DSTV self install.

marco

marco

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How difficult is it to aim the dish without instruments?
I am on a low budget as I am moving in 6 months.
Also, what is the cheapest dish to buy?
 
Very easy to install, I did mine, looked at the neighbours dish, angle, and then pointed it same direction. The decoder tells you the quality of the signal and you adjust it accordingly. My signal is better than some family members who had theirs "professionally" installed.
 
what u will need to do is get the tv and decoder outside by u if u can. I done it myself, but it can be tricky. One option is to just get a satellite finder. You can get them for R250.

On the question of the dish, look in the junkmail. There is quite a few shops offering new dishes in there for R250 with lnb.
 
Yup, really easy, as long as you have another dish somewhere in view for general direction reference.
EDIT: Just remembered ... test before you mount. I had the perfect spot for the dish next to da chimney, and attached the entire setup there, and got reallly bad reception. Eventually moved it 30cm to the right and it worked purrfectly. Go figure.
 
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I've done it in Zambia without even having another dish nearby. Just have someone next to the TV and stay on the line with them. Not too difficult at all.
 
I need to move mine as there is a huge jacaranda tree that is spreading out and slowly starting to cause my signal to degrade.
 
I always do mine by just just looking at the signal. I use small portable DVD player on roof with with extended RCA video cable from decoder. Worked fine for me . A TV placed outside will also help as long as YOU can see the signal properly. The relay cal method or system to a partner looking at the signal does NOT work. First just check direction of neighbours dish to get a clue of direction to start with. Tighten dish quiet a bit so only small adjustment's can be made without to much force but tight enough not to let it move unwanted. Remember the dish deforms a bit when adjusting holding the dish part so it helps to search for a better signal quality% before real force is applied to move the whole dish in the wanted direction. Patience is all that is required and the DSTV signal strength and quality page.
 
aedro said:
Very easy to install, I did mine, looked at the neighbours dish, angle, and then pointed it same direction. The decoder tells you the quality of the signal and you adjust it accordingly. My signal is better than some family members who had theirs "professionally" installed.
Click to expand...

Same here; got the better half to look at the signal strength and let me know if it was going up or down. (Had to take her out to dinner to thank her, so it may have been cheaper to get an installer to do it :rolleyes:)

There's about a 30 second lag between moving the dish and the signal changing, so be patient.
 
Some real figures to work with.

Elevation: 36.4°
Azimuth (true): 62.9°
Azimuth (magn.): 80.6°
LNB skew: 53.3°

sorted
 
Velenoso said:
I've done it in Zambia without even having another dish nearby. Just have someone next to the TV and stay on the line with them. Not too difficult at all.
Click to expand...

That's a bit tricky. As soon as it jumps up to 70-80% and they tell you that, it is already down at 40% again. Not saying it can't be done. ;)

Rather have a TV and decoder outside for assistants. :)
 
aedro said:
Very easy to install, I did mine, looked at the neighbours dish, angle, and then pointed it same direction. The decoder tells you the quality of the signal and you adjust it accordingly. My signal is better than some family members who had theirs "professionally" installed.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Had mine initially installed as part of the purchase "professionally". Years ago. Anything called cloud gave interruption's, thought it was normal. Sine then I moved and readjusted the dish myself and it was much better. Even better now that I upgraded to a dual LNB recently and readjusted the dish for finer positional by looking at best signal quality. No more such problems as interruptions.
 
Thank you for that. But what is a caravan dish? I am looking for the cheapest option because I am a moving in 6 months.
 
Buy a decent dish then take it with you. Sat finders are cheap if you get the ones that whine at you. They realy help, then tweak it with the signal indicator on the decoder if you like.

@ JustAsk that LNB skew sounds a bit to much, and the other settings change depending on what area you are in and how high the dish is mounted although it is a good starting point.

To be able to tweak the dish with the decoder page it first needs to run through a scan
, so you need a decentish signal from the get go.

Remember you are looking for signal quality, signal strength above 60% will do ok but quality you looking for at least 80% or more, check both horizontal and vertical.
 
marco said:
Thank you for that. But what is a caravan dish? I am looking for the cheapest option because I am a moving in 6 months.
Click to expand...

The one's the old toppies use when they go on holiday. :p (isn't the point of a holiday to get away from all of it, I ask) :rolleyes:

Has an instruction manual, the ear piece ect.
 
DSTV Self Install

JustAsk
What is the LNB Skew? Need to do self installation myself.
 
Have a look at this website: http://www.dishpointer.com/
Make use of google earth to get your home's co-ordinates, and choose 68.5E Intelsat 7, 10 in the dropdown list. It will then show you in which direction to point your dish. You can then download the Satellite Antenna Alignment application from here: http://www.al-soft.com/saa/satinfo.shtml, enter the relevant info and the program will calculate your dish angle for you.
 
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