Recommended Satelite Dish

I would not recommend installing it yourself.

I have aimed a dish by hand in the past, analogue days, but I have found that installers using the device they have to find the signal strength is better.

I would recommend getting in an independent company to install it, I know with Sky's installers they give them a quick course, and do not cover them to go on roofs, just the side of houses, so you get ugly streets.

Ask if the installer has insurance to go on the roof, if they do, they are a good company. You might choose not to have it on the roof, but at least you have the option. They might cost a little more, but will do a good job. That said, on the roof is more expensive for maintenance if there are long term problems, LNB replacements needed.

I can't offer advice on the dish, I have a remote dish (80cm) and also a standard Sky dish. Hope that helps a little.

quote:

and do not cover them to go on roofs,

That's because most councils won't allow dishes above eve height.

I wouldn't go cheap. When I replaced my standard Sky dish with an 80cm one the picture was noticably better. However I do live outside the normal area but I would use a 60 instead of a 45 in Newbury. And you cannot do it yourself if you don't have the right knowledge and equipement. It is not a case of simply pointing the dish in roughly the right direction. It has to be setup with a meter.

Suggested reading

when I bought my Humax Freesat PVR ( at Currys would you believe), the dish, twin LNB and installation was £75 which I thought was reasonable - it was bending the rules a bit, with Grade 2 listing, but it's reasonably invisible.
The Curry;s price list says £150 for such an installation, but buy the basic one, and they put a quad LNB in anyway.
The difficult bit was finding a drill long enough to go through a very thick brick foundation!
The HD on Freesat is amazing - Yellowstone, Darwin and even Liverpool/Chelsea etc has been stunning, but let's hope for more material soon

I've got a portable satellite dish which we lug around for use in our caravan. For lots of useful information on setting up satellite dishes (and lots of good links) look here - satellite for caravans

Finding the satellite does require a fair amount of care and patience. Sometimes I can just plonk it down and, bingo, a couple of secs and it's working, other times I can fiddle for half an hour or so.

I should have mentioned that we live in a bungalow without chimneys.

The Galaxy 17 (c.25 years ago from Ron Smith) and TV arials were installed by myself. I used a 30ft spliced scafold pole (bloody heavy) which sits on a concrete slab at ground level and is attachedd to the bungalow brickwork about 18" above ground level and again about 5 rows of bricks below eve height. These arieals sway about in a stong wind but the radio and TV never seem to be affected.

Would a satellite dish at 7ft eves height be ok? I don't imagine it would maintain adequate satellite alignment fixed to the top of a 30ft swaying scaffold pole!

Cheers

Don

Nero

quote:

bending the rules a bit, with Grade 2 listing, but it's reasonably invisible

So how were you not breaking the law completely?
I have a grade 2 listed property and it was made quite clear to me no dish on the building at all. I had to put it on the patio on a pole.

Keep the dish as low as possible so as to make maintenance easy - working on a step ladder is a lot easier than at the end of a long ladder or even needing scaffolding if the dish is on a tall pole. The only reason to go very high is to get line of sight with the satellite to avoid trees and buildings.

Also get a 4 way LNB (more if they do them) and have all the leads connected so that you can add extra boxes in the house as and when you need them.

I had the Sky man fit my dish and it was amazing how quickly he got it aligned with the appropriate tools and local knowledge. He was working on a step ladder with the dish about 7 or 8 foot off the ground fastened to the house wall. Every so often the climbing plants have to be cut away from the dish.

quote:

Originally posted by bob mccluckie:

I have a grade 2 listed property and it was made quite clear to me no dish on the building at all. I had to put it on the patio on a pole.

and which looks more objectionable?

My neighbour bolted a mast on the back of his property so a standard aerial could look over the top of his roof - the council spotted that one thank goodness, but those little black dishes don't look so bad....