Satellite Information
for Beginners
Satellites broadcast all over the world and in many different languages.
There are many satellites that can be picked up in the UK showing a variety of films, sport and adult movies.
Many foreign nationals living in the UK have systems set up to receive channels in their native language.
Some satellites carry hundereds or even thousands of channels.
Most european countries have multiple satellite packages available to them and many of these broadcast in English.
Some European packages are showing the latest films, programmes and even live premiership football.
Some of the more popular satellites to tune in to are HotBird at 13 degrees east, Astra at 19 degrees east, Eutelsat at 16 degrees east and Hispasat at 30 degrees west, although there are many others.
The most versatile way of picking up multiple satellites is to use a motorised 80cm - 100 cm dish but many people opt for a single dish with a monoblock LNB, this enables you to pick up two satellites (as long as they are close together) Astra at 19 degrees and HotBird at 13 degrees are a popular combination to use with this setup.
The channels that you can receive are either free to air (FTA) or encrypted. Free to air means the channel isn’t scrambled and is free for anyone to watch, encrypted channels are scrambled and a viewing card is needed to un-scramble the signal.
The viewing card is inserted in to a cam. Cams can be built into a receiver (this is reffered to as embedded) or bought and fitted at a later date (as long as your receiver has a free CI slot for the cam to be inserted in to).
Cams have different encryption types, such as Viaccess or Irdeto. The viewing card used must match the cams encryption type, so if you have a Viaccess cam and want a Redlight viewing card you must ensure that the viewing card is Viaccess.
In order to ensure that you purchase the correct cam, we recommend that you first decide what channels you would like to watch and then find out what encryption method is used to encrypt those specific channels.
Satellite Installation Guide
Here is some valuable advice on satellite installation for the DIY enthusiast.
First thing, be safety conscious, installing a satellite dish usually involves working up a ladder with power tools so if you aren’t a competent DIY’er then it would be best to leave it to the professionals.
Once you have purchased your equipment, you need to plan your install.
Consider what satellite you want to pick up and check that you have a clear line of sight to your chosen satellite from where you want to install your dish, you will find a compass very useful for this.
If the view is obscured by buildings or trees you may need to find a new location to fit your dish, if you can’t find a suitable place to secure the dish on to your brickwork, think about a floor mounted system which could be in the garden or perhaps in a greenhouse.
Once you have found a suitable location for the dish (we’ll assume that you’re fitting the dish to brickwork) you need to secure it to the wall. Drill the brickwork (not mortar, it isn’t strong enough) and secure the fitting bracket to the wall with coach bolts or rawl bolts, make sure that the bracket is level and the brickwork it is attached to is flat.
Now fit your dish and LNB to the bracket and begin tuning your dish and LNB to your chosen satellite, this is achieved by moving the dish and LNB until you get a good reception, a satellite finder is invaluable for this job as it will indicate when you have a good enough reception. When you have completed this, tighten all bolts.
Now you need to run the coaxial cable from the LNB to your satellite receiver.
First make sure that you have a long enough cable and then fit an f-connector to one end and connect this to the LNB, leaving enough cable to make a U shape so water drips away from the LNB, you should waterproof this connection by using amalgamating tape.
Then begin cable clipping the coax cable to the wall, working your way towards the hole in the wall that the cable can go through to reach the satellite receiver. Only run the cable horizontally or vertically.
When you come to the hole, run the cable into it from below, this will stop rain from running down the cable and damaging your receiver. When you have fed the cable through, fill the hole with a little silicon. You can now run the cable inside the house towards the receiver, cut the excess cable away and attach an f-connector.
Installation is complete, so sit down read the instructions to your receiver and begin finding channels and enjoy watching satellite TV.
