Trying to align a satellite dish?

Hi all,

I have bought at B&Q a Ross High Definition Satellite Kit, 22300HD-R

It is for Freesat but other Satellites can be tuned.



Can anyone help with how to get it aligned enough to register the signal
strength to start with.

I know there is a meter that can be bought but can I get by without it?



I am on the Isle of Wight at Newport, if it makes a difference.

Any help welcomed.

Mick.

In article ,
Mick. wrote:
Hi all,

I have bought at B&Q a Ross High Definition Satellite Kit,
22300HD-R

It is for Freesat but other Satellites can be tuned.



Can anyone help with how to get it aligned enough to register the signal
strength to start with.

I know there is a meter that can be bought but can I get by without it?



I am on the Isle of Wight at Newport, if it makes a difference.

Any help welcomed.

Google. You'll get lots of info on how to do this.

--
*Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Mick." wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I have bought at B&Q a Ross High Definition Satellite Kit, 22300HD-R

It is for Freesat but other Satellites can be tuned.



Can anyone help with how to get it aligned enough to register the signal
strength to start with.

See www.dishpointer.com


I know there is a meter that can be bought but can I get by without it?


Yes, although a cheap meter does help particularly if you can't watch a
connected TV whilst moving the dish.


I am on the Isle of Wight at Newport, if it makes a difference.


No. Assuming that you want UK satellites.

The dish must have line of site to the satellite. A tree in the way would
block the signal.

Don't touch an F plug outside if it is connected to a TV/satellite receiver
that is switched on.

--
Michael Chare

snip
I am on the Isle of Wight at Newport, if it makes a difference.


No. Assuming that you want UK satellites.

The dish must have line of site to the satellite. A tree in the way would
block the signal.

Don't touch an F plug outside if it is connected to a TV/satellite
receiver that is switched on.

--
Michael Chare

that's why they're called "FFFF" plugs:-)
--
John the West Ham fan

At 00:12:10 Mon, 7 Jun 2010, Mick. wrote:
Hi all,

I have bought at B&Q a Ross High Definition Satellite Kit, 22300HD-R

It is for Freesat but other Satellites can be tuned.

Can anyone help with how to get it aligned enough to register the signal
strength to start with.

As has been said, www.dishpointer.com will give a good starting-point
for the dish direction and elevation for Astra 28.2 E. You can set the
elevation using the scale engraved on the mounting bracket of the dish.

Since the Ross receiver is pre-programmed with channel data for Freesat,
it should be fairly easy to get started, since it will give picture and
sound as soon as the satellite starts to come into alignment.

I would begin by pointing the dish a few degrees to the east of the
expected position, then very slowly rotate it southwards. If you're
working alone and can't see the TV screen while moving the dish, you
might try putting a cordless phone near the TV with the sound turned up.
Then listen on the other phone for TV sound while you move the dish.
(Channel 1 should be BBC1 on the Ross box).

I know there is a meter that can be bought but can I get by without it?

Yes, using the signal/quality meters on the Ross box to tweak the dish
alignment. BTW, I found that my Philex meter wouldn't work well with
the Ross kit, as the high output from the LNB overloaded it

I am on the Isle of Wight at Newport, if it makes a difference.

It will make a difference.

John L

I don't know the Isle of Wight very well, but obviously if you live at the
bottom of a cliff in the direction of the sat, you won't get a signal.....
OK may seem obvious, but some of the things I've heard over the years
brings it home to me that the public are completely clueless about aerials
and particularly sat dishes.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"John Legon" wrote in message
news
At 00:12:10 Mon, 7 Jun 2010, Mick. wrote:
Hi all,

I have bought at B&Q a Ross High Definition Satellite Kit, 22300HD-R

It is for Freesat but other Satellites can be tuned.

Can anyone help with how to get it aligned enough to register the signal
strength to start with.

As has been said, www.dishpointer.com will give a good starting-point
for the dish direction and elevation for Astra 28.2 E. You can set the
elevation using the scale engraved on the mounting bracket of the dish.

Since the Ross receiver is pre-programmed with channel data for Freesat,
it should be fairly easy to get started, since it will give picture and
sound as soon as the satellite starts to come into alignment.

I would begin by pointing the dish a few degrees to the east of the
expected position, then very slowly rotate it southwards. If you're
working alone and can't see the TV screen while moving the dish, you
might try putting a cordless phone near the TV with the sound turned up.
Then listen on the other phone for TV sound while you move the dish.
(Channel 1 should be BBC1 on the Ross box).

I know there is a meter that can be bought but can I get by without it?

Yes, using the signal/quality meters on the Ross box to tweak the dish
alignment. BTW, I found that my Philex meter wouldn't work well with
the Ross kit, as the high output from the LNB overloaded it

I am on the Isle of Wight at Newport, if it makes a difference.

It will make a difference.

John L

Totally off topic, but 10/10 for the simplicity and readability of the
website!
It is superb from an accessability point of view.

It works well using Firefox.

I will use it as an example of how websites should be mada available for
VIP's (Visually Impaired Persons)


--

¦zulu¦ VIP

In article ,
brightside S9 wrote:
This is the one niggle I have with the Ross set up, compared with the
Silver Crest (Lidl) SL 65 where the strength and quality bars on the
TV are updated, it seems to me, at least once a second.

The Lidl kit I got included a satellite finder - a device that bleeped as
you homed in. Worked pretty well.

--
*Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Mick." wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I have bought at B&Q a Ross High Definition Satellite Kit, 22300HD-R

It is for Freesat but other Satellites can be tuned.



Can anyone help with how to get it aligned enough to register the signal
strength to start with.

I know there is a meter that can be bought but can I get by without it?



I am on the Isle of Wight at Newport, if it makes a difference.

Any help welcomed.

Mick.

Best bet is get a meter, they are cheap as chips these days and for little
use it doesn't have to be an expensive one.
Thats the only easy way to ensure the dish is aligned properly and with
little effort.

At 09:20:46 Mon, 7 Jun 2010, brightside S9
id wrote:

The Ross comes with a list of locations where the elevation and
azimuth and skew settings are given. I guess Southampton is the
nearest listed location to Newport.

An advantage with dishpointer.com though is that the satellite direction
can be related to local landmarks, and obstructions can be identified.

The problem with the Ross is that when moving the dish to get a signal
is that it takes 5 seconds for a change to show on strength / quality
bars on the TV set. This is far fom ideal when, seting up the dish,
the TV set is not in view. It is not much better when the TV set is
in view!

Interesting. I've found that the Ross meter bar responds very quickly -
within half a second - *but* it's completely oblivious to changes in
signal quality above a certain level, topping out at 63% for DVB-S and
69% for DVB-S2 regardless of transponder etc.

Thus, watching the meter bar while tracking across a satellite position,
the signal quality will rapidly rise from 50% to 63% say, as the dish is
moved, but it will then stay stuck at 63% even though the signal must be
peaking out at a higher level. This can give the impression that the
meter is slow to respond, as a significant movement of the dish around
the position of peak alignment may have no visible effect.

As a result, it's best to use the weakest transponder on a satellite
when fine-tuning the alignment with the Ross box.

--
John Legon