advice on setting up sat dish for caravan

[amyyria]

:?
Hi, new to this forum and site, could anyone give me some good pointers, i have recently purchased a caravan, and want to set up a satellite dish mounted on a tripod through a sky box using a freesat card, i have in the past aligned my own dish at home using the cheap signal finder meters with no problems, is there anythin crucial i should known in doing this on a caravan site, using the small tripods you see advertised. i will obviously purchase a compass to give me 28.2 deg south, but this is my question , is it crucial to have the tripod dead upright and level (using a small bubble level) in all respects before aligning the dish, or is it not important. secondly would a 43 cm dish be sufficient, bearing in mind i only intend using it in UK. kindest regards Dave

[Jimdefruit]

:welc2: to the forum amyyria.

If you are just setting up for a single satellite position such a 28.2E then it is not so critical to get the mount perfect because all of the adjustment can be done on the dish mount.

However, if you intend to swing the dish around to pick up other satellites at any time then it must be plumb to follow the satellite arc. Unless of course you are prepared to spend time doing the adjustments every time you want a new satellite.

[robbo71]

Originally Posted by amyyria

:?
Hi, new to this forum and site, could anyone give me some good pointers, i have recently purchased a caravan, and want to set up a satellite dish mounted on a tripod through a sky box using a freesat card, i have in the past aligned my own dish at home using the cheap signal finder meters with no problems, is there anythin crucial i should known in doing this on a caravan site, using the small tripods you see advertised. i will obviously purchase a compass to give me 28.2 deg south, but this is my question , is it crucial to have the tripod dead upright and level (using a small bubble level) in all respects before aligning the dish, or is it not important. secondly would a 43 cm dish be sufficient, bearing in mind i only intend using it in UK. kindest regards Dave

Hi, Welcome to the forum,

Depending on where you were going in the UK, a minidish would be sufficient, as long as there was no obstructions the height of the dish from the ground is irrelevant.
If you wanted a bit more of a rain margin, then a slightly bigger dish say a 60cm would provide that.
Also, you may want to consider a dish with a folding LNB arm, I think Triax do them in 60cm. I have seen them on sat superstore.

No, it is not critical for the mount to be vertical at all, for a single satellite. However I would disagree with Jim slightly, regarding other sats, as the elevation of the dish would still need adjustment when swinging the dish round, even if the pole was vertical, because of the satellite arc.

Although I imagine that if you were taking the dish up and down a lot, it would be easier to get it vertical every time (because a spirit level is easy to use), because you could then possibly leave the dish elevation adjustment alone between setups.

Robbo

[amyyria]

thanks guys for the advice very useful dave

[Jimdefruit]

Robbo, I wasn't suggesting that the dish elevation would not need to be changed, only that swinging the dish around and only adjusting the elevation slightly would be simpler than starting from scratch each time.

[robbo71]

Originally Posted by Jimdefruit

Robbo, I wasn't suggesting that the dish elevation would not need to be changed, only that swinging the dish around and only adjusting the elevation slightly would be simpler than starting from scratch each time.

Ahh, yes , I agree with that

[madrat]

HI

As a fellow caravaner, I can suggest a dish in a suitcase. _http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?mainclassid=106&pctitle=Satellite%20Sy stems&classtype=A&doy=18m10&C=Maplin&U=TopClasses& T=Satellite%20Systems they have about the same performance as a mini dish and fold away nicely, If you don't want the receiver that comes with it look on ebay there are normally loads ther. Other wise Triax do a 56 cm folding dish _http://www.satellitesuperstore.co.uk/fixed-dishes.htm. I don't use a tripod I attach the dish to a pole that clamps onto the van, I would suggest carring some kind of weigh or tie downs to stop the dish blowing over if its windy. I don't recommend using a normal mini dish, the LNB arm is easily bent out of position.