DIY Dish Installation

[BookBoy]

I have the Dish500 and 2 E* receivers. I'm moving in a couple of weeks and rather that using the Dishmover program, I'm considering doing it myself. Is the installation something I could handle? Are there directions online that I could read? And are there any tips that would be helpful to know?

Thanks for your help.

[Mike123abc]

Echostar has some online guides on their web site. Pick up a $10 sat finder on the internet to help aim. You essentially enter your zip code on the reciever, it tells you the general setting for the dish, then use the sat finder to peak your dish. You keep turning down the sensitivity on the sat finder, then move your dish around some to get it to peak, set down the sat finder again and peak again. Keep doing this until you cannot improve your signal.

[RJS1111111]

Try to find a spot for your dish that not only has a
line of sight to all of its satellites, but is also as
convenient as possible for your own access, and
as inaccessible as possible for others. Ideally,
this would be a south-facing balcony or deck.

If the roof is the best place, and the weather is
wet, icy, snowy, or windy, just say no. Put the
whole thing off for another day. Do not climb
ladders. Do not walk around on the roof. You
are not unbreakable.

Take the dish out of the box, assemble it, and
tighten the bolts. This transforms the thing
into such an eyesore and obstacle that you
will be compelled to get it installed somehow
in the very near future. This is a good thing.
Do not fight it.

Try to make sure there is nothing wrong with
your dish, LNBF, cable, sat finder, or receiver.

Do some research to ensure that you select
weather-tight and reliable cable connections.

Secure the mount firmly to something very
stable that will not move, bend, or warp.

Use a bubble level to get your mast plumb.

Tighten the mast to the mount, then check
again for plumb.

For dishes that have a "skew" or "tilt"
setting, make sure it is set correctly,
then tighten it down. You should not
have to change it again for this location.

Put the dish on the mast,
then check again for plumb.

Now you're ready to aim the dish.

A compass for estimating magnetic
azimuth, and the dish elevation
scale, are usually good enough
only to get you pointed *near* the
signal.

First, set the elevation by the scale
on the dish. Tighten down the
elevation bolts only. Tighten the
azimuth bolts somewhat, but only
as far as they still allow you to freely
swing the dish from side to side.

Swing the dish from side to side in
azimuth to line up approximately
with the compass heading. Keep
in mind that some of the parts
are made of steel, and can mess up
your compass reading if too close.

Consider yourself lucky if your
sat finder shows any signal at all.
If not, swing the dish from side
to side in azimuth by only a few
degrees to search for it.

If you still can't find the signal,
check your mast for plumb again,
swing the dish to the original
azimuth, and change the dish
elevation by a degree or two,
upward and downward, to
search for the signal again.

If this fails, check again to make
sure you have the correct
pointing angles for your location.

If correct, consider the possibility
that the dish elevation scale may
be seriously incorrect, or that the
compass is not providing a good
enough azimuth angle. Consider
buying professional equipment
that will help you to set the
angles accurately. Consider
hiring a professional to do the
job right.

Once you acquire the signal,
confirm reception of the correct
satellite on your receiver.

Then continue to tweak the
pointing angles, first in azimuth,
then in elevation; lather, rinse,
(just kidding about that
part); repeat until you get the
peak signal reading.

Tighten everything down,
but never so far as to deform
or crush anything. The signal
should remain at the peak
level. If not, tightening has
changed an angle (most
likely elevation), and you
really should re-peak the
signal, if you happen to have
any remaining time and
patience at this point.

Make sure everything is tight,
or your dish might get blown
around by the next high wind.

Climb down carefully. This is
no place for a happy dance.
Wait until you are back on
the ground and watching
satellite TV.

[Jacob S]

The trick to satellite installation is to make sure your mast is plumb to make your numbers true on elevation and make sure you set the elevation number correctly along with elevation. Then by moving the satellite slowly (a signal meter will help greatly along with a pair of cheap 2 mile range walkie talkies for about $10-$20 to hear the tv inside - the higher the steady pitch the better).

[abospaum]

First figure out how much you're really saving by doing it yourself.

When I moved I looked at $75 for them to send and install the new dish and hook-up a couple of receivers. They came the day before I officially moved in when I was really busy packing so my time was very valuable.

The cost of 100' of RG-6 cable is about $24, sat finder $10, walkie-talkies @$20-30, various cable connectors and wall plates @ $10. Also don't forget things such as a drill bit for whatever the exterior of your house is along with some insulating foam. Don't forget to ground the satellite. The house I was moving into was already wired with RG-6 cable so I wouldn't have had too much work other than changing which rooms were hooked up.

I figured why should I hassle with it when I wasn't going to save that much and my time was very valuable.

[Jacob S]

A sat finder a lot of times will cost more than $10. I paid $29 for mine wholesale from my distributor. By the time you do buy the wire, walkie talkies, ground rod (unless you ground it to the electric ground), drill bit, drill if needed, etc. you may be able to find someone to do it for as cheap as $50 depending on how much wire is needed. Since you did not get the system from the person you would ask to install it for you then you would more than likely get charged more such as $100+ in which is what I try to get out of those that have not purchased the systems from me.

[rowdymon]

I really like doing my own installations. Gives me a warm feeling inside for a job well done. I did my own installation the first time I got Dish because I thought it would be easy. It wasn't that easy, but still only took me a couple of hours. I also put up a 2nd 61.5 dish and another dish 500 for my uncle. Finally I also put up a DTV multiplus dish to replace my dish500. Now i get both D* and E* on one dish. Honestly, the DTV dish took the longest thing to fix. Then I bought a two-satellite signal meter and got full strength in under 2 min. Moral of this story: BUY A SIGNAL METER! Analog is good, but digital is better. You don't need a dual-satellite one, but atleast get a single-sat meter.

[abospaum]

I like doing it myself. Is that a real reason?

If installation is basically cheaper than doing it yourself then that is a good reason to have someone else do it.

If installation doesn't take up a couple of hours on a moving day when there are a thousand other things to do, well, I guess that is a good reason to.

I could change the oil & filter in my car but I have a guy who will do it for $12.95 so why bother. When you look at the cost of 5 quarts of oil and a filter plus the time and aggravation involved which is a better deal.

Bookboy- If you are smart, get it done right for less than it would cost you to do it yourself. Also that way if you ever have a problem you have someone to call and fix it.

[Jacob S]

It depends on what all he has to buy in order to do the installation. It could cost more to do it yourself or to have someone else do it, either way.

[rowdymon]

I did it myself first because they didn't have the free install thing going on at that time. Even if they had the free install promotion, I would have done it myself because there are 3 other people in my house who get antsy without having their respective sports/news/cartoon channels. Third, I'm curious by nature and I have all the tools I need (I have a hardware store).

[Jacob S]

I also prefer doing my own satellite installs myself than have Dish come out. The least Dish should do is send an installation kit to make up for the free installation.