← Satellite Pointer

Astra 28.2°E dish alignment

The UK and Ireland slot, carrying Sky, Freesat and the BBC and ITV channels. Its spot beam is tight, so reception outside the British Isles needs a noticeably larger dish.

Point a dish at Astra 28.2°E now →

Where to aim from your city

Azimuth is the compass bearing measured clockwise from true north, elevation is the angle above the horizon, and skew is the LNB rotation in degrees clockwise seen from behind the dish. Values are for Astra 28.2°E at 28.2°E.

Not on the list? The pointing tool works these out for your exact coordinates and then guides the dish onto them with your phone's compass and tilt sensors.

Setting the dish

1. Set the skew on the ground, before the dish goes up — rotating the LNB afterwards is awkward and easy to get wrong.
2. Set the elevation against the mounting tube. Remember that an offset dish points roughly 20 to 25 degrees higher than its face is tilted, so the tube angle is smaller than the elevation in the table.
3. Sweep the azimuth slowly, a couple of degrees at a time, pausing a few seconds for the receiver to lock.

Take the compass bearing a few metres away from the dish. The reflector and mount deflect a phone's magnetometer by ten to twenty degrees at close range, while the tilt sensor is unaffected.

Dish size and elevation

Elevations here run between roughly 20° and 26°, low enough that a hedge or a neighbouring roof can block the path entirely. Check the sight line before drilling.