How to fix your own Sky dish

September 23, 2008

With a little care and patience, you should be able to position your own dish. But if all this looks too daunting, just get in touch: we can do it for you.

You will need a compass to be able to position the dish accurately.

Dish Assembly

Assemble the dish following the supplier’s instructions.

Choosing the Installation Site

The site for the dish needs to have a clear view approximately (in Brittany) 40 degrees east of south. It will be pointing upwards at aproximately 30 degrees and at this angle there must be NO obstructions.

To save continuous compass checking while selecting the mounting site, pick a fairly distant landmark in approximately the right direction and then find a site from which this can be seen. The ideal position is around 3 mtrs from the ground on a wall adjacent to the site of the digibox (Sky box).

Installing the Bracket

Having chosen the site, fix the bracket to the wall as described in the instructions included with the dish: use a spririt level to esure that the bracket is mounted horizontally. Take your time. The more accurately you do this, the easier later stages become.

Pointing the Dish

Use the calculator to find the exact angles for your location.

Dish alignment with Dishpointer

Having mounted the dish on its bracket, take your compass once again and find a landmark that is in EXACTLY the direction from the calculator, and point the dish directly towards this landmark. Tighten the bolts on the dish so that it can still be moved but once positioned will stay in place.

Assuming that you are using a Sky dish, twist the LNB in in an anti-clockwise dirction as far as it will go, so that the connector is pointing to around 7 o’clock looking from the front of the dish.

Assuming that you are using a signal strength meter

Install the coax cable from the box to the dish, connecting one end to the box and the other to your meter. Connect the meter by a short lead to the LNB. Now connect the box to the mains and turn on.
You should now have a reading on your meter; procede to peak the signal. If you have no signal, see below.

Without a signal strength meter

If at all possible set the box and TV up so that you can see the TV from the dish; this will save a great deal of climbing up and down your ladder!

Connect the LNB to the box with co-ax and connect the box and TV to power.

Assuming that you are using a Skybox, select “services”, then “system setup” and then “signal test”.
You should now see a reading on the “signal strength” bar and also on the “signal quality” bar and the “lock indicator” should be “OK”, “network ID” should be “0002” and the “transport strength” should be “07d4”. The signal now needs to be peaked.

Peaking the signal

To do this move the dish a degree to the east: did the signal strenth go up? If it did, try another degree; continue untill the strength stops rising. If the signal strength went down, try turning the dish a degree to the west and proceed as above.

Once the east/west position is at its best, it is time to turn our attention to the elevation (up/down positioning). The principal is the same as before: make a small adjustment up or down, and if the signal strength increases make another small adjustment the same way; if the signal reduces, go the other way.

If you don’t have a signal

Double-check that the dish is pointing in the correct direction and at the correct elevation. Check that the cables are connected at both ends and that the modem is switched on.
Then
1) VERY slowly turn the dish a few degrees to the left; if you still get no signal then move the dish slowly a few degrees to the right
2) Still no signal? Raise the elevation of the dish by 2 degrees and try step one again
3) Still no signal? move the elevation date down 2 degrees (from the starting point) and try step one again
By now you should have picked up a signal; it now needs to be “peaked” as above.

Finally

Once you are confident that you have the signal strength as good as it can be tighten up all the mounting/adjustment nuts.

If your LNB came with a rubber gaiter for the cable, install this now. If you don’t have a gaiter then use self-amalgamating tape to waterproof the cable connection, clip the cable tidily, sit down and enjoy the TV.

Written by Suzie · Filed Under How-to, Sticky 

Comments

6 Responses to “How to fix your own Sky dish”

  1. George on November 13th, 2008 8:39 pm

    Fantastic site! With your help I was able to set up my dish in no time.

    I especially like the dishpointer tool.

  2. Can I have more than one box? | Parabolica on November 28th, 2008 6:39 pm

    [...] installed the new LNB on your dish you then need to check the signal (See “how to fix your own dish”) then simply run cables from your new LNB to your boxes and your kids can watch Cbeebies while [...]

  3. Peter Noble on July 4th, 2009 7:20 am

    Hi
    Can you advise what is the best size of dish for North Brittany 600 or 800 dia?

    Thanks

  4. Bart on July 6th, 2009 1:52 pm

    Hi Peter… Whatever anyone tells you a correctly aligned Sky Zone 1 dish (540 x 450) is perfectly adequate for use in Brittany

  5. David on October 26th, 2009 8:19 am

    Have installed many dishes motorised ans fixed with no problem.
    I am now having problems with a Zone 2 sky dish.
    Have alighed dish as per usual with sat meter and got a good signal on meter.
    Signal on box is about 80% and sig quality about 60%.
    Still can not receive sky prog menue.
    I have gotr the feeling that there is a problem with the LNB adaptor not posiyioning the LNB at the dish focal popint correctly.
    The dish can with on e LNB adaptor and the Thompson Quad LNB came with it own LNB adaptor.
    I used the adaptor with the LNB. Have I slipped up here? Sould I have used the adaptor with the dish pack?

  6. Bart on October 26th, 2009 10:49 am

    Hi David, with 80% signal and 60% quality I wouldn’t expect you to be having a problem. Is the box locking and what Network ID and Transponder stream are you getting….. should be ID 0002 and stream 07d4, anything else and your on the wrong satellite.
    ID 0001 is Astra at 19degrees and 13 in Hotbird.
    If it’s a Sky dish an the Thompson LNB is a Sky one then assuming you are using the correct adaptor there shouldn’t be a problem. If it’s possible I’d always use the adaptor supplied with the dish as there are 1/2 a dozen or so combinations available….. the adaptor you use should fit snugly and if there is a hole in the arm of the dish then you should use an adaptor with a hole and pin If there’s no hole in the arm then you should use an adaptor set with no hole.
    Good luck, let us know how you get on

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