Aiming the Dish...

[IowaHawksFan1]

I currently live in Columbus, Ohio and am going to be moving an hour north for about six months. I am currently on a two-year contract with Dish, but do not want to extend the contract to another two years and want to avoid paying to have a tech come out and install my Dish if possible.

Where I moving to, I'm going to be installing the Dish on a pole in the ground. I was wondering if anyone on here could tell me how easy it is to aim the Dish and basically set it up myself. I have a friend that is an engineer so I'm thinking between the two of us, if someone can tell me what we need and how to aim the Dish we can get it done.

If anyone can provide some help, I'd appreciate it. If we are unable to do it ourselves, I suppose I will end up just having to pay to have a tech come out and install it as I do not plan to sign another two year extension (basically I might be going back to school to get an advanced degree next fall and don't want to start a new two-year contract if I do and am trying to save as much money as I can right now so).

TIA for any help

 

[sam_gordon]

The type of service (HD, locals, etc) will affect how many satellites (and which) you need to get. I've set a number of 110/119 (Dish 500?) dishes. Some have been easy, some not so much.

Basically, first make sure your pole in the ground is plumb. Second, using either the charts in the manual or available online, get the skew angle (probably won't change), az & elevation settings. While the dish is on the ground, set it (7/16" bolts) to the right settings. Mount the dish on the pole, connect the receiver, go to installation, and setup to look for 119. Move the dish left/right to peak, then up/down, then left/right, then up/down. If the receiver says it's looking at 110 (wrong satellite) you need to point the dish more to the west. Once you get a good signal on 119, change the receiver to look at 110 and peak. Check 119 again.

If you have HD, you'll need to get a lock on 129 also (unless you're using the Eastern Arc, I don't have those satellite numbers in front of me).

 

[Symbol]

Well first off find your new location here: Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com it will tell you the ele and az for where you are, make sure you select the satellite!

get yourself a compass and a clear LOS view to the sat

then one of you guys stays out playing with the dish and the other is in a room with the receiver connected monitoring the signal

or call a local installer, some do these things for a bit cheaper when they are off duty working

remember to use a helmet and a level

 

[IowaHawksFan1]

Thanks....

Thanks for both responses...I am actually just taking my dish from the apartment complex I live at now (it's currently on a pole)...I appreciate the help, I believe that I will be able to get everything taken care of.

Thanks again.

 

[Voyager6]

Get one of the cheap sat finders from Ebay. Like this one. It will really help in locating the sats and peaking the dish.