How would I go about aligning my satellite dish if I know the Azimuth level, elevation angle, and skew angle?

Question

I want to realign my satellite dish on my roof to aim at EchoStar 7, I have all the angles and such but how do I go about doing it? Do I need a wrench or something? And how will I know what angle I'm pointing at? Does the dish have measurements on it like a protractor?

Answer 1

The dish mount will have angles mounted on it, however you can't always go by those.  You can purchase an inexpensive inclinometer at Sears and other hardware stores.  You can use that to get a precise measurement of elevation.  Yes, there are nuts that lock it in place.

You can estimate azimuth from a hand held compass (make sure you are away from metal objects, they will cause error).

Then, you need some way to measure the signal strength.  They do make portable meters for this, however most Dish receivers I've seen have a meter built in, usually under the Installation menu.  Sweep the dish back an forth for the highest signal level, then peak the elevation.  Repeat both azimuth and elevation to make sure you are on peak signal.

That's (pretty much) how we do the big dishes.