Dish Pointing

Pointing the Dish –

let's assume that you have decided to buy a satellite system and you're going to install the dish manually on a tripod. Much of what we'll cover here is relevant to both Direct TV and Dish Network, but when we get specific, we'll be talking about a Dish Network system. It's not that we favor one system over another, we simply have access to Dish Network equipment.

Before you install the dish, you need to have a few items.

Tripod – You need a solid place to mount your dish. Some folks guy the mount down, Others use stakes where allowed, and some use weight to stabilize the mount.

Level – You need to ensure that your mount is plumb, which makes the installation much easier.

Compass – You need a handheld compass. And, you need to know how to use it. Most trouble we've seen in dish installations among Rvers is caused by failure to point the dish in the proper direction.

Satellite meter – Satellite receivers come with signal strength meters. In the case of the Dish Network receivers we've used, the signal strength meter is too slow to be really useful for the first “rough” pointing of the dish. Therefore, while its not absolutely necessary to have a meter, it really helps.

Satellite System – Of course, you need a satellite receiver, satellite dish that's compatible with your receiver, and proper cabling.

Step one: Assuming that your satellite receiver is properly connected to your TV receiver, the first step is to do a quick site survey to determine that you have a clear view of the satellites. To do this, turn on your TV and your satellite receiver. Select “menu”, “setup”, and “installation”, and “point dish”. On this screen, you'll see a place on the left to enter your zip code. Enter the Zip Code of your present location. When the Zip Code is entered, the receiver will show you the correct Azimuth, Elevation, and Skew angles.

Azimuth is the direction the dish should point. If it says 151, for example, that means that you should have a clear view on a bearing of 151 degrees (magnetic) from wherever you plan to install your dish.

Step Two: At this time, you should have a location picked out for your dish, based on your clear view of the sky. Assemble your tripod, making sure it's secure to the ground, and the mast is generally plumb (straight up and down). Place the dish on the mast and point it generally in the direction that the receiver indicated, using your compass.

Set the elevation of the dish based on the numbers you received from the receiver, then set the skew angle. The elevation is the direction up and down to and away from the horizon, and the skew is the rotational angle.

Once your angles are roughed in, connect the cables and then do a “check switch” test at the receiver. To do a “check switch”, return to the point dish screen (menu, setup, installation, point dish) and select check switch on the right side. This should take a couple of minutes, and will most likely show errors  when complete because the antenna is not properly pointed yet.

Step Three: Install the satellite meter in-line with one of the coax cables, and follow the instructions for acquiring a signal. Usually this means to adjust the meter to show a background signal of around 4 on the meter, then adjust the dish for peak signal strength using azimuth. Each time the signal meter peaks out, turn it down and continue to adjust the dish until no further signal strength can be gained. When the signal is set at its peak for the azimuth, adjust the elevation for peak signal using the same process, readjusting the meter each time it peaks out until no further signal gain can be acquired.

Step Four: By this time, you should be showing a satellite on the signal strength meter on your TV set. Verify that you have the right satellite tuned. If you have the correct satellite (either 110 or 119 for a Dish 500 system), the meter will show green, and will show a signal strength. You are looking for a strength of at least 50, but higher if you can. At this point, use the meter on the TV receiver to fine tune your signal strength.

Step Five: Once the signal is peaked, we have found that it's good to do another “check switch”. After that, use your remote to select between satellites (110 and 119), comparing signal strength. If signals are similar, then you're finished. If there is a significant discrepancy between satellites, your skew angel is incorrect. Adjust your skew angle one way or another and verify its effectiveness by comparing signal strengths. Sometimes, signal strengths will equal out, but overall signal will drop. If this occurs, go back to the azimuth and elevation adjustments to again peak out the signal strength.

Tips: The first time this is done, it's common to take more than an hour to correctly set up the dish. Once you get a bit of experience, and once you learn the particulars of your system, that time will significantly decrease to just a few minutes.

When we first started setting up our own dish, we experienced extreme difficulty in pointing the dish because we had no meter, and we didn't seem to have enough patients to allow the receiver's meter to catch up. We moved the dish too frequently, and would often bypass the satellite. Finding the satellite for us was a matter of random chance. Once we bought a meter, the guesswork was removed. We could see instantly if we were pointing the dish correctly.

The second cause of failure is nearly always caused from obstructions in the signal path. Trees are almost always the culprit. With the meter, we can almost always tell immediately if it's going to work because we can see the signal strength build. Often we will see the satellite through the trees, but not strong enough to use it.

The main thing to remember when learning install your own satellite dish is to not get worked up if you have trouble the first couple of times through. Keep working with it, and you'll soon learn the system.