Sky Technical Info
When you subscribe to Sky, an installer usually comes round to set everything up. However, if you do get the opportunity to set it up yourself, then there are some basic details you need to know about.
Equipment
The equipment needed to receive Sky includes a special digital satellite receiver (Sky Digibox) and a satellite dish (Minidish), which are designed specifically to receive the Sky transmissions. The dish size is an oval shaped dish with dimensions of about 40cm top to bottom and 50cm left to right. The dish size requirements are to be a bit larger in Scotland. For many services you also require a subscription and a phone line connection.
Coverage
Technically, Sky is available to the whole of the UK and Ireland but may be restricted in several circumstances. This could be due to failing to acquire planning permission for placing a satellite dish on an outside wall if the accommodation is rented or in an area considered to be of outstanding beauty where satellite dishes are not allowed. Another restriction could be due to obstructions in achieving a line of sight to the satellite. Trees, large buildings or hills are examples of these. A clear line of sight to the satellite is required with no obstructions to receive the signal. This means it has to be placed outside and can’t be placed in a loft or inside a room like a TV aerial can. You might get away with placing it inside in front of a window, but a large amount of the signal will be attenuated if you did this.
Dish Alignment
The dish for Sky needs to be pointing at 28.2 degrees East where the Astra 2 satellites are located. Some Sky services, as well as foreign services, are carried on Eutelsat Eurobird at 28.5 degrees East, which is close enough to use the same dish position.
Dish Elevation
Dish elevation is another important factor that needs to be accounted for when setting up a Sky system. In the UK, it varies from about 25 degrees in Kent, to 16 degrees in the North of Scotland. Below is a list of the approximate dish elevation required in major cities and regions:
Shetland Islands: 14 Degrees
Orkney Islands: 15.5 Degrees
Hebrides & Highlands: 16.5 Degrees
Aberdeen: 17.5 Degrees
Londonderry, Glasgow & Edinburgh: 18.5 Degrees
Belfast, Newcastle & South West Scotland: 19.5 Degrees
Isle Of Mann & Carlisle: 20 Degrees
Dublin, Cumbria & North Yorkshire: 20.5 Degrees
Isle Of Anglesey, Lancashire, Leeds & Sheffield: 21 Degrees
Nottingham, Humberside, Manchester, Liverpool & North Wales: 21.5 Degrees
Birmingham, Lincolnshire, Leicester & Swansea: 22.5 Degrees
Cardiff, Norwich & Gloucestershire: 23 Degrees
Isles Of Scilly, Bristol, Oxford & North London: 23.5 Degrees
Plymouth, Exeter, Reading, Central London & Ipswich: 24 Degrees
Isle Of Wight, Bournemouth, Southampton & South London: 24.5 Degrees
Channel Islands: 25.5 Degrees
Getting Sky Abroad
The satellite signal is receivable in most of the continent as well, but the required equipment is not available outside of the UK and Ireland and it is also a breach of contract to subscribe to Sky abroad plus the phone line connection is not possible on the continent. It's not impossible to achieve this, however, so do so at your own risk. There are books available that can describe the best ways to do this, or refer to one of the links at the bottom of the page.
Other Info on Manual Installation
There are many more technical aspects that need to be known, such as what settings need to be altered in the digibox menu and how to position the dish. It’s not like analogue where the dish can be swung and you see a picture, the dish needs to be pointing almost exactly at the satellite, and moved very slowly, allowing time for the box to ‘lock on’ to the signal. If you lock onto the wrong signal, or you find the dish elevation is wrong, you have to start again. Books are available that describe how to do this properly. You can try the following links, which will be added to the links page in due course:
Sky Website – Sky website, includes terms and conditions, and general Sky info.
Satcure – Technical info about satellite and DTT, how to set it up manually, and abroad.
Satalogue - Top info on satellite systems.
Wildsat – Lists channels as names how they appear in EPG, and how to manually tune to services.
Radio Listeners Guide – Annual guide, ordered online, good manual satellite installation details.
Chris Vowles Home Page - FAQ’s, adding non-EPG channels, details of other satellites besides Sky.
Steve's UK Radio & TV Info©, designed and owned by Stephen Ellis.
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