Which Satellite Dish

petunia100

Found a digital satellite receiver that I bought cheap at Lidls about a year ago. It's a SiverCrest SSR 576 A1. I thought I would try it to see if I could ditch Virgin Media. However I've no idea what satellite I would need to buy. Advice please.

Alter_ego

I use an old sky one, it works well.

macman

Dish size depends on your latitude and which satellites you are aiming at. In the UK, the further north you go, the larger dish you need, in theory, assuming you are aiming at the Astra satellite group.
There's lots more info on the satcure website if you want to get more tecchy.

petunia100

Thanks for your replies. Are all dishes the same apart from the size?Is there much point in getting one that moves?

zee_2

look at sky dish that is perforated , it is to stop wind movement,the liddl/aldi ect.dishes are solid and prone to strain and move when windy.try and buy a 2nd hand one ,paper / boot sale, usually £5 -£15, try and buy one with 4 connecters [2 for each room,you might want a tv in bedroom.
I use a HUMAX SAT.UNIT best buy ever with old sky dish, saved a fortune.

headpin

zee wrote: »

look at sky dish that is perforated , it is to stop wind movement,the liddl/aldi ect.dishes are solid and prone to strain and move when windy.try and buy a 2nd hand one ,paper / boot sale, usually £5 -£15, try and buy one with 4 connecters [2 for each room,you might want a tv in bedroom.
I use a HUMAX SAT.UNIT best buy ever with old sky dish, saved a fortune.

It's not the dish that has the connectors. It is the LNB. THE LNB is the trumpet shaped device at the end of the arm that extends in front of the dish. It is not part of the dish. The LNB usually will gave 1, 2, 4 or sometimes 8 cable connectors. This means the number of feeds you gave available to your receivers. For a normal Sky+ box (HD or otherwise) you use 2 connectors which allows you to watch one channel whilst recording another or record 2 whilst watching a previous recording. So if you have two Sky boxes you will use 4 of the connectors. Not sure how many there are on your Lidl box. But I would suggest you need an LNB with a minimum of 2 and better with at least 4.

If you put up yourself you will need a locator to make cute you point the dish the correct WSY and are receiving a good signal. The cables from the LNB should be looped down before running back down the arm. The cable joint joint should be sealed dish self amalgamating tape to stop rainwater getting in to the connection, a common cause of signal and picture loss.

The Satcure site is a good source of info and new parts.

macman

You only need a motorised dish if you want to be able to aim it at more than one satellite-so it depends entirely on what you want to watch.

System

Hi

As stated it is the installation that is the difficulty....

http://www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat/installation

Arranging a new dish installation

If you need to have a satellite dish installed there are two ways to arrange installation.

• Directly with the retailer when you buy your Freesat box or TV.
• Or by calling us on 0345 293 8230. We only work with approved installers who meet industry standards, so we'll be putting you in safe hands.

Standard Freesat installation starts from £80. A Freesat+ HD installation can cost around £30 extra because of the need for two cables from your satellite dish.

##################

So it is probably best to get a professional in.
Get some quotes and see how soon your costs can be recovered by ditching Virgin.

Avoriaz

petunia100 wrote: »

Found a digital satellite receiver that I bought cheap at Lidls about a year ago. It's a SiverCrest SSR 576 A1. I thought I would try it to see if I could ditch Virgin Media. However I've no idea what satellite I would need to buy. Advice please.

Satellites are very expensive things.

Fortunately satellite dishes are only a few tens of pounds. A Sky type dish is ideal for Sky and Freesat.

If you are anywhere near Chichester, West Sussex I have a spare Sky dish and quad LNB you can collect for a tenner. You will need to buy some cabling too.

Otherwise just buy one on eBay, Gumtree etc and fit it yourself if you can or get a local installer to fit one for you.

headpin

If you do do it yourself then use single cable not the shotgun type if using more than one connection. The shotgun (double) cable is notoriously unreliable.