Aiming a satellite dish

Can someone please explain to me how to aim a satellite dish? Is there a quick and easy way of doing it?

I've got Dish Network's pay as you go pkg including the dish, receiver and stand. Learning how to set it up is my next project on the "to-do" list.

TC

First thing is to make sure that the mast on which the dish is to be mounted is perfectly plumb. If it is out of plumb then it makes it harder to do.

Second is to put set the skew of the dish according to where you are.

Third is to set the azumeth which is the up, down of the dish.


Fourth is to set the dish on the mast and then point in the direction that is dictated by where you are in the world. A compass is handy for this.

Once you have done all those things and are as accurate as possible then you should be fine. A little left or right adjustment may be needed to get the strongest signal possible. You can either use an inline signal meter or the one on the dish receiver itself.

It's been so long since I've done it I think that is all the information. If I forgot something someone else will bring it up.

If you get a single LNB dish (i.e. Dish 300), it makes it easier to setup. It's much easier to lock in one satellite than mess with the skew on a Dish 500 or 1000. I found that I can get most of my preferred programming on the 119 satellite on my old 508 DVR I take on trips. If I take my 622 HD DVR, I try to point it at 129 for the HD programming even though I have to run it downconverted on the little TVs. I mounted an old mast on my ladder that's plumb when I level the trailer. It takes out a step or two, but you have to crank the concertone up to hear the beep on the pointing screen to fine tune the position.

I have a mobile base if the trees block the southern sky.

My experiences are fairly simple. When we first bought a portable
dish I took it out and after looking up our location on a java
application on the computer (http://vps.arachnoid.com/satfinder), used
a compass made a best guess point for direction and upward angle.
Now I'm a simple minded guy who only watches shows on satellite
119W. Lowdef, no need for 110W either. By fiddling with it
I hit a satellite, listening to the Dish setup routine, with the TV set
to blast, where it gives you a tone. Wrong satellite, 110W.
But the program told me I needed to go about 7.5 degrees further west
and up about 10 degrees. Probably wrong the numbers but I got a
lock. Later after some really frustrating attempts, mostly
because I couldn't see/hear the TV and dink with the dish at the same
time, I bought a meter. Still used the program because invariably
I'd hit 110W first.

Having said all of this...as a rule I wouldn't screw around with it
until I knew I was going to be somewhere for over a week.
Otherwise I'd just suffer through their cable service.

One other tip...while doing the East Coast a couple of years ago I lied
to the Dish people...seems as though they'd dropped the
RV/Truckers/Boaters option or something, depending on who you talked
to. I told them I'd recently been hired for a 6 month job in
NYC. Gave them the address of a RV park in NJ I found in
Trailerlife or Woodalls. From there on out we had access to all
the normal channels and "local programming" from NYC, while sitting in
Georgia/Florida. That saved me calling them everytime I moved to
get network TV. If the weather started looking really stormy we'd
just see what the real local channels were saying, I had a strange
conglomeration of splitters that could give me a
cable/satellite/overtheair feed at the same time depending on what I
wanted to watch.

I use an in line signal meter, and a little hiker-type GPS. I set the dish, (a Winegard folding model), on the ground, facing generally south, get about 30' behind it, and walk towards it, getting the approximate direction to aim it. Then, I just move the dish, slightly, up, down, side-to-side, until I lock on. Sometimes, wrong satellite, so just search a bit more. I usually get aimed in a couple of minutes.

I use a baby monitor when setting up the system and take one of the receivers with me so I can listen to the signal. It sure helps to cut down on the noise when looking for that tone that lets you know you are lock onto a satellite. Like others said the in line signal meter helps out alot.

I've been having some issues with my home dish alignment. According to Dish, you should peak your dish using Sat 119° on transponder 19. Easier said than done with the Dish 500 and 1000.