Satellite TV in an A'liner

Satellite TV in an A'liner

For Subscribers of Austar Satellite Pay TV, the following information may be of assistance to you, if you wish to take advantage of having Satellite TV whilst camping. When Therese and I travel with our A’liner, we like the option of being able to watch both "free to air" Television as well as utilizing Austar Satellite Pay TV. To enable us to do this, apart from carrying a "free to air" Explorer brand aerial, we also take along our Austar Satellite Dish and our Austar Pay TV Decoder Box from home. Satellite Dishes can be purchased through any Satellite TV Installer. As we have the A’liner Explorer with the front boot, the Satellite Dish fits nicely in that area for storage when not in use. When we get to our location, and after the short time it takes to erect our A’liner and Annex, I then set up the Satellite Dish. The actual set up of the Satellite Dish can sometimes be very time consuming, as there are a few steps involved in the positioning of the Satellite Dish.

The Satellite Dish needs to be aimed at the Satellite, which means lining up the Satellite Dish with both the correct Direction and Elevation. There has to be CLEAR line of sight and no obstructions like trees. Any obstruction will interfere with receiving a clear signal. The Satellite is situated around the Equator and approx. 23,000 miles from the Earth, so it only takes a very small error with the Direction and Elevation of the Dish to stop you receiving a signal.

FIRSTLY, I mount the Satellite Dish to an aluminium pole, which is then placed into a bracket on the hitch frame. Any location will suffice, but it has to be secure with good line of sight.

SECONDLY, once the Satellite Dish is in place, I then use a compass to face the Dish in a direction of a few degrees left of North, and then alter the Elevation to approximately 60 degrees.

THIRDLY, I then connect the cable to the dish via the attached LNB (Low Noise Block Down Converter), with the other end connected to the Austar Decoder Box. (The LNB receives the reflected signal from the Dish surface, and then sends the signal to the Decoder Box.)

FINALLY, once the Television Set has been connected to the Decoder Box, I then switch both devices on, and use the Satellite Detection Signal in the Decoder Box to carry out the "Final Fine Tuning" of the Dish. This is the MOST frustrating time, as it can take quite a long time to get this right. This is just trial and error, making very minute adjustments. Getting the proper signal strength involves changing the Vertical Elevation of the Satellite Dish and also turning the LNB.

You need to strive for a signal strength of over 90 to ensure good reception. This is important if you utilize any sort of through the wall antenna connection, as this reduces the Signal strength. If you are just connecting the cable straight to the decoder you can get away with a signal strength of 70. Every change of camping location will involve setting different settings on your Satellite Dish each time. It is definitely NOT a set and forget Direction/Elevation situation. If you utilize the Austar Satellite Dish there will be areas in Australia where the dish will NOT work. e.g. Areas where different size Austar Satellite Dishes are used, and areas where Austar have NO Signal. The effort is worth it, as you can then receive PERFECT Satellite Pay TV Reception, with the normal multitude of Channels to choose from.

Ian Goodwin

UPDATE 16/1/03

Hi
I have Austar and unsuccessfully tried to go mobile. So I returned the dish to my roof but have done something wrong. My decoder box no longer gets info on its boot up. eg. sig strength channels found etc. MY mistake was to go to factory defaults I think. Do you have any clues to assist me. It would be much appreciated

Terri

Ian here.

Re the enquiry you forwarded to me about the gentleman who cannot get his Austar to work at home.

He says that he cannot get any signal strength etc........ this would indicate that he has not connected the cable to the satellite dish correctly and/or has not connected the cable to the decoder box correctly.

There is only one place that it can be connected to the decoder box and the same is true for the satellite dish. Suggest he checks both those to begin with.

Does he see anything on his television set?

If not, he needs to re-tune that into the correct channel for Austar.

The only other thing is, that he has not set the Satellite Dish in the correct direction.

If the Satellite Dish is pointing in the wrong direction, he will not receive any signal.

I would assume that he would have taken measurements (direction, elevation and LNB polarization settings) BEFORE he took the Satellite Dish from his roof.

Failing this, he needs to contact Austar and get a technican out to fix it up.

Because he has tampered with the Equipment that Austar have installed at his premises. Austar MAY charge a Service Fee.

In future, it would be better for him to utilize a "secondary" Satellite Dish to use for the mobile applications away from home. These can be purchased through a Satellite TV Installer.

EXTREME care would have to be taken to ensure that the Decoder Box is not damaged. Should any damage or theft occur to the Decoder Box in a "mobile" situation, I would envisage that the cost of repair and/or replacement would have to be paid for by the Customer.

Austar own the equipment, so the Customer would have to be extremely careful to safeguard the Austar property from theft or damage.

I am not an expert in the setting up of the Decoder Box, so I am not sure what happens when you return to "Factory Defaults".

I hope this helps. It is a complicated area and without knowing the full facts, it is hard to work out a solution.

Regards

Ian Goodwin

Hi

Thank you for your prompt reply, I found out my decoder box was faulty and Austar will replace free. Thank you again.

Terri