Aiming Satellite SWiM dish

[Thunderbolt]

How hard is it to aim the dish and what kind of apps are you all using? Going to the SWM technology so I have only one wire to deal with. May install a second set of wiring to allow us to continue to use the older automatic dish we have.

 

[cookie]

I got an oval dish from someone for $25 then I bought the good tripod combo package from tv4rv.com.
I follow their instructions for setting up the dish. I use the dish aiming part of the DTV menu. I don't use a meter but listen for the beeping or my wife using the signal strength part of the menu.
Always works for me and have been doing it that way for 10 years plus.

Peace
Dave

 

[mlpeloquin]

Made my own stand from PVC pipe that stood a foot off the ground and was very stable. It was easy to setup and take down. I store it in a very small plastic container and use a BirDog satellite meter. There are others that work very well. I also use "Dish Align" app that gives a good angle to start with. It will show trees and buildings etc.. I point the antenna in the general direction and swing it slowly up and down, left to right and nail it quickly. I now have an SOB with a WinGuard on the roof and a portable in case the roof mount will have trees in the way. They came with the rig.

 

[Gaffer]

Depends on your receiver. If you have the older one where the DVR can only record 2 channels at a time, an inexpenseve meter will work for signal strength. I use dishpointer.com to get the elevation, azimuth and skew. This web site can show you a sattelit view of you site for a visual direction of where you need to point the dish. Adjust the dish to elevation, skew and place on the tripod making sure that the riser is straight up and down. I use a magnetic fence post level for that. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-7-3-8-in-Multi-Position-Magnetic-Post-Level-340-08H/100324529 Use a compass for the azimuth. I place a broom handle on the ground in front of the tripod aimed in the correct direction and site the LNB arm along the broom handle for a starting point for the azimuth. Connect the meter and adjust for peak tone. The meter makes the job so much easier than trying to see or hear your TV screen or trying to have someone relay that information to you. I will usually make the elevation and skew (if needed) adjustments prior to leaving home to save time.
I have a Winegard Travler on my new coach so don't even usually carry the tripod and dish with me anymore.

 

[RickL]

I look up the coordinates then compare to my previous location so I can adjust the angle to approximately the correct one. Then I setup my iPad and point it at the TV screen and FaceTime my phone. Usually it takes less then 5 minutes to capture the best signal strength possible (most of the time 96-99% range).

 

[SNOKING]

In the Satellite setup menu in settings it asks for zip code of your location, and then provides aiming settings. Set up your mount with the mount pipe perfectly vertical. Set the elevation and tilt/skew of the slimeline dish. Now you only have to swing the dish slowly around the azimuth(compass direction) until you get the strongest signal on sat 101, then 99ca and 103ca (west coast).

https://manuals.solidsignal.com/slimline_dish_installation_manual.pdf