Help with satellite dish - freesat

Hencore · 22 Mar 2011 at 20:10

Hey guys,

I've moved into a house which has digital aerial but it also has a dish on the wall outside.

I was hoping I could pick up freesat on my media centre (tv card is blackgold 3540) but media centre can't find any signal. I know the card works because the flat that I moved from had, what must have been a communal dish, and I had no problem picking up freesat.

I know nothing about satellite dishes and I'm not sure what I should be checking to get it working. The dish is about 7 foot high on the wall just to the side of the patio doors, and like I said it just has one line that comes down and through the wall and I've plugged it straight into the tv card.

Any help?

Fr0dders · 22 Mar 2011 at 22:20

sounds as though somebody cut something when they left.

It should be just a straight forward job if the satellite dish is working. Best to either A) get a set of ladders and go up there yourself and have a check of the dish, all the cables etc..

or B) get a local aerial bloke out who specialises in freesat.

SparkyG · 23 Mar 2011 at 22:00

You will need to make sure the sat dish is pointing in the right direction. Have a look around the neighbourhood to see where others peoples dishes are pointing

Hencore · 23 Mar 2011 at 22:13

Took some quick pics but I don't know if they show anything. It does seem to be pointing in roughly the same direction as next doors.

There's only one cable, does the dish not need some sort of power? Or does the tv card power it? You guys know anything that would allow me to test the satellite in some way?

Fr0dders · 24 Mar 2011 at 06:49

They don't need power no. Just an output from the LNB to the box the same way an aerial does.

If you go to a popular high street electronics store that is also classed as a competitor, you can get a Professional Cable Tester for £19.99 that should do the trick.

Although if there is no signal, you'll probably still need to get somebody out to look at it.

lucid · 24 Mar 2011 at 08:24

There's a simple solution to this....

With your neighbours permission, hook up your cable to their satellite dish as a test. If you get a signal then you know your LNB is goosed (the bit wot the wire plugs in to on the dish) . If not, then it's either the cable or your card or some settings that aren't right.

No one so far has mentioned the cable - and specifically the plug end at the receiver/PC. It's worth checking that there are no stray hairs shorting from the shielding on to the core. This is the most common fault with DIY installs.