Do It Yourself Satellite Dishpointing

Satellite dishpointing isn’t a science, nor is it difficult. All you need to remember is that the dish must be pointed toward the southern sky and have an unobstructed view. That means no buildings, no trees or branches. In fact, you should take into consideration the future growth of nearby trees when setting up for satellite dishpointing in your backyard.

A satellite dish is just a special kind of antenna designed to focus on a specific broadcast source. The standard dish consists of a parabolic, or bowl-shaped, surface and a central feed horn. When a signal hits the curved dish, the shape reflects the radio signal inward, just like a concave mirror focuses light onto a particular point. The geostationary satellite circling the earth is in a fixed position, located approximately 22,300 miles over the equator. There’s actually a whole belt of satellites up there, so your satellite dishpointing will take some time.

You can probably get a kit and install your satellite dish yourself (with a second person in the house to call out the fine-tuning), but both of the two major satellite providers, Dish Network and Directv, offer free installation which can save you a lot of effort. When satellite dishpointing, a professional installer will have a signal meter with him, to find the satellite in seconds. This small meter/beeper costs less than $20 and is quite useful for an RV owner who needs to realign their satellite television dish at a campground or at the beach.

Just remember when performing your satellite dishpointing, to allow between 5 and 10 seconds between any movements of the dish to allow the receiver to complete a signal scan and give you a lock indication that it has found the satellite. Move the dish in small increments, about two degrees east or west, until you find the signal. Then fine tune until you hit the “sweet spot.”

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For more information see: free satellite TV systems and dish installation