Sat TV

[davechefdoc]

Hi All,I hope this is not too stupid or many times asked/answered question. Is it possible to use my Sky + box in the caravan ?, if so, what else do i need equipment wise ? and can I just plug and play on my normal subscription or do I need to set something different with sky ?. Thanks.

 

[camel]

Can't see a reason why you cannot use your skybox, but you will need to run a coax cable from your sat box to a sat dish outside your caravan, the sat dish will need to be pointing 28.2 degres of south/south east good idea to buy a quality sat meter to do this, have fun,

 

[Grey13]

Old sky works easy. Bit more complex with SkyQ

 

[Raywood]

Trees can be a problem though so it is often better to ask which pitches are best when booking in.

 

[camel]

Following advice I was given on this site to invest in a decent sat finder which I did , I also use a sat finder compass as well but you can guarantee the Sat is always slightly more anti clockwise to find 28.2 for Freeview,

 

[Woodentop]

If the OP has an Android phone download Satellite Director (free) which will help with alignment. Just select Astra 28.2, in step 2 holding the screen horizontal find the satellite direction, then go to step three and holding the phone screen vertical and pointing in the direction found in step 2 move the phone until the circle is on the cross centre screen. This is the exact location of the satellite in the sky so you can see if there are any obstructions.

Get a 60cm ovoid dish rather than an oval Sky dish as they are easier to align. Get a lightweight tripod off eBay (Konig is a good make) and put the dish on it and some pegs to hold the legs so that it doesn't fall over in wind. The dish does not need to be high - it will work perfectly well at ground level if it has a clear sight of the sky where the satellite is located (and people/cars don't keep walking in front of it!) Suggest getting suitably sized wing nuts to replace the machine nuts on the u-bolts that hold the dish on the tripod. You will need (typically) 2x10mm ring spanners to adjust the elevation (tilt). Note that if the dish face is physically vertical it is actually 'looking' about 25deg upwards, not straight forward as you might expect. In the UK most dishes are near vertical; if you go to France say you will need to tip the dish upwards bit by bit the further south you go.

Note that subscription channels will work away from home but premium channels such as sport and movies may not as they require a landline connection - in theory at least!

 

[camel]

I have a sat finder and a compass on my phone but I find that sometimes they are way off giving correct readings, the sat finder I paid £60.00 for and now that I have worked out how to use it was well worth the money,

 

[Woodentop]

I have a sat finder and a compass on my phone but I find that sometimes they are way off giving correct readings, the sat finder I paid £60.00 for and now that I have worked out how to use it was well worth the money,

I think we are talking at cross purposes. Satellite Director is a free Android app. I suspect that the sat finder you have is more complex piece of kit - not a WS6908 by any chance? If so it is a brilliant piece of kit for tweaking the alignment but does not respond quickly enough for basic azimuth. and elevation. A small simple device that fits in series with the LNB on the dish is a good start. They often come round at Aldi or Lidl for a fiver or so. Use it to find the sat, peak it as best possible, then use the more comprehensive instrument to get it spot on.

 

[camel]

Thats what I have on my phone a free sat director app,
sat finder meter I have is the Primesat SF 500,

 

[davechefdoc]

Thanks for all the advice/info, muchly appreciated.