Satellite Stuff
I can't claim to be any kind of expert but I've been 'messing around' with satellite TV since around 1990. Obviously, in those days, all transmissions were still in analogue, in the UK, SKY and BSB were still seperate companies and you could identify the BSB customers by the 'Squarial' on their house.
My first foray into satellite was with an NEC 3022 receiver and a 60cm fixed dish.
Several months later, I purchased the matching NEC 3023 positioner and upgraded to an 80cm motorised dish.
After a few years, as the available frequencies increased, my old box couldn't cover the range and it was retired.
After that I had Sky for a year or so, then United Artists arrived in our street with cable TV and Mr Murdoch's service got the heave-ho. In 2000, I decided to go back to satellite and, after searching around locally for a while without much success, found a company in the North-East of England who could supply what I wanted. When asked, they recommended a combined receiver / positioner from Strong.
Strong 4375 Receiver / Positioner
This was matched to a 1.2 metre Channel Master dish driven by a Jaeger 1224 Supermount 36v motor (shown below) which is mounted on a South facing wall.
The installation and cabling took me about a week to complete as I had to run the two cables required (co-ax for the signal and a 4-core cable for the 36v motor control) all the way from the rear to the front of the house. Routing 25 - 30 metres of cable through the very restricted loft space above the kitchen wasn't much fun ! Finally getting the correct angles set up on the dish took a fair bit of head-scratching and another couple of days.
As can be seen, the mount pole for the dish is secured to the (sandstone) wall with three stand-off brackets. Two of these have 2 legs, the bottom one has 3 legs and there are 2 securing bolts to each of the legs. Special fixings for use in sandstone walls were used as normal 'Rawlbolt' fixtures tend to split the soft stone, either immediately on installation or when the first frost arrives.
This set-up gives me an arc from Hispasat at 30° West to Hotbird / Astra 2 at 28° East.
A couple of years later, I decided to upgrade the Strong receiver and opted for a Technomate TM-5000 which was a Digital and Analogue receiver/positioner with 2 Common Interface slots.
At the beginning of 2009, I decided that my new High Definition TV needed a matching HD satellite receiver and, liking the brand, again opted for Technomate.
Unfortunately, there is no built-in positioner on this one, the Technomate TM-6900HD Combo, so I had to add a Technomate V-Box positioner to the set-up. However, once the satellites are located, everything works with the receiver remote thereafter and you don't need to touch the V-Box or its remote control again unless the satellite positions have to be re-set.
Technomate TM-6900HD Combo
Since my return to satellite TV in 2000, I've only dealt with one supplier for my equipment, Satellite Superstore of Tyne and Wear. I have no connection with the company except as a very satisfied customer but would highly recommend them. I've always found them prepared to offer advice on equipment prior to purchase, advise on installation and help with any operation problems which may arise later. The tech-help staff at Technomate also deserve a mention for 'assistance rendered'.
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