How to Position an FTA Satellite Dish
- 1). Check over your prospective satellite dish mounting area. Make sure there are no obstructions that may impair satellite signal reception to your dish. Such obstructions may include--but are not limited to--trees and power lines.
- 2). Point the dish to the southern sky above. Do not concern yourself with exact positioning yet, as this will be handled later.
- 3). Locate the coaxial cable that runs out of the back of the dish's mast and run it down to your satellite receiver inside. The receiver should be positioned beside the television. Plug this coaxial cable into the "ANT IN" port on the rear of the receiver.
- 4). Connect the satellite receiver to your television. The satellite receiver will be key in positioning your FTA satellite dish thanks to its signal meter screen, which will provide information on how close you are to aiming your dish to the correct coordinates in the sky above. Locate the A/V cable that came with your receiver. Notice the prongs on either end of the cable. There is one red, one yellow, and one white prong in each of the two sets of prongs. Match these prongs up with their color-matching A/V ports on the back of the TV and the back of the receiver. Make the connections, matching up the ports with the prongs via their color.
- 5). Boot up the receiver and the television. Choose the "Signal Meter Screen" option from the menu. Return to the FTA satellite dish outside and have a helper standby at the meter screen.
- 6). Loosen the nuts that lie beside the elevation bolts on the rear of the FTA satellite dish's mast. Use a wrench to do so. With these nuts loosened, make gradual adjustments to the elevation (up/down orientation) of the satellite dish. After each adjustment, wait for a response from your helper at the signal meter screen. The meter should read your adjustments every five to 10 seconds and report back as to how close you are to "hitting" the correct coordinates. Continue to make adjustments as instructed by the meter screen.
- 7). Loosen the LNB dish arm nuts on the rear of the FTA satellite dish's mast. These nuts are just below the elevation bolts. With these nuts loosened, make gradual adjustments to the azimuth (left/right orientation) of the FTA satellite dish. After each adjustment, wait five to 10 seconds for signal meter screen reports. Make adjustments until the meter screen indicates all coordinates have been hit.
