Dish it up!

It’s easier than you think to get your Dstv dish to start communicating with a satellite in orbit around Earth.

Using a wire coat hanger to get reception for your TV is a thing of the past

These days, satellite dishes are as commonplace in campsites as kids on tricycles. And just because you’re relaxing in the great outdoors doesn’t mean you don’t want to stay up to date with the news, your team or Masterchef. But do you need to be a boffin with a degree in electronic science to make it work? Not necessarily.

START AT THE BEGINNING

A basic portable satellite dish consists of a dish, a LNB (low-noise block downconverter), a 20 m cable, a shorter cable, a satellite finder with an earphone, a compass and screws, bolts and clamps to secure it. A set like this usually costs about R950 and you can get it at most outdoor shops – also at retailers like Ellies.

It’s really not that diffilcult to set up. The most important thing is to position the dish in such a way that it communicates with a satellite. “The satellite your dish is looking for, is 36 000 km from earth,” says Brendan Pontes from Ellies’ commercial sales division. “So it’s important to remember that a single centimetre can make a huge difference when you start looking for a signal.”

CHECK YOUR WATCH

The dish has three parts: The dish, the arm with the LNB signal receiver bracket, and the LNB itself. How you secure the LNB to the bracket is the most important part, says Brendan. “When the LNB is in the bracket, you’ll see degrees marked out on the round part. Imagine you’re looking at the face of a watch, then turn the LNB up to the point where the cable linking to it is more or less between 4:00 and 4:30. The reason for it being in this position, is to receive channels that get sent both horizontally and vertically. When the LNB is in

place, you screw it tight with its clamp.”

WHAT DO OTHER PEOPLE DO?

Brendon says a clever way to determine in which direction your dish should face is by looking at your neighbour’s dish.

“Use the direction of other dishes in the campsite or nearby houses as a starting point. Get your satellite finder and connect it with the shorter cable between the dish and the decoder. Put the earphones on. It will emit a beep-sound and when the dish ‘sees’ a satellite, you’ll hear the beep going up in frequency.”

Brendan says he usually stands where the dish should be and then holds it in front of him while he faces east. He then makes sure that there are no trees or other obstructions before slowly starting to move his torso from side to side while listening out for the beep-sound.

“If the frequency doesn’t change, I’ll tip my wrist slightly upward to lift the LNB receiver on the dish ever so sligthly. I then repeat the process until I lock on.

Then, I’ll put the dish down and fetch the pole or tripod on which it will be mounted before loosely attaching it to that.

“I’ll then turn it again until I get the signal, before I secure it firmly. A big mistake many people make is to first mount the dish and then look for the signal. The process should be the other way around.

“There are two things to consider when you mount your dish: how upright or flat it should be, and in which direction it should face. In the north of the country, it should be positioned flatter than along the coast and everywhere in SA it should face somewhere between east and southeast.”

BIGGER IS ( SORT OF) BETTER

In terms of the size of the dish, Brendan says that bigger is better, but that does not necessarily mean that a smaller one can’t do a proper job.

“The image quality on a camping dish can be as good as the one at home, but then again, a bigger dish does deliver better quality, because a bigger signal is reflected to the LNB receiver.

The main thing to remember though is that there shouldn’t be anything between the dish and outer space and that you should secure the dish firmly. If it’s going to sway in the wind, it will cause interruptions.

Even the slightlest movement in its position can mean the difference between a full signal and no signal at all.”

WHAT ABOUT HD?

These days, you can’t just remove your smart card from your decoder and pop it in another one to keep watching. Every Dstv decoder is now married to its smart card, which means you need to take along the whole lot when you go camping.

If you have a second decoder and tele- vision in your bedroom at home ( dual view), you should make sure that you take your primary decoder along.

The LNB receiver that comes with your basic set is a single one. If you have a Explora decoder or any of the new HD models and you want all its functions when you go camping, you need a smart LNB receiver.

A smart LNB costs about R570 and is the best way to ensure that your decoder works. But you don’t have to worry about being stuck with a lot of cables.

“You still only use just the one cable that you get with the portable set,” says Brendan. “Plug that cable in the A-port on the smart LNB receiver and then in the Lnb-port at the back of your decoder. Then your Explora will work just like at home.

“I would however recommend that you plug the dish into the Universal 1 port when you look for a signal, and then at the A port when you have acquired the signal. Some of the older decoders, like the HD PVR 2P, do work with the single LNB receiver, but you can’t record. To do that, you need a smart LNB.

“The mistake people often make is to plug the cable into the wrong port, especially at the back of the decoder. You must use the LNB’S in-port,” says Brendan.

go! Drive & Camp says Test it at home first to make sure that all the channels and functions work. Then you won’t have any trouble at the campsite. The more you do it, the easier it will get.