| Just about every home in the country has a | | | | Put the dish in place on the mast. Do not, |
| Satellite dish these days. If you are yet to jump | | | | however, tighten the bolts just yet as you need |
| on the bandwagon, here is a basic guide to | | | | to run the Coaxial cable (this may have been |
| installing a satellite dish on your balcony. | | | | supplied with your dish, if not then you will need |
| So you have been and bought your satellite dish | | | | to purchase this) though the dish to the eye and |
| and have it on the floor of your living room. What | | | | attach it with the supplied screws. Try not to |
| now? Well firstly, you will need to make sure you | | | | over-tighten as you may strip the screws. |
| have a decent set of tools. There is nothing | | | | If you have a satellite signal meter, you can |
| worse than getting halfway through a job and | | | | connect it to the other end of the cable and |
| having to give up because you didn't have all the | | | | make sure that you are getting enough strength |
| equipment. | | | | from the signal. If not then adjust the dish slightly |
| The first thing you are going to establish is which | | | | from left to right until you achieve the strongest |
| direction you need to point the satellite dish, there | | | | possible signal. |
| are 2 ways you can do this. The first is to get in | | | | Once you have achieved the best signal you can, |
| touch with an expert at your local satellite shop | | | | tighten the bolts connecting the dish to the mast. |
| and ask them. They will likely give you a compass | | | | Keep an eye on the meter as you tighten these |
| direction, so you will also need a compass. The | | | | bolts so that you don't move the dish slightly and |
| second and easiest way is to simply look out your | | | | ruin the signal. |
| window to see which way Mr Jones' dish is | | | | Now, again, looking at your signal meter, slowly |
| pointing. Generally though, you need it to be | | | | move the reflector up and down until you achieve |
| pointing at the southern sky. | | | | the strongest signal possible. Once you have |
| Once you have determined the direction the | | | | found this position, tighten the reflector while |
| Satellite needs to be pointing, you can go ahead | | | | checking the meter, again, to make sure that you |
| and bolt the mast down. This is probably the | | | | don't throw the signal by tightening the screws. |
| most important part of the whole job. If the | | | | This is the dish set up. You can run the cable |
| mast is not solid then a couple of weeks down | | | | from the dish to your receiver box. If you have |
| the line, you could be taking a trip to the satellite | | | | to go through a wall, use the biggest, most |
| shop to replace your broken dish. If you don't bolt | | | | powerful drill you can. Don't forget to clean up the |
| it down facing the right way then you will be | | | | rubble though or you will get shouted at by the |
| watching static for the foreseeable future. | | | | wife. |