this tutorial and please do read it before doing the job as it will help you if it's your first venture into satellite dish installation.
The best of luck and happy viewing.
re-written and updated for Domain-Holdings 2009.
DISH ERECTION TUTORIAL BY DOMAIN-HOLDINGS.2008©