Kindergarten advice required regarding Sky freesat

[caskin]

AS a complete newbie both to this forum and to satellite TV,would it be possible to obtain some basic information on Sky freesat.??
I have read FAQ's but not "simple" enough for me.

I am just about to (Hopefully) install freesat.....I have the sky digi box etc,plus a 43cm sky mini dish and a satellite alignment meter!!

From that point I am stuck on knowledge??

Which Satellite am I aiming for?

Just how easy is it to do the alignment oneself????

Is Sky the only company that provides freesat?

Are they the recommended freesat to be hooked to??

Any and all advice would be of assiatnce thanks

 

[dxsat]

welcome to the forum.
You need to go to dishpointer.com, and enter your location. It will give the direction to point your dish. A 43 cm should be OK where you are, a zone 2 dish (60 cm) would give better margin when it rains really hard.
You need Astra 2 at 28 degrees east.
Alignment with a meter is not too hard, look at other dishes around you to get the vertical alignment roughly right. Using dishpointer to get the bearing, swing the dish from right to left and up and down by small amounts to get the signal. If you get a reading on the meter but the receiver says 'no signal' , you may have the wrong satellite, often it is Astra 1 at 19 degrees. If this is the case, move the dish down and to the left slightly.
Freesat is quite distinct from sky. sky do their own version, designed to confuse potential customers.
Any Sky-type dish will work for Freesat.

 

[caskin]

Thanks very much for in depth advice which I will put into action this weekend,it makes a change to enter a forum as a novice but still get professional advice.