First time owner of Freesat equipped TV. What Gear do I need ?

[Shaky1105]

Hi all.
I've recently bought an LG C3 OLED which has a Freesat tuner built-in. Basically, just so I've got the back-up of the ability to switch to Satellite channels if I want to, I've decided to get myself a dish sorted.

The problem is, I've bought "all in one" kits before for other un-associated stuff and I've usually been left wanting as they invariably lose out on certain features/facilities that buying individual components allows you to have. Unfortunately, I've realistically got zero experience of this type of gear as my last DIY "upgrading" was limited to fitting a bigger dish at my last house to improve the Sky reception which was circa 20+ years ago probably

The first kits I started looking at were like THIS ONE from Amazon. However, I know I haven't had to be looking for Satellite gear for ages but I'm a bit unsure about less than £50 for all that gear.....seems a bit TOO cheap for me

At this house I live in now, there's no dish installed at all so everything would have to be a new setup so no possibility of trying to copy the position of the old dish like last time.

I've read online that some LNB's won't work "out of the box" with a TV Freesat receiver (although god-knows why not ?) so I want to be able to confidently spend the £ required and know that once it's all set up, it'll work

I have plenty of WF100 cable so won't need any of that but I want to fit the dish on a pole as it'll be on a North-facing wall at the back of my garage and pointing over the flat-roof. About the only thing I've been able to confirm is that where I would like to position it (about 8' off ground level) there will be no obstructions to it's line of sight for the Astra satellites at 28.2°. I will prolly make my own wall bracket and just use a 1.5~2m length pole.

So, I would ideally like to get an 80cm dish that comes with a pole-mount and a quad LNB (Ultimate possibility of feeding 4 TV's maximum). I've got no real interest in receiving any of the paid-for channels, just the FTA stuff but would like a reasonable quality bit of kit that will give a decent signal & last a decent amount of time before it starts falling to bits . I don't wanna be spending a crazy amount of £ on it but I also don't wanna be going bargain basement gear.

Would it be worth buying a setup meter to get it perfect (if so, has anybody got any recommendations that won't break the bank) and to get all the necessary alignments correct would a compass on a smart phone be OK or are there better options out there ?

Finally, on the subject of alignments, I understand the Elevation and Azimuth settings but what exactly is Skew and how is that adjusted ?

All suggestions will be gratefully received - TIA.

##EDIT## Forgot to add, I don't mind going bigger if needed as it's not gonna be on show to anyone.

 

[Analoguesat]

As ong as you have clear line of sght to the south east that dish from Amazon will do fine.

Basic installation is easy - set the dish up on it pole, align it attach to the tv & scan channels. If you get BBC & ITV fab you have found 28E. If you have mainly German channels you are locked onto 19E & if you have a weird & wonderful selection of Arabic language channels you have probably found 13E!

Once the tv is showing BBC run your cables from the dish to the desired location(s) in the house. You can get flat section coax to go through window frames if you are renting, if you own the place then you are better off getting a long drill bit & drilling suitable holes in the wall.. Terminate the cables in a way suitable for you & away you go

Do a bit of forward planning as to how many connectors you need & DONT TRY TO RUSH THE INSTALL. When you are setting the dish up try to ensure you arent going to be disturbed for a couple of hours or so, Theres nothing worse than being happily tinkering with tools scattered everywhere when the missus reminds you there is shopping to be done! And DONT try to install a dish when its windy - even a small dish can catch the wind & wrench your arms.

 

[deeptho]

From what I can see, the package you mention will work, but the meter may or may not be ideal for what you need. I have such a meter, but I never use it.

You may also need more F-connectors, some tools to cut the cable and remove the outer coating for the f-connector andperhaps some self-amalgating tape for water proofing the F-connectors. Things like brackets are normally already included with any dish and LNBs can be bought cheaply online (Quad+universal is the right combination). 80cm should be enough.

Someone else on the forum can probably better comment on the quality of the dish.

The meter may not be enough for this reason: The best place to align the dish would be standing on the roof, but you may need to stand on a ladder to reach its back. The meter will allow you to hear if you are pointing to a satellite, but will not tell you which one. For that you will need to go to the receiver or you need help from someone who can watch the tv, knows how to channel search and can talk to you through an open window or via a phone. Not impossible but complicated and probably frustrating.

It may be better to invest in a small battery powered portable receiver. I bought the GT media V8 finder, but there may be better options. They are not ideal from a user interface point of view, but work well enough. They also have some straps to hang them around your neck.
Best to install on a cloudy (nono-rainy) day. The screen is then best readable.

Use dishpointer.com to figure out if you have a clear line of sight.

Skew is not difficult to adjust. Just turn the lnb a bit around its axis during final adjustment to maximimize SNR.

Maybe also to consider
-there are other satellites out there, e.g., 28.2Em 19.2E and 13.2E should be possible on the same dish (perhaps not the one you propose).
If you are interested in multiple satellites (mostly non-English content) then there are better solutions.
-if you prefer 1 cable into the house and if your tv supports is, then unicable may be a better solution. That requires a different lnb,
and some splitters.