Installing a European motorised satellite system
Note: These steps are generic; menu item locations may vary from
receiver to receiver but basically these are the common steps to follow.
Whilst the motor is not mounted on the pole set its elevation/latitude to your locations latitude [to get this information enter your postcode on www.multimap.com]. If the motor has only elevation markings set it to 90 minus your latitude. Fully tighten up as it will not have to be adjusted again.
Assemble the LNB arm onto the dish.
Whilst still off the pole attach the dish to the motor. Important: Ensure the dish is parallel to the motor mount; there should be a vertical line on the motor to align with the dish bracket. Fully tighten up as it will not have to be adjusted again.
Consult the motor manual to set the dish elevation angle. Only loosely tighten this because it may need to be adjusted as these scales are not always accurate.
Mount the whole assembly onto the pole and point as close as possible to South. Only loosely tighten this because it will need to be adjusted.
Mount the LNB onto the dish's LNB arm.
Wire the LNB to the motor, and wire the motor to the receivers location.
Connect to the receiver, and switch the receiver on.
Navigate to the 'Motorized' setup, select 'USALS' as motor type for all the satellites and enter the longitude and latitude for your location.
Navigate to the 'Motorized'/'Advanced' screen and view the signals for Thor (0.8W) transponder 11324H24500.
Manually adjust the dish to get the best signal by only moving the motor around the pole and adjusting the elevation angle of the dish. Do not move anything else. When you have a good signal (Level: 90+, Quality: 70+) fully tighten everything.
It is advisable to view the signal strengths for the satellites at 28.2E and 30W, to ensure the arc is correct. The list below will help you. If either of these satellites have poor signals you will need to re-adjust the dish as the previous two steps.
If you have a channels listing for your receiver, you can upload it now; this is invariably done by connecting the receiver to a PC via a serial or USB cable.
If you do not have a channels listing for your receiver, you will need to scan for channels via either a blind search or scanning each satellite individually. You will need to delete unwanted channels after scanning each satellite otherwise the receiver's memory will fill up.
Once the channels are stored and sorted it is advisable to use the PC link to save the channels list in case something untoward happens.
Give the dish a wipe to remove grime etc.
Grease any exposed moving parts.
Grease all bolts to prevent corrosion.
Check the LNB and Cable connections are waterproof; use self amalgamating tape if needed.
Check the cable, including any junction connectors, for any damage, cuts or nicks etc.
The following table lists the strongest transponders and minimum dish size for most satellites [updated: Nov 2007]:
| Satellite Name | Position | Min. Dish | Best Transponder | Channel Name |
| Intelsat-12 | 45e | 80cm | 11500V4340 | Racing int |
| Turksat 1C-2A | 42e | 90cm | 11804V24400 | CNN turk |
| Express-AM-1 | 40e | 100cm | 11098H4000 | Uzbekistan tv |
| Hellasat-2 | 39e | 60cm | 12524H30000 | The Voice |
| Eutelsat Sesat | 36e | 100cm | 12546H2734 | Medi 1 Sat |
| Eurobird-3 | 33e | 100cm | 11165V1666 | Rete Oro |
| Eurobird-1 | 28.5e | 45cm | 12560H27500 | France 24 Eng |
| Astra-2A-B-D & Eurobird-1 | 28.2e | 45cm | 10773H22000 | BBC-1 |
| Badr-3-4 | 26e | 120cm | 12660H2220 | Al Iraqiya TV |
| Astra-1D-3A | 23.5e | 90cm | 11914H27500 | TV Noord |
| Eutelsat-W-6 | 21.6e | 150cm | 11531V2857 | Al Rai |
| Astra-1-E-F-G-H-KR-2C | 19.2e | 50cm | 12480V27500 | DSF |
| Eutelsat-W-2 | 16e | 100cm | 10957H2821 | Alsat RTV |
| Hotbird-6-7A-8 | 13e | 50cm | 12597V27500 | BBC World |
| Eutelsat-W1 | 10e | 120cm | 11126H4340 | Aljazeera News English |
| Eurobird-9 | 9e | 80cm | 11785H27500 | CCTV 4 |
| Eutelsat-W3A | 7e | 80cm | 10899V9404 | Luxe TV SD |
| Sirius-3 | 5e | 120cm | 12679V13333 | Money Channel |
| Thor-2 | 0.8w | 80cm | 11325H24500 | BBC World |
| Intelsat-10-02 | 1w | 80cm | 12687V27500 | CT24 |
| Amos-2 | 4w | 100cm | 10722H27500 | K1 |
| AtlanticBird-3 | 5w | 60cm | 10978V1953 | Kapital Network |
| Nilesat-101-102 | 7w | 150cm | 11862V27500 | City 7 TV |
| AtlanticBird-2 | 8w | 60cm | 11093H10000 | Rotana Europe |
| Express A-3 | 11w | 150cm | 11516V7596 | RTRS New |
| AtlanticBird-1 | 12.5w | 80cm | 11133H3255 | BHT-1 |
| Telstar-12 | 15w | 80cm | 11525H1500 | Dad-2 |
| Intelsat-901 | 18w | 80cm | 11057H1948 | Telereportersud |
| NSS-7 | 22w | 100cm | 12735H16640 | Algeria 3 |
| Intelsat-905 | 24.5w | 80cm | 11675V27500 | NTA |
| Intelsat-907 | 27.5w | 80cm | 11517V5632 | NBA TV |
| Hispasat 1C & 1D | 30w | 80cm | 11932H27500 | RTPA International |
| Intelsat 801 | 31.5w | 100cm | 11493V6666 | Galaxia TV |