Before knowing where to point your satellite dish, you should know some of important terms.
Satellite Dish - is a dish shaped antenna parabolic in shape with different sizes and diameter. Commonly used in home for Direct To Home reception of television channels mostly in the C-band. Below is an example of a satellite dish antenna with its part.
Image from: http://wiki.robotz.com/images/9/99/Satellitedishguide123.png
LNB – Known as Low-Noise Block mounted in a satellite dish used for satellite tv reception that is pointed in front of a reflector.
Latitude – is a geographical coordinate that refers to North to South direction on a point in the earth surface.
Longitude – is a geographical coordinate that is used together with latitude and refers to Direction East to West parallel to the equator.
Elevation – is the height above or below a reference point on the Earth surface
Azimuth – is the side to side direction of a satellite or perpendicularly from an observer
(Don't be confuse with Latitude and Elevation or Longitude with Azimuth. Latitude and Longitude are coordinates)
Image from: http://www.sat-sales.com/prodimages/dish_angle.gif
IRD – Known as Integrated Receiver Decoder that is used to pick up radio frequency signal and convert it to digital information. Commonly in use in receiving Direct To Home satellite television nowadays.
Now we know some important parameters about a satellite dish. How can we point it in a specific satellite correctly? Here are the steps.
- Go to http://www.dishpointer.com/ and enter your location. As an example I will input Clark, Pampanga and I will point it at 113E KOREASAT 5(MUGUNGWHA 5) PALAPA D to receive signal for my subscribed Dream Satellite IRD. If you are pointing to another satellite, just choose from the option the satellite name and location. The following parameters will appear for my example:
2. Go to your satellite dish and follow the parameters. Azimuth (true) is the exact azimuth from the input location. Since you are referring to a wider area, there is a margin of error, and that is the Azimuth (magn.) that you can see above. Asking help for a friend is better while you are adjusting the satellite to notify you of signal changes received in the IRD box. Other parameters of the IRD box can be found in www.lyngsat.com
If you have done these steps and still unable to receive signal, ask for the help of an Engineer or Technician.
