(Very) Basic Satellite Dish set up

[LoungeLizard]

I'm trying to set up a simple Satellite Dish/Television system in Cheshire, UK.

My Television is an LG 42LF66 (42" LCD) - only had it a few days.

My Satellite Dish is a 60cm Skyline. It is mounted on a south-facing wall in a similar orientation to neighbours' Satellite Dishes (which work well). I may need to fine-tune the Elevation, Azimuth and LNB skew.

The Satellite Dish is connected by (about) 2 to 3 metres of co-ax (that came with the Satellite Dish) and plugs into the back of the Television.

I have had no success so far in getting any Satellite Television pictures!

My Television is meant to have an internal set-top box. However it's only got a standard aerial socket to the rear so there's nowhere to screw in an 'F' connector. So I've tried the standard push-in co-axial connector on the end of the Satellite Dish cable to the back of the Television. Is this significant?

My television switches on and I can get a menu screen which allows 'Digital' reception. However it keeps coming up with a 'Weak Signal' error message. There is a diagnostics menu option which indicates that the Television is receiving a weak 'Winter Hill' transmission. 'Winter Hill' is indeed my local terrestial transmission station BUT I'm looking for a Satellite transmission. I have so far been unable to get any indication of a Satellite transmission.

I am not a subscriber to Sky or Cable, and my standard television aerial has blown off the roof. It is very hard to put this aerial back up be cause I live in a very tall house (requiring scaffold to get to roof).

What (I think) I would like to do is connect to Astra 2A-B-D Satellite. I have used this messageboard to establish the Elevation (22.8), Azimut (tr 143.2, mag 146.8), LNB Skew (-13.4) but so far haven't fine-tuned to these.

Please could I have some advice on how to get started and where I've gone wrong so far?

I've got a Philex Model 4640 SAT finder which is meant to indicate satellite signal strength, but I've had no success in even getting this to work (no LEDs have come on what ever I've tried!).

 

[2cvbloke]

The problem you have is the TV is not for Satellite, it is an integrated Freeview TV which only pick up terrestrial signals. You needs a Satellite receiver (Sky, Freesat or any non-dedicated box) in order to pick anything up off your dish...

EDIT:
And I did check the model number as there is now an LCD TV with built-in Freesat, but that isn't made by LG...

 

[Robbo]

Yep, for subscription free HD satellite TV, probably your best option at the moment is one of the HD Freesat boxes Argos sell them I believe, plus a couple of the site sponsors (see my sig), cost is roughly £150.

The LG 42LF66 is for Freeview only.

Robbo

 

[LoungeLizard]

Thank you 2cv & Robbo for your simple (but to me brilliant) answers!

Phew! It hadn't occurred to me that the digital signal from terrestial broadcasters was different to the digital signal from satellites!

I do have a Digital Satellite Receiver that came with the Dish: it's a Skyline DSR 4000. However (sigh) the Remote Control is missing. I had hoped that the Television's internal Digital Receiver would mean that the external Digital Receiver was not needed but the Dish could be used. Ah well...

Thank you again for your replies, I'll start again with the external Digital Receiver (I'll either get another Remote Control or try to operate it manually) and let you know how I get on.

 

[2cvbloke]

Thank you 2cv & Robbo for your simple (but to me brilliant) answers!

Phew! It hadn't occurred to me that the digital signal from terrestial broadcasters was different to the digital signal from satellites!

I do have a Digital Satellite Receiver that came with the Dish: it's a Skyline DSR 4000. However (sigh) the Remote Control is missing. I had hoped that the Television's internal Digital Receiver would mean that the external Digital Receiver was not needed but the Dish could be used. Ah well...

Thank you again for your replies, I'll start again with the external Digital Receiver (I'll either get another Remote Control or try to operate it manually) and let you know how I get on.

No problem, I once tried to use an old analogue cable box on the old Amstrad dish on my mum's old house years ago, and it didn't work (well I thought that they worked in the same way back then!!!)...

You might have to get a remote for your box as these days a lot of receivers have very few buttons on the front making setting them up a pain, but, you can use your inline meter to help line up the dish...

The main difference between the tuners in the TV and the box is that the box sends voltage up to the LNB to power it's circuitry, whereas a terrestrial setup has no need for that as the transmitters are "nearby" in comparison to the satellites about 30,000 miles up in the sky...

 

[LoungeLizard]

Hi!

Some progress made, but no cigar - or picture, yet.

My Satellite Dish is still not fine-tuned but looks identical to neighbours (professionally installed).

The Satellite Dish is connected by that special black co-ax to the Skyline Digital Receiver DSR 4000, the connection is a screwed in F-type to the 'LNB in' on the Receiver.

The Receiver is connected to the Television by AV1 SCART.

If I switch on the Television it goes straight to AV1 (presumably by default, because that was what I tried last). A 'No Signal' message appears.

If I press the manual 'Up' or 'Down' on the Receiver, a pop-up message briefly appears on the Television saying (something like) 'BBC1 Northern Ireland' and 'Astra 2A,B, 28.2E'. I suppose this is good because at least it appears to have found the Satellite! Hurray!

If I continue to press the manual 'Up' or 'Down' on the Receiver then a series of similar messages appear on the Television, except with some other channel named like 'Abu Dhabi TV' or something. Also the Television displays a channel number, like '302' or something, which is the same number that is displayed on the Receiver. So at least the 2 devices are talking to each other.

However, I've still got no picture or sound, just a 'No Signal' message. Please could you suggest a way forward from here? I don't expect other people to do the work for me; but I would like my hours of fiddling & frustration to be directed in the best direction!

 

[Robbo]

Firstly, check you cable and make sure that the connectors are good with no bits of braid or foil able to short to the centre conductor, and that there is 2-3 mm of the centre conductor protruding.

On the receiver, somewhere?. There should be a setup or installation menu. In there you should find a way of selecting a satellite, together with a transponder list, also a signal quality meter.

Pick a tranponder eg 10773H (shows BBC1) and adjust the dish till you get max signal quality. When you do, leave the dish alone for a minute, do a rescan of the transponder and ensure that you can watch BBC1. Is so, good Job done, tighten up.

If not, dish is on the wrong sat, make a note of what channels you get and their frequencies, and consult kingofsat channel seacrh to find out what sat it was. Good Luck!

 

[LoungeLizard]

Once again, Thank you for help.

I've had to suspend operations while I followed the advice on this thread and obtained a remote for my Receiver. I have now done this, I bought one one e-bay but I had to buy the Receiver to go with it:-cry1.

Also, my DVD Home Cinema System box(LG 5.1) has now arrived and I have mounted the television on the wall (AVF NXL704). I have successfully listened to a music CD on the system, I got music out of the speakers and a display of the CD information on the television screen: for me that was good!

So I am now ready to seriously start.

Can I please ask a very simple question to start off on the right foot:

What is the best way to connect up the scarts to enable me to watch Satellite Television with Home Cinema box?

Is it Receiver to Television to Home Cinema box?

What I can't work out is which Remote(s) to use, all 3 seem to have over-lapping functions!

Please suggest a simple set up sequence and say how the different Remote(s) work together!

Thank you!