Is it simple to fit a freeview Satellite dish etc.

[sandiaygo]

I live in a valley and have a lot of trees around my house. I can't get many channels on freeview so I still use analogue most of the time. Come April they are switching off analogue in my area so I will need a dish etc. to receive those channels and hopefully a whole lot more. Could anyone advise me which reasonably priced dish etc I should purchase bearing in mind that I will be fitting it myself (hopefully someone will give me a hand)

[Chris]

You can get a dish in B&Q, but personally I would steer clear of the bargain basement Ross set-top box they also sell. You should buy a Freesat-branded set top box (extensive advice and price comparisons are available at www.joinfreesat.co.uk ) and give yourself the option of using some of Freesat's extra features such as a full 7-day programme guide and the BBC iPlayer (also ITV player on some boxes).

As for installation, the most difficult part is aligning the dish which is far trickier than aligning a terrestrial aerial. Invest in an electronic satellite finder to use during your installation for minimum hassle.

Plenty of people have done DIY dish installations so there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do it. Just make sure the dish is firmly fixed to the wall, the cables are neatly cut and the f-connectors are properly fitted with no stray braid hanging out of the cable and waterproofed where they connect to the LNB with self-amalgamating tape.

[nodrogd]

Going with satellite is fine if you have an uninterrupted clear line of sight through the trees at the bearing and elevation required. To give some rough guidance, if you have a compass, the dish will need to point between 140 - 146 degrees depending where you are in the uk. The dish elevation above the horizon will need to be between 19 - 25 degrees.

[Kymmy]

www.dishpointer.com will give you the exact direction/elevation for any dish.. You need to just put in your location and if it's freesat or sky you need to select 28.2E for the sat.

[Taf]

Both Aldi and Lidl occasionally do very good Satelite sytems with 3 year guarantees.

[sandiaygo]

Thanks everybody for you help......when I find the next good deal I will give it a go!