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Freesat reception - all about dishes

Satellite reception has both advantages and disadvantages compared with terrestrial (aerial) reception.

Satellite reception has both advantages and disadvantages compa
Published on by on UK Free TV

Satellite reception has both advantages and disadvantages compare with terrestrial (aerial) reception.

By using much higher frequencies (gigahertz, compared to terrestrial televisions megahertz) more transmission channels called transponders (the satellite equivalent of multiplexes) can be provided. For example, there are only six Freeview multiplexes, but Sky or Freesat users can access two hundred satellite transponders.

Aside from exceptional weather conditions (very heavy rain for example) digital satellite provides stable pictures and audio. Where Freeview transmitters are no more than 732 metres above sea level, the geostationary satellites used for television are 35,800,000 metres above the equator so reception is possible even where buildings, trees and hills make terrestrial reception impossible.



The downside of the transmitters being 22,300 miles up in the air is that the signals are very, very weak - so standard TV aerial is of little use. When the signals are sent to the satellites, huge dish transmitters are used to uplink the signal to the satellite. These are tens of metres from side to side, and feature an emitter that generates the signal, which is first bounced of a mirror (called a reflector) and then off the surface of the parabolic dish.



There are many satellites in the sky over the equator. Often these are in clusters over a particular position, for example there are four used for UK television are at 28.2 degrees east. There is another cluster over the 19.2 degrees east positions that are used for German television.

To receive these very weak signals from the satellite, it is necessary to use a dish for reception too. By using a reflective dish, this concentrates the signals onto a small device called a LNB. This is held in front of the dish by a metal arm.



The size of dish for reception is typically much smaller; often 60cm to 100cm in diameter, but the exact size depends upon the transmitting satellite transponder. To keep the transmission power levels down to levels that can be powered by the satellite's solar panels, each beam is focused on a particular area of the Earth's surface. If you are trying to receive the signal at the centre of this zone, a small dish is required. At the outer edges, you may need a 5 metre dish. Maps of these zones are provided by the satellite companies, and are called satellite footprints.

When the dish is installed it must be aligned carefully as the signal is very weak. The installer needs to know the inclination and the azimuth from the ground location to the satellite. If you install yourself you will find that there are markings on the dish that are used to point the dish in the correct position. It is important that the view of the satellite will not be blocked, so must take into account leaves growing on trees and potential building works.

For many people the LNB will have a single cable connected to it, however if you have Sky+ or a multi-room installation the LNB package will actually contain four receivers a quad-LNB. Unlike terrestrial television where you can split the aerial cable to feed more than one Freeview box or television set, with satelite reception you cannot. So, a Sky+ box with two receivers (so you can watch one thing and record another) has two cables connecting the box to the dish.

The cable that connects the dish to the receiver must be satellite grade cable. Whilst this looks superficially like the cable used to connect and aerial to a television, a higher grade cable is required for satellite reception.

Here is an image of a co-axial cable. This sort of cable is used to connect any type of receiving aerial to the reception equipment.



RG6, PF100 and PH100 are all types of coax cable that are suitable for the very weak signals that are received by a satellite dish. (The power is the same as you would receive from a one-bar electric heater on the moon).

The conductor in the centre passes the signals received from the dish to the set-top box. This is made from steel in RG6 cable, and from copper in the RF100 and PH100 types. This makes RG6 less suitable in the UK where rain can damage the cable.

The shielding is responsible for keeping unwanted external interference from damaging the signal. In the cheaper cable this will be a foil wrap, in better specified cables this is a braid (or mesh) of copper wires. The sheild in the RF100 covers 58% of the cable.

The non-conducting layer between the shield and the conductor is called the dielectric. This can be either a solid (RG6), foam (RF100) or air-spaced (PH100) dielectric. This makes the cables progressively more flexible (ie bendy without damage).







Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom

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Your comments are always welcome. Please use the form below to add your thoughts or questions to this page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

Briantist
Sunday 6 March 2011 9:43AM
ChrisR: There is no Astra 2C. Most of the channels are on Astra 2D. Astra 2E has not yet launched.
ChrisR
Sunday 6 March 2011 11:30AM
Briantist. Do I need to get the dish moved to pick up Astra 2D?
ChrisR
Sunday 6 March 2011 11:55AM
Briantist. I've just rescanned the receiver and it is indeed Astra 2D and not 2E, so I guess the dish is in the right position?

When the box is scanning I'm getting messages similar to the ones below does this mean anything to you?

10714 H 22000 Failed
10729 V 22000 Failed

there are similar messages which are ok.
Briantist
Sunday 6 March 2011 12:38PM
ChrisR: Have you got a large dish, as you will need a larger-than-normal dish if you are outside the UK and wish to watch Astra 2D channels.
Lisa2806
Sunday 6 March 2011 1:05PM
Hay im trying to find out whether I can pick up freeview on a Philips terrestrial receiver in germany. I think that all the flats run off of one Satelite. Any feedback will be appreciated.
ChrisR
Sunday 6 March 2011 4:03PM
Briantist.

I haven't installed the dish it looks pretty much the same as all of the other local dishes around, which I guess is the problem.

How large should the dish be?

Thanks for you help with this.
Briantist
Sunday 6 March 2011 6:35PM
ChrisR: Can you see the "Where can I receive it?" section on the www.ukfree.tv link icon All about Freesat | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice page?

This has details of the size of the dish required for Astra 2D.
Briantist
Sunday 6 March 2011 6:47PM
Lisa2806: You can't pick up Freeview in Germany, it is only broadcast from terrestrial transmitters in the UK.

Your communal dish will not be pointing at the correct satellites to use FreeSAT.
peter clark
Sunday 6 March 2011 8:38PM
hi all i have benn toying with the idea of replacing my sky minidish with an 80 cm motorised dish can someone advise me if i will be able to use my sky hd box and a secondary box to be specific a konig sdfta11 what lnb will i need and also can the sdfta11 be set up to move the dish cheers
Briantist
Monday 7 March 2011 6:56AM
peter clark: Sky+HD boxes are not really suitable for use in this respect. It would be better to fit your motorised dish as a second dish and use another receiver with it.
peter clark
Monday 7 March 2011 10:00AM
Briantist ok cheers mate i 'll have to ask for permission to fit a second dish as i am a council tennant it does sound easier cheers again
Steve
Monday 7 March 2011 11:04AM Sheffield
Is there a good channel guide to FREESAT which includes BBC regions and nations, and ITV regions? Friend having Freesat insrtalled soon but wants to play around with it.
Les Nicol
Monday 7 March 2011 12:07PM
Steve - "Freesat" has it's own EPG (Electronic Programming Guide). Normally at "Setup" you would enter your UK postcode so that once the receiver scans it will default to your local ITV/BBC region - (although you can choose to set an alternative ie: any UK postcode). Whichever postcode you opt for all regional BBC/ITV channels are scanned in and therefore are available through pressing the "List" or "Guide" options using the remote.

Dependent on the receiver chosen a non "Freesat" mode is accessible where all available FTA (Free to Air) channels become available including those not listed on the "Freesat" EPG.

Additionally Humax (excepting the 500GB DTR version) and Technisat receivers offer diseqc multisat options.
brenda
Thursday 10 March 2011 9:28PM
hi brian we had free view fitted and a satelite dish we have now bought over our sky box but when we plug it in it says adjust your signal can we do this our self our can you recommend some one in arcos de la frontera spain many thanks.
Henry
Saturday 12 March 2011 1:49PM
Hi
I have Freesat HD+ in my Living Room and love it - I said goodbye to Sky a couplf of years ago.

To have an output in my kitchen, I currently use a universal modulator to link up through the coax cable to my kitchen (the quality is okay for the small telly but wouldn't be good enough for a large one).

I'm about to extend my kitchen and knock through to my dining room to make one large room.

I have a couple of questions - hope you can help

1. For the new room can I just buy another freesat HD+ box and add 2 more cables to my old sky dish or do I need to upgrade the receiver on the dish.

2. If I want to have 2 tvs at either end of the new room to watch the same program, is the best way to connect them by running a c.10 metre HDMI cable between them?

3. Is there anyway to
Henry
Saturday 12 March 2011 1:52PM
Oops - posted it before I finished writing - here is the full question.

Hi
I have Freesat HD+ in my Living Room and love it - I said goodbye to Sky a couplf of years ago.

To have an output in my kitchen, I currently use a universal modulator to link up through the coax cable to my kitchen (the quality is okay for the small telly but wouldn't be good enough for a large one).

I'm about to extend my kitchen and knock through to my dining room to make one large room.

I have a couple of questions - hope you can help

1. For the new room can I just buy another freesat HD+ box and add 2 more cables to my old sky dish or do I need to upgrade the receiver on the dish.

2. If I want to have 2 tvs at either end of the new room to watch the same program, is the best way to connect them by running a c.10 metre HDMI cable between them?

3. Is there anyway to get the 2 PVRs to talk to each other or do you just need to record the same programme on both sets?

Many thanks in advance,

Henry
Les Nicol
Saturday 12 March 2011 6:38PM
Henry,the best option is to have an additional feed(s) taken from the Dish LNB to the new receiver. Your current LNB is likely to have a four output capacity so there should be two of these unused where connections can be made.

Tip:- Make sure that the protective strip under the front flap is removed on your current receiver and on any additional receiver. Some have found problems with what was thought the Hunax DTR remote control - not so - Simply pick the edge back with your finger nail and the strip will peel back.
Les Nicol
Saturday 12 March 2011 6:56PM
P>S> Henry, If your thinking of additional receiver(s) following your alterations , then best to upgrade the four output LNB to an OCTO eight output LNB - not an expensive item. Dependent on the SKY dish you may also need a suitable plastic adapter with a 40mm collar for an OCTO LNB . about £3 to £4.-

Greg Mullins
Monday 14 March 2011 10:37AM
Hi, I am ignorant of satelite systems
We are moving to a new home which has a satelite dish outside the kitchen
We will not need satelite, could I use the dish as a TV aerial for a kitchen television by running a cable from it into the kitchen ?

Many thanks
Greg
Les Nicol
Monday 14 March 2011 11:03AM
Greg Mullins - The dish requires connection to a satellite receiver Greg. You could get your self a standard definition "Freesat" receiver from Argos and just plug it in to
give TV in the kitchen. "Freesat" is supported by the BBC and ITV and is non-subscription. Receiver costs £29.99 amd is straightforward to connect.
Les Nicol
Monday 14 March 2011 5:22PM
Greg Mullins - Greg, whilst the dish at your new house is located outside the kitchen it's likely that it will having wiring from it to a point in your lounge. Setting up a secondary connection to a receiver and TV in the kitchen isn't an expensive upgrade which can be done by a local installer. Worth checking to see if a cable has been run to the kitchen in which case as noted above, it's a straight forward eet up task.
Steve
Tuesday 15 March 2011 6:40PM Sheffield
The FREESAT/SKY ITV regions are a mystery. We live in Sheffield and would get Yorks W service with an aerial. Sky used to put that on EPG but a few months ago changed it to Yorks E - the Lincolnshire service. Mum in Nottinghamshire gets this too. Friend in Notts put a Nottingham postcode in his FREESAT to trick it to give him Central E but bizarrely it gives him Cenral W. I gave him the frequencies to tune manually but I wonder why you can't just choose your own regions for BBC and ITV
Alexis Brown
Friday 18 March 2011 8:56PM
Hi, I have just moved to a new house and it only has a single LNB on the sky dish, my mate has a quad LNB can i just put it onto my sky dish at my new home, im currently using Freesat. any answers?
Les Nicol
Saturday 19 March 2011 8:36AM
Alexis Brown - In general terms yes. - You may have a problem if the LNB adapter doesn't match and you may need to change this to one that suits. They are inxpensive and can be had on auction sites, although if you have a satellite shop near you then probly best to acquire there to get a proper match.
Briantist
Monday 21 March 2011 7:33AM
Steve: There is no mystery at all.

The Freesat (and Sky, just by their database) postcodes set up the regions that match the analogue transmitter network, so you get region an analogue aerial would have got before switchover.

Many homes in Nottingham were primarily served by Sutton Coldfield.
Mike Dimmick
Monday 21 March 2011 4:29PM Reading
Steve: Not all ITV regions are available on Freesat - some are only broadcast encrypted (free-to-view with Sky equipment and a Sky viewing card). The following micro-regions are only available to Sky subscribers:

Anglia West
Central East
Central South (Thames Valley North)
Central South West
Meridian North (Thames Valley South)
Meridian Sussex
Tyne Tees South
Yorkshire East

Some of these now only differ by the adverts shown. Central South and Meridian North (which briefly made up the non-franchise Thames Valley area) get the Meridian South news service and I believe Meridian Sussex gets Meridian South-East.

Yorkshire and Anglia appear to no longer runs separate west/east news services. The only loser as far as I can see is Central East.

For some reason Anglia has two free-to-air streams: East and South. They could probably scrap one of these to get Central East free-to-air - if they wanted to.

If you have Freesat, you will be given the nearest ITV micro-region that is broadcast free-to-air. I don't know the exact rules.
Steve
Monday 21 March 2011 6:56PM Sheffield
Mike - thanks for the info.
Briantist - thanks for that contrbution. The truth is that my mate put in a Nottingham postcode to try and trick Freesat. An NG17 postcode usually brings up Yorks E. I'll find out the postcode of the transmitter itself!!
ann palmer
Tuesday 22 March 2011 10:38AM
Hi help please I have just converted my garage for my sons and had a quote for a new aerial and booster at £250 the garage is detached from the houes but only by about 3 feet and we have a sky+ setup and dish on our house plus in the loft our old sky box, so could I plug in a new cable from my sky dish and use my old sky box in the garge to get freeview? I really need to run two tvs in the garage so any help much apprecaited we want to key sky plus in the house looking for a cheaper solution than the aerial system
oldgit
Tuesday 22 March 2011 3:03PM
got a letter from the switchover help scheme saying i can have freesat box & sat. dish installed for 56 quid! sounds like the bargain of the year. but i live in Coventry, in a bad reception area, even the freeview is dodgy and breaks up, so my question is would it be possible to pay extra for a double? LNB to have it in the bedroom as well.me and the wife both got this letter if that makes any difference. thanx for any help Don
Tom
Wednesday 23 March 2011 7:27AM Bridgnorth
£5.00 on ebay to buy a quad LNB.

Depends on what you want to do. You can connect from your existing digi box aerial output to a TV in your bedroom and watch the programs shown on your main TV, The main tv has to be on the channel that you want to watch in the bedroom. You can switch the main tv off but leave the digi box on.

Alternatively you can install a second aerial lead to your bedroom from a twin LNB to a second digi box in your bedroom to watch programs independantly from your other TV.

There are other alternatives but I choose to explain the easiest.....IANAAT
Peter Tillotson
Wednesday 23 March 2011 3:03PM
I have a sky+hd box and sky HD subscription. Does the aerial output from the sky box include a freesat signal that can be fed to a freesat digital box in another room? Or does the sky+HD box filter out the freesat signal?
oldgit
Wednesday 23 March 2011 3:06PM
Thanks for that Tom. Think we might go for the twin lnb to cover both rooms, as its mainly me watching snooker or footer while she has neighbours or corrie. sad really , that what being 80 does for you.btw, can we record in one room while watching another channel in the other?
ChrisR
Friday 25 March 2011 4:23PM
Hi Briantist,

The local installer has finally got the dish pointing at Astra 2a/b/d and the signal intensity /quality is excellent.

When I tune the receiver I'm only get signal from the transponders on Astra 2a/b.

Looking at the site you directed me to a 60cm dish should do her in Monchegladbach but I think it's larger than that.

Have you any ideas, please.
Mike Dimmick
Friday 25 March 2011 6:48PM
ChrisR: The Astra 2D satellite's antennas are aimed to, as far as possible, cover only the British Isles. Any spill into Germany is accidental.

However, Monchengladbach is quite far north-west in Germany, so it should be possible to pick it up - with a 90cm dish.

See the 'footprint' at:

www.ses-astra.com link icon ASTRA 2D - SES ASTRA (RG47SH)
John Drury
Thursday 31 March 2011 9:01PM
Hi I have a sky dish and HD+ box can I use this to receive freesat, if so what do Ineed to do thanks.
Lost without TV
Saturday 2 April 2011 7:33PM
Hello, i wonder if you can help! I'm in France, have had a freesat box for about 2 years, set to Astra 2 and all was fine until this afternoon! Not sure why, but i have lost all signal and quality strength? I have checked the dish is still pointing to all the right co-ordinates and it is, pruned a section of a tree that i thought might be a problem and still nothing? It does not appear to be anywhere near a signal, as i'm not seeing the orange bar in either signal or quality strength move at all! Any help / advise would be appreciated.
Thanks
John P
Saturday 2 April 2011 8:07PM Lutterworth
My Post Code is LE17 4RX and I receive from Sutton Coalfield
and hence receive only West Midlands News etc.
I would like to receive East Midlands News from Waltham but the village church (tower etc) is plumb in line with the 46 degree bearing for the Waltham transmitter.
Is the logical way forward via a dish & Freesat, please?
Lost without TV
Monday 4 April 2011 12:58PM
i have bought a satellite finder kit, contains compass and box thing to be connected to the dish and the cable that runs to the box!! The box makes a noise as though it's picking up something but still the signal strength and quality are a 0%...According to the compass i'm pointing in the right direction, i tried another cable in the box and dish, still gets power but nothing else....Please can you advise why there would be 0% in both strength and quality if the dish is pointing to the correct location. Am i missing something? Thanks very much.
Mike Dimmick
Monday 4 April 2011 1:32PM Reading
Lost without TV: Check for a broken, loose or disconnected cable. Also, if you've tried to split the cable, disconnect the splitter - each tuner in each Freesat box (you may have two if it's a recorder) has to be able to send a signal back up the cable to the LNB to select the correct mode for the channel.

If you've added a diplexer, to combine aerial signals onto the same cable, check that it's wired correctly and isn't blocking the voltage sent from the Freesat box to power the LNB, or the mode selection signals.

If you've replaced a cable, it may not be the right sort. Regular TV 'low-loss' coax drops a lot of signal over its length, compared to 'satellite-grade' cable.
AnnieSalsa
Monday 4 April 2011 1:32PM
Hi, I have recently moved. I have been given an old Sky box and Scart lead. The previous owner left the Sky dish and there are two cables coming into the lounge. One of them is two thin cables which are stuck together. Which cable goes where? Sorry this is a silly question but I am not technical :)
Mike Dimmick
Monday 4 April 2011 1:42PM
John P: There are some hills blocking line-of-sight to Waltham as well as the church. The prediction, which includes terrain but not buildings, is variable to poor. Very careful siting of a fringe reception antenna might work, but it's also likely to be expensive.
All BBC services are free-to-air on satellite, but some ITV1 regions are only available encrypted, requiring a Sky box and viewing card. ITV1 Central East is one of them - weirdly, it's the only separate news region that is, while there are some news areas that have more than one advertising micro-region free-to-air.
You can get a dish, box and viewing card from Sky without a subscription for £175, including installation. See www.sky.com link icon FREESAT from Sky - Call now to order .
You may find it simpler to just watch your preferred local news bulletin online. See www.bbc.co.uk link icon BBC - BBC One Programmes - East Midlands Today for the BBC, and www.itv.com link icon 
Central Regional News (ITV Central Tonight) - ITV Local
for ITV. (RG47SH)
Mike Dimmick
Monday 4 April 2011 1:50PM Reading
AnnieSalsa: It's most likely that the twin cable goes back to the satellite dish. If this is a plain Sky box, not a recorder, it probably has a single input marked LNB IN. Connect one half of the twin cable to this.

If it's a Sky+ box, connect one half to LNB 1 IN and the other to LNB 2 IN.

The other cable, if it also has a screw thread, is probably for multi-room installations. If there's a socket or cable in another room, perhaps the main bedroom, it's possible that the single cable in the lounge runs from there to the bedroom. If you want to watch Sky or Freesat in the bedroom, you could connect that cable to the LNB OUT on the lounge box, and another box to the socket or cable in the bedroom.

However, you will find that the box in the bedroom will only be able to show some of the channels when the box in the lounge is on. To be able to select any channel, you'd need a completely separate cable all the way back to the dish.

If it's just a push-in type it's either a downlead from an aerial, for analogue TV and Freeview, or it could be intended to distribute the RF modulated output of the Sky box to other rooms (there's an aerial loop-through socket on the Sky box for this). To watch this in another room, you'd have to tune the TV's analogue tuner into the frequency that the Sky box is putting its output on.
Michael
Wednesday 13 April 2011 2:39PM
hi J've just moved into a new flat and it has a dish on the outside wall, but it seems to have a normal co-ax cable coming of it, is this freesat or sky? if it is freesat can i buy a receiver and just plug it in ?
whats the difference in the dishes do they point the same way? how can i tell. no one in the buiklding knows what the last tennant had.
Briantist
Wednesday 13 April 2011 3:59PM
Michael: Freesat and Sky use the same satellites, you can just buy a Freesat box from a store and plug it in. You can get a basic Freesat box from Argos, for example, for £30.

This is probably the best way to test the connection.
Georgie
Monday 18 April 2011 4:09PM
Help - Ive had a freesat box for ages which worked fine. Then it suddenly started struggling to find signal until it gave up all together. I purchased a new box, which on the first installatio had a good strength signal and brought up all the channels. Switched it on the morning after and no signal on any channel = no channels! How can I have lost signal overnight, nothing was unplugged or moved. Has the problem got to be with my dish? Thanks Georgie
Briantist
Monday 18 April 2011 7:04PM
Georgie: I would guess from this that your LNB has failed, and will require replacement. You can get new ones for about £30.
Maurice
Wednesday 20 April 2011 10:54PM
I have just purchased a Panasonic Viera television with built in freeview HD and now I need to put up a dish which will be a DIY job.
My question is do I need a specific dish to recieve HD tv from the satelite or are all dishes able to recieve HD.
Briantist
Thursday 21 April 2011 4:26AM
Maurice: You can't use a dish with Freeview HD, only Freesat HD.
SteveW
Thursday 21 April 2011 4:12PM
Maurice - I've just bought a Panasonic Viera TV which, like yours, has both Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners built in. Briantist is right, it is Freesat HD that needs a dish whereas Freeview HD will be avaialble through your aerial (if you are in an area that has switched over to digital only).
If you want to do a DIY job I would suggest the Screwfix Freesat installation kit which is just over £40 and includes dish,LNB,brackets, cable etc. If you do not want to DIY then look in yellow pages for satellite installers and get a couple of quotes.
k.hammond
Sunday 24 April 2011 11:04AM
i have panasonic freesat t.v which was working fine of old sky sat dish then came up no signal. think sat dish might of ad its day i installed a new one but unfortunately that didnt help. so i found my old sky box plugged it in and it picks up 99% of freesat channels of my new dish. so is freesat broke on my t.v or do i get sat man to come look at sat dish.
Briantist
Sunday 24 April 2011 1:09PM
k.hammond: It does rather sound like a problem with the set.



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