Making the switch from cable to satellite may be daunting to those who are less acclimated with the process, but DirecTV installation is a fairly straightforward process once the dish is correctly positioned and pointed in the correct portion of the sky. With a friend to provide support, setting up your DirecTV system may prove only a moderately challenging process.
Instructions
1. Scout out the area where you plan to place your satellite dish. If there are obvious obstructions, such as trees, choose another area. Also, test out the surface of your dish mounting area. If it does not present a reasonably flat and secure mounting surface, move on to another prospective dish location.
2. Mount the dish once a suitable location has been chosen. Ensure that the base is flat against the mounting surface, and does not wobble. Additionally, check that the dish mast lies perpendicular to exactly level. Check for this along multiple points of the mast. Check your toolbox for or borrow a handheld level tool.
3. Hook the DirecTV receiver up to your television, and then switch the receiver and television on. Bring up the signal meter screen on the television by navigating the receiver menu. Station a friend by the signal meter screen as you prepare to point the dish outside to the correct area of the sky.
4. Run the line from the receiver to the dish, per the manual instructions. Do not put a splitter on the wire, as this will diminish the signal. Thus, make sure the line can be directly run to and from the dish.
5. Use the azimuth and elevation settings to point the DirecTV dish in the right area of the sky. Peruse the manual to find the basic settings for azimuth (left, right movement of the dish) and elevation (up, down movement), and reflect these settings by using the tick mark on the dish that corresponds to your elevation number. Further, you will have to fine tune the elevation of the dish after this adjustment. To do this, loosen the nuts securing the elevation bolts and then gradually change the elevation of the dish every five to 10 seconds. Have your friend report back from the signal meter screen as you are getting closer to hitting the "sweet spot" in the sky.
6. Establish the azimuth setting by repeating the elevation process from above, and by loosening the nuts on the LNB arm of the dish. Keep having a friend check the signal meter screen and make left to right movements every five to 10 seconds. Once the meter reading is at least above 50 (and ideally between 70 and 80), the positioning of your dish is complete.
Tags: meter screen, signal meter, signal meter screen, elevation dish, every five, every five seconds, five seconds
