You can align a satellite dish without a meter by using the signal screen your decoder or receiver already has. A meter only tells you faster when the dish is pointing at the satellite. The TV can tell you the same thing, as long as you move the dish slowly and have someone watching the screen.
This works for DStv, DirecTV, Dish Network, Sky, Freesat and free to air dishes. You need three numbers for your location, a few basic tools and about an hour.
What You Need to Align a Satellite Dish Without a Meter
- Your phone, with a free compass app and a free satellite finder app.
- Spanners or an adjustable wrench that fit the dish bolts.
- A spirit level to check the pole.
- Someone to watch the TV. If you work alone, carry a small TV and the decoder outside to the dish.
- Tape or a marker pen to mark where the dish sits now, before you move it.
- A safe ladder and dry weather. Never climb in wind or rain.
Step 1: Get Your Three Numbers
Before you touch the dish, find your azimuth, elevation and skew. Azimuth is the compass direction to the satellite. Elevation is how high the dish tilts up. Skew is how far you twist the LNB, the small part at the end of the arm.
Satellite finder sites and apps, such as DishPointer, give all three once you enter your address and choose your satellite. Each service has its own:
- DStv in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and most of Africa: the Eutelsat satellites at 36 degrees East.
- DStv in South Africa and some neighbouring countries: Intelsat 20 at 68.5 degrees East.
- DirecTV: the main slots at 101, 99 and 103 degrees West. DirecTV’s own Dish Pointer tool gives the numbers for your zip code.
- Dish Network: slots such as 110, 119 and 129 degrees West, depending on your area and package.
- Sky and Freesat in the UK: the Astra 2 satellites at 28.2 degrees East.
For DStv, our guide to DStv signal strength and dish angles lists the direction and tilt for major cities in Nigeria and South Africa, so you may not need an app at all.
On DirecTV or Dish Network, your receiver and your zip code can give you the numbers directly. Our guide on finding your satellite position for DirecTV and Dish Network shows where to look.
Step 2: Check the Satellite Dish Pole Is Upright
Hold a spirit level against the pole on two sides, front and side. If the pole leans, fix it first, because every angle you set afterwards will be wrong by the same amount.
This is the step most people skip. Then they spend an hour turning the dish and never find the signal. A pole can look straight from one side and lean from another, so check both.
Step 3: Mark the Dish and Loosen the Bolts
If the dish worked before and has only moved a little, mark its current position on the bracket and pole with a pen or tape. That gives you a starting point to return to.
Next, loosen the side bolts and the tilt bolts just enough to move the dish by hand with some resistance. A dish that swings freely is hard to control, and you will overshoot the signal.
Step 4: Set the Elevation
Set the tilt using the angle scale printed on the back of the dish bracket. Line the scale up with your elevation number, then snug the bolts so the dish holds that angle.
Be careful with phone inclinometer apps. Most home dishes are offset dishes, which means the face points lower than the direction the dish actually receives from. If you lay a phone flat on the face, the reading will be out by the dish’s offset angle, often 15 to 25 degrees. Use the bracket scale when it has one, or check the offset for your dish model and add it to the face reading.
Step 5: Set the Direction
Stand a few metres behind the dish, away from metal, and find your azimuth on the phone compass. Pick a tree, roof or pole far away on that bearing, then turn the dish to face it.
One detail ruins many attempts to align a satellite dish without a meter. Finder apps usually give the direction from true north, while a phone compass may show magnetic north. The gap is called magnetic declination.
- Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya: the gap is small, about 2 degrees or less.
- South Africa: it is large, roughly 19 to 26 degrees west. Johannesburg is about 19 degrees and Cape Town about 25.
- The United States: it can be more than 15 degrees, east or west, depending on the state.
Turn on “true north” in your compass app settings if it has the option. Otherwise, correct the bearing yourself. The NOAA calculator linked at the end gives the exact figure for your town.
Step 6: Set the LNB Skew
Loosen the LNB clamp and twist the LNB to the skew value from your finder app. Most LNBs have a small scale marked on them. Leave the clamp just tight enough to hold, because you will fine tune it last.
Skew changes the signal quality more than the strength. So if you later see good strength but poor quality, the skew is the first thing to check.
Step 7: Fine Tune the Satellite Dish Without a Meter
This step is how you align a satellite dish without a meter. Your helper opens the signal screen on the decoder and calls out the quality reading, while you move the dish in very small steps.
To open the signal screen:
- DStv: press the i or Help button on the remote, or find the signal or installation screen in the settings menu.
- DirecTV: Settings and Help, then Satellite, then View Signal Strength.
- Dish Network: the Point Dish screen, or Settings, then Diagnostics.
- Sky, Freesat and free to air receivers: the signal test or signal strength option in the settings or installation menu.
Now work in this order:
- Turn the dish slowly left and right, a few millimetres at a time.
- Pause for two or three seconds after each move. The screen updates slowly, much more slowly than a meter.
- When the quality reading appears and starts to climb, keep going until it begins to drop. Then come back to the highest point.
- Tighten the side bolts. Next, adjust the tilt up and down the same way, and tighten those bolts.
- Finally, twist the LNB a little each way to gain a few more points of quality.
- Check the reading once more after everything is tight, because tightening can nudge the dish.
If you see nothing at all after a full slow sweep, raise or lower the tilt by one or two degrees and sweep again. The signal window is narrow, so it is easy to pass above or below it.
What a good reading looks like
Watch the quality figure, not just the strength. A dish can show strong signal but poor quality when it picks up the wrong satellite or the skew is off. As a rough guide, aim for at least 60 percent quality. Anything above 70 gives you a buffer for heavy rain.
If You Still Cannot Align the Satellite Dish
When careful satellite dish alignment still gives no signal, the dish is usually not the problem. Check the cable, the connectors, the LNB and the receiver settings next.
- No signal anywhere in the sweep: check the cable and the F connectors at both ends. Water in the LNB connector is the most common cause.
- Strength but no quality: the skew is off, the dish has found a different satellite, or the LNB is failing. Our guide on how to fix an LNB covers testing it.
- DStv shows E48-32: see our E48-32 no signal guide.
- DStv finds a signal but no channels: the satellite setting in the installation wizard may be wrong. Our guide to fixing DStv not scanning lists the right settings for each region.
- Something blocks the view: a tree, a new building or a water tank on the bearing blocks the signal. No amount of aiming fixes that, so the dish has to move.
You can align a satellite dish without a meter every time, but a cheap finder meter makes it faster. Our guide on using a satellite finder meter shows how.
Keep the Satellite Dish Aligned Without Calling a Technician
Wind is the main reason dishes drift, so firm bolts matter more than anything else. Use stainless steel bolts near the coast, where ordinary ones rust and loosen. Wrap the LNB connector in self amalgamating tape to keep rain out.
Write down your final azimuth, elevation and skew, or take a photo of the bracket scale. Then you can align the satellite dish again without a meter in minutes. The next time a storm knocks the dish, you can go straight back to those numbers. Also check the dish after any big storm, and every six months or so.
Setting up a dish from the start rather than realigning one? Our step by step guide to installing a DStv dish covers the pole, the cable and the decoder too.
Common Questions
Can I align a satellite dish without a meter?
Yes. The signal screen on your decoder or receiver does the same job as a meter. It reacts more slowly, so move the dish in small steps and wait a few seconds after each move.
Which direction should a DStv dish face?
In Nigeria, Ghana and most of West Africa, it faces east, a little south. A South African dish faces northeast. For Kenya and nearby countries, the satellite is almost overhead, so the dish points steeply upwards. A finder app or our DStv dish angles guide gives the exact bearing for your city.
How long does it take to align a satellite dish?
Usually 30 minutes to an hour with a helper. It takes longer the first time, or if the pole needs fixing.
Patience Beats Equipment
Most people who fail to align a satellite dish without a meter move it too fast or skip the pole check. Get your numbers, correct for magnetic declination, set the tilt from the bracket scale, and sweep slowly while someone watches the quality reading. The dish will find the satellite.
To check the declination for your exact location before you set the direction, use the free NOAA magnetic declination calculator.
Frenzy valentine is a passionate blogger, developer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and author of myfreshgists.com.