Satellite Dish Elevation angle

It depends on the dish type. Most dishes have an offset so they are set virtually vertical but the focal point is compensated by the position of the LNB. The offset is usually available for the dish so you can measure the angle of the front of the dish and take away the offset to get the elevation angle.

To be honest you are overthinking it. If you are anywhere down to the middle of france then a 65cm dish will get decent reception. Get a compass that shows the position of the sat, get your tripod as level as you can, set the angle by using the stampings in the mounting and just sweep the range on the compass, you will hit. You can then set the skew and improve the signal strength by just tweaking it.  

I have an old tin thing on a small tripod, took me a while with trial and effort but once you get used to it then you can get it sorted in minutes.

Important:

Get a good quality LNB

Use high spec cable (WF100 or better) and quality cable joints

Thanks for that Phishing. How can you tell if an LNB is good quality?

I have invested in a good cable and all the connectors. Funny you should mention 'middle of France" because that is where I spend most of our time in the summer.

As said there is nothing physically about the dish you can rely on as a datum for the elevation.

That's unfortunate as setting at the right elevation for where you want to use the kit is an important factor.

But there is a method to find a reference point, or indeed several.

That is if you are getting a good picture on our satellites, then the dish will be at the specific angle of elevation for where it is in use.

Knowing where you are, look up on the website for "dishpointer" that location's satellite elevation, clearly for our satellite cluster.

In my case then that would be 25 degrees, so giving a datum.

I would repeat this when there is the chance to set up at a higher or lower latitude location, thus getting some additional datums.

I use Technomate or Inverto both have given good performance and claim to be wonderful. If you really want to then go on the Sat forums and get loads of info on Gain, Noise, and other technical stuff that someone cares about but is really not likely to makes much difference.

I chose the middle of France because the further south you go the bigger the dish you need, anything south of Bordeaux then I would go for an 85cm dish. Even if you are north of this then the bigger the dish the better the signal. There is no substitute for a big dish.

The other thing is the quality of your receiver, I have used everything from a fag packet sized 12vmini to an old humax found in junk shop in Wales for a £5, the humax is superb for finding sat and getting signal sorted.

I have an integrated smart TV now with built in DVB-S and a wife who shouts yes or now as I move the dish and the signal strength changes. I have a proper digital signal finder but to be honest never use it as my assistant has learned well.

 I want a Snipe but really cant justify the price vs gain. 

I suggest you Google "aiming a dish at astra 2" find rs.maszyna.pl which gives all the angles needed to set your dish around europe. I found it very accurate in France, but be careful, I use a meter recommended by a fellow member last year for setting up a hybrid LNB for Sky.Q but there are 2 signals very close together that give a reading for Astra 2 so if you do not get a reception, try a little swing to the next Astra reading. Take a look at the Satlink WS 6933 meter which has its own power supply via a battery and is programmed very easily for the Astra 2 satellite, saves a lot of messing about.

My method is very simple. 

1 erect the tripod and point one of the legs in the compass direction of the satellite from the above chart (rs.maszyna.pl to level the pole.

2  place a spirit level on top of the tripod to ensure the pole is pretty near vertical

3  Fit the dish and LNB pointing along the compass pointed leg and connect the meter. Use the scale on the dish bracket to set roughly the elevation. It doesn't seem to need great accuracy. 

Best tip. Nail the tripod down as a good wind might dent your car or van if it topples.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all your advice.

I have noticed Maxview Precision Dish has a speaker attached to the TV headphone outlet thus eliminating having someone inside watching. I cannot afford this but thought it might be worth a try to add an inexpensive Bluetooth transmitter to the TV outlet and then have my Bluetooth Speaker by the dish. Do you think it would be worth a try?

My dish is 60cm and I will watch out for the close proximity of another satellite.

Yes bluetooth scenario would work if your tuner has an audible tuner output tone.

If you tune to Astra then when you get good you can then tune Hotbird as well by just rotating the dish a smidgen. Store both Astra and Hotbird in your saved channels. Hotbird is mainly foreign language programs but  does have some films in English and English football FTA.

If your caravan TV happens to be an Avtex or another featuring "Easyfind", then switching to using an "Easyfind" enabled LNB, brings a very effective "traffic light" indication at the dish.

When enabled an LED on the LNB is red, orange or green indicating the precision of the alignment to specifically our required satellite cluster. IMO a good basic aid should the TV already feature it.

The satlink meter has two bars showing signal strength and signal quality so you would not need the bluetooth transmitter or the OH hollering from inside. Saves you hollering back which is much more embarrassing. Not sure of your budget, but meter is about £35 and upwards. makes setting up so much easier. 

"Not sure of your budget, but meter is about £35 and upwards. makes setting up so much easier."

Any links for the SATLink WS-6933 Satellite Meter DVB-S/S2, down at £35.