Is your TV picture noisy? Then you may have misaligned your satellite dish. TECHBOOK explains how you can easily remedy the situation.
Although terrestrial television experienced its second spring with the introduction of DVB-T2 HD in Germany: the majority still prefer to watch television via the satellite dish. According to Statista, this is still between 45 and 50 percent of households that receive television.
The advantages are obvious: Apart from the dish and a receiver, the costs are low and the selection of satellite TV programs is large. Annoying, however: If the satellite system is not set up or aligned correctly on the roof, there are always problems with the reception. TECHBOOK shows you how to properly align your dish.
Mount the satellite dish
You can decide whether to mount the bowl on the wall of the house or on the roof. If you have your own house, there shouldn’t be any problems with it – but if you live in an apartment, you have to ask the landlord beforehand. If the dish is to hang on the wall of the house, you should make sure that there are no trees or the walls of the neighboring houses in the way – this is one of the most common sources of signal interference.
You should only build the bowl on the roof if there is really no suitable place on the house wall. Not only is assembly dangerous, you also have to climb onto the roof for adjustment or cleaning every time.
Align the satellite dish
The most expensive satellite dish is of no use if it is not aligned correctly – otherwise the picture will be noisy and there will be interference again and again. The big question when it comes to alignment is: which way should the dish be pointed in order to receive the signal from the satellites whirring in space?
Most households in Germany align their dishes to the satellites at the Astra 19.2 degrees East position – in addition to public service broadcasters, they also transmit many private broadcasters, Sky and foreign programs. But where is 19.2 degrees East anyway? First of all, it makes sense to align the bowl roughly to the south. If you’re not sure: A compass will help – or a compass app, which is usually free for Android and iOS are.
Here is an overview of the satellites that can be received in Europe:
Astra 1 19.2° East: public broadcasters and private programs from Germany.
Astra 2 28.2° East: British and Irish channels like the BBC as well as Austrian, Slovak and Czech channels.
Eutelsat satellite system Hot Bird 1-6 13° East: public broadcasters and private programs from Germany as well as broadcasters from France, Poland and Italy.
Turksat 1C 42° East: Turkish programs (analogue and digital)
Then it’s time for fine-tuning: If you have a TV and the satellite receiver nearby, you can look it up directly on the screen – the receiver usually has a menu item that indicates in numbers or bars how good the signal quality is (this metric is more important than signal strength). If the picture is bad, turn the dish to the left towards the east very slowly until the signal is good. Caution: The receiver shows the changes a little late. If the picture doesn’t really improve, change the angle of inclination and slowly move the bowl up or down.
If the dish is aligned correctly, you only need to start an automatic channel search in the receiver – and you should already have a wealth of programs available.
The alternatives to the satellite dish
flat antenna
If you don’t want to place satellite dishes on your house wall or on the roof, you can access numerous alternatives. On the one hand, there are of course more inconspicuous satellite systems that fit better into the environment and still offer the advantages of a satellite dish, such as the so-called flat antenna. This antenna is usually much smaller than a satellite dish and box-shaped. Unlike its larger, plate-shaped sibling, the antenna can easily be installed on the balcony and the camouflage options are diverse due to its angular shape.
satellite antenna
The satellite antenna has the advantage that it can also be set up indoors. The prerequisite, however, is that the window glass does not insulate the signal. When aligning, the same applies as for the satellite dish: always to the south.
IPTV
IPTV stands for “Internet Protocol Television”, which means that the stations are transmitted over the Internet. It is the most modern way of receiving television.
Also interesting: How repeaters make your WLAN faster
antenna television
For those who find the alignment of the dish too awkward – since 2016 it has also been possible to receive HD television via a normal indoor antenna. But there are a few things to consider here too: HD channels cost an extra monthly fee, and you also need new devices such as receivers. In this article, TECHBOOK explains what you need for the transition.