If you are a television fan, you will almost certainly be familiar with satellite dishes. A lot of TV service providers offer satellite dishes and receivers as part of their paid packages.
Often, the satellite dish will be installed and set up by a professional and television channels and services are provided on a contract basis.
But with the proper equipment and a little knowledge, satellite dishes can be used to pick up hundreds of channels from across the globe, legally and for free.
To achieve this, two essential bits equipment are required – a satellite antenna and a satellite receiver. There are a few different varieties of satellite antennas available for purchase, so you will have to determine which one best suits your requirements.
Basic – The most basic type of satellite antenna. These can be mounted on a wall or pole and aimed towards one satellite, so all adjustments must be done manually.
Multi-satellite – These are a more costly type of satellite antenna, but they can receive signals from numerous satellites without adjusting the antenna.
Motor-driven – These pole-mounted satellite antennas can be aimed towards any satellite position using a remote control, allowing easy access to countless channels. These are pricey, but popular among enthusiasts.
Satellite dishes are cheap both to buy and install. A cheap satellite system including dish, receiver and a remote can be purchased for around $150. A low-cost motor-driven system should cost about $350. Installation costs for these systems should be in the region of $150.
Top-of-the-range satellite dishes with all the features can cost thousands of dollars, with set-up costs running to hundreds of dollars. However, you can offset some of the expense by installing the system yourself. There are many guides and dedicated websites on the internet which, with the help of a satellite finder signal meter, will give all the advice you need to install and tune in your system to receive the free stations of your choice.
Before you splash out on a satellite dish you should do your homework. Find out what free-to-air channels are available, which satellites transmit them and decide on the ones that you want. Again, all of this information is easily available on the internet. You can then buy your satellite antenna based on these preferences.
The beauty of owning a quality satellite dish is that you can enjoy the best of both worlds. You can receive the best in free-to-air television from around the world, and you can also pick from a large selection of subscription-based services that are available in the US.
So, if you wish to add an extra dimension to your television viewing, a satellite dish could be the way to go.
