Can You Put a Satellite Dish on Your Flat? If you live in an apartment block or rented flat, putting up a satellite dish is not as simple as drilling a bracket into the nearest wall. In many European countries, leasehold rules, landlord consent and even local planning laws restrict where dishes can go. Getting…
Why Dish Size Matters One of the most common mistakes new satellite viewers make is buying a dish that is too small for their location. A dish that works perfectly in Spain may struggle in the UK or northern Europe, even when pointing at the same satellite. Choosing the right size the first time saves…
Winter is the worst time to install a satellite dish — frozen ground, slippery ladders and short days — but sometimes it has to be done. With a few precautions, a winter install can go smoothly. Why Winter Is Hard on Installs Rain fade is worse in winter, and heavy wet snow on the dish…
After watching thousands of satellite installs, the same mistakes come up again and again. The good news is that nearly all of them are cheap and easy to avoid if you know to look. Mistake 1: Confusing Signal Strength with Signal Quality Strength shows the LNB is picking up something; quality shows it is picking…
HD satellite channels are more demanding than old standard-definition ones, and 4K UHD channels demand even more from your dish, cable and LNB. The good news is that a well-installed modern dish handles all three with ease. Here is what changes when you are installing for HD and 4K. Why HD and 4K Need a…
Satellite installation is one of those jobs that looks simple until someone falls off a ladder. Most accidents happen in the last five minutes, when the installer is tired and the dish is almost aligned. Treat the height, not the alignment, as the dangerous part. The Ladder Rules Use a ladder rated for your weight…
Watching satellite TV on the road is one of the great joys of motorhome life — but aligning a dish every lunchtime is not. RV satellite installations balance portability, ease of alignment and robustness. Here is how to do it right. Three Types of RV Satellite Setup 1. Portable / fold-out dish A small 30–45…
Bolting the dish to the wall is the easy half. Aligning it — pointing it precisely at a satellite 36,000 km away — is the skill that separates a working system from a frustrating one. Done methodically, even a first-timer can get a rock-solid lock. Prep: Know the Numbers Open a satellite pointer app and…
Trees are the single most common enemy of a satellite installation. A tall tree between your dish and the satellite will absorb and scatter the microwave signal, causing pixelation — especially in leaf, and especially in rain. You cannot always fell the tree, but you can work around it. Understand How Trees Block Signal Satellite…
Want channels from both Astra 19.2°E and Hot Bird 13°E from a single receiver? You do not need a motor — a DiSEqC switch lets you connect two, four or even eight fixed dishes (or LNBs on a monoblock) to one receiver cable. Installing one is straightforward. What Is a DiSEqC Switch? A DiSEqC (Digital…