Do you work for Sky or are you affiliated with Sky?

No! IsleSat is completely independent and is not affiliated with Sky! In a very short time we have built a solid reputation for excellent workmanship and top quality satellite equipment. Our service is totally dedicated to both new and existing customers alike.

In order to receive satellite television don't I have to subscribe to Sky?

No - not at all! We're constantly surprised that many folks still believe this! Satellite TV doesn't = Sky! There are over 400 FREE channels available that you can receive on an ordinary satellite dish and on a 'Free to Air' digital satellite receiver ('box'). We install and supply everything you need to watch and enjoy FREE satellite TV - including FREE High Definition (HD) TV via FreeSat!!

Will your galvanised satellite dishes pick-up my Sky TV or HD channels?

Indeed they will! In fact, any satellite dish of the correct size will pick-up transmissions from any broadcast satellite located in the Clarke Belt. We install Triax satellite dishes & locally made wall brackets that are made of strong galvanised steel. They are very robust, maintenance free and, unlike the usual Sky mesh dishes, our dishes will not rust or corrode. In fact, when we install your new galvanised dish we guarantee it for a minimum of 10 years. Incidentally, it's a fallacy that Sky mesh dishes with tiny holes are to let the wind through! They are made like that because it's cheaper to press their required parabolic shape.

So, what is Freesat?

BBC & ITV and other providers have a range of 'Free to Air' channels available via satellite including BBC High Definition (HD) & ITV HD. The programmes are broadcast via satellite on Astra 2D at 28 degrees East. A minimum 60cm dish is required in the Northern Isles, and if you already have a dish in place you just need to connect the receiver up and you're away!

Here's the latest list of TV channels from FreeSat Click here

So, what is 'Free to Air' satellite?

'Free to Air' (FTA) digital satellite receivers are somewhat different from FreeSat (see below) in that they pick-up all free channels from 28 degrees East on Eurobird & Astra 2A/2B/2C/2D & Astra 1N and provide over 400 channels - including BBC Sports channels 24 hours a day. Apart from the cost of the equipment (dish, receiver, etc.) and our installation charge, there are no other charges and no subscription charges.

See the list of TV & Radio stations FREE TO AIR

How can I get High Definition (HD) TV?

To watch High Definition (HD) programmes, you need an HD-ready TV set and a set-top box which is designed for HD. You also need a satellite dish pointing to 28 degs East.

I have a Freeview box. Can it receive satellite signals?

No. Freeview boxes and Digital satellite receivers are completely different animals. Freeview is designed to receive terrestrial digital signals from an aerial (TV antenna) and a Digital satellite receiver is designed to receive signals from a satellite dish.

What about Freeview (by aerial) HD channels?

It won't be totally available until 2012 when all of the proposed Freeview HD channels are transmitted across the whole UK. However, there is a limited service of the four Freeview HD channels. Freeview HD will use the DVB-T2 High Definition standard, and MPEG-4 coding. Currently, there are only a few makes of Freeview HD receivers in the market in the UK. (More info: Click here )

Do I need a Digital Television?

We are often asked this question. But the answer is NO! It's a fallacy. A so-called CRT analogue television will do fine. However, if you require High Definition viewing your television must be 'HD Ready'.

I have a small Sky dish and digi-box and I'm getting poor reception. What could be the problem?

Several things. Recently we've encountered many dishes that are of the incorrect size - some as small as 43cm. A 'Zone1' dish is designed for satellite reception in the South of the UK, but in the North a 'Zone 2' 60cm dish is bare minimum (we install 64cm dishes that provide a very strong signal). However, if your dish is rusty its reflective and parabolic properties will be impaired and it should be replaced as it will significantly degrade the signal coming from the satellite 22,000 miles away. Your dish may also have slipped out of alignment. If it's only a few centimeters out, signal strength and quality will be seriously impaired. Other problems are a broken, corroded or a poorly connected coaxial cable or f-connector, a mis-alined or broken LNB (a lower db rated LNB might help) or your digi-box is malfunctioning. If you experience a poor picture with 'pixilation' we'd be pleased to troubleshoot the matter.

What's the difference between your satellite installation and a Sky installation?

Firstly, you won't have to wait weeks for an installation or service call-out. Here on Shetland we can usually install a satellite dish and free-to-air (or FreeSat) receiver within five working days - and often sooner.

Secondly, our free-to-air (or FreeSat) installation includes a galvanised dish, galvanised wall bracket (that won't rust and will last for years) and a free-to-air receiver. You can expect to receive over 400 TV & Radio channels such as all BBC & ITV regional stations, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, BBC News, Euronews, CBeebies, ITV2, ITV3, Ch4, Ch5, E4, Film4 ....etc.,,, Better still, there are no other charges and no subscription charges.

Sky offer various packages, such as movies, entertainment & sport - but of course, you have to subscribe and pay a monthly charge and generally other 'set-up' charges - including more if they supply HD TV (Remember, FreeSat offer Free High Definition (HD) TV).

See what you could expect to pay if you subscribe to Sky: Click here

Doesn't Sky provide Sky+ where I can record my programs?

Indeed they do. But if you subscribe to their full mix of entertainment, movies and sport you'd have to pay up to £55 a month including £150.00 for a Sky+ Box and a Standard set-up of £30.00. Think of how many 250GB Hard Drive DVD Recorder's and how many of the latest DVD movies you could buy for £800 and then for £600+ a year after that! Our range of Technomate receivers will allow you to watch and record another channel via the USB port to an external hard drive (not supplied). If you'd like FreeSat, we can supply the Foxsat HDR by Humax that allows you to receive and record brilliant, Freesat High Definition and Standard Definition broadcasts - subscription free. Humax's HDR Foxsat has a built-in 320GB hard drive PVR to store many hours of TV programs and allows you to pause live TV and has two satellite tuners so you can record one channel (or even two) while watching another.

Motorised and multi-sat systems

What is a motorised and multi-sat system?

Unlike a standard fixed dish pointing at Astra/Eurobird 28 degrees East that pick-up the usual BBC & ITV channels, a motorised or multi-sat system will allow you to view TV and listen to radio stations from most parts of the world transmitted from over 30 additional satellites. Channels include European stations - plus hundreds of other stations Worldwide including news, documentaries, movies, music and sport. You could even watch live transmissions from MSNBC in the USA or programs from as far away as Taiwan!

Isn't a motorised and multi-sat system expensive?

Not at all! A full motorised system including dish, motor & receiver can cost as little as £250, plus installation. A multi-sat (fixed dish) system can cost somewhat less, depending on the number of LNB's required, including cable, DiSEqC switch and of course, the receiver. Both installations generally take several hours or even a day or two to complete.

How do larger dishes and motorised systems handle high winds?

Suprisingly, very well indeed. Due to the construction of both the dish, large 'U' bolt fittings and the robust motor - large steel dishes generally survive storm force 10 and even greater wind gusts without any apparent damage. If you're not located in a sheltered spot where we can wall mount, where dishes are in excess of 64cm we install a metal post in a ground-mounted installation which is just six inches from the ground. With motorised systems where we use the Technomate TM-2600, this motor has metal gears and can withstand almost any amount of battering from the wind.

So, what exactly is the difference between a motorised and multi-sat system?

M'mmm, kinda wish you hadn't asked me that! We're about to go 'jargonised', so I hope you can keep up with this!

If you go for a motorised dish, you only need one LNB head which has the frequency span to cover all the frequencies used on 'your' satellites.From Shetland on a 88cm dish you can generally pick-up strong signals from 35 satellites with over 5,000 stations spanning from 53° East to 53° West. The motor and LNB attached to the dish is fed by just one coax cable and is governed by the receiver inside, so that when you choose a channel on your remote control in your living room the dish automatically moves to the correct position in the sky. Thus, the receiver 'talks' to the motor. Motors are 'DiSEqC' standard and are generally set to USALS (see Glossary below for meaning). Motorised dishes are far more complex to install, so you would certainly want a professional to set it up (that's what we do!).

If you go for a fixed-dish multi-head (sat) system, you also have to consider the size of the dish. Each of the heads will be pointed at (or, actually, directly away from) its own satellite, thus at a slight angle from each other and not at the centre of the dish. That means it cannot receive signals reflected from the total area of the dish. So you must compensate by installing a slightly larger dish than you would with a single head, to let even the most off-centre head receive enough signals for good reception. Each head will be pointed away from each other by as many degrees as the satellites are apart in the sky. The head can use signals reflected from within a circle centred around the focus of the LNB. So if the LNB points to a spot five cm off the centre of an 80 cm dish, then its reception is that of a 70 cm dish (5 cm radius=10 cm diameter). If you need a 70cm dish for good reception from each satellite, you will have to install one of 80cm to cover both. Commonly, multi-satellite dishes have a maximum span of about 20 degrees from the western to the eastern most satellite it can catch (the maximum angle of the LNBs to the dish), i.e. from Astra 1 to Thor or from Astra 2 to Hotbird. When you have two or more LNBs sitting in the dish, you could of course run one cable from each LNB through your wall in to the receiver. It is rather more practical, however, to merge the signals outside, so that they all run down one cable inside, and the receiver inside then is able to switch to the LNB it wants for each particular channel. The most common way of doing this is with a piece of hardware with the unreadable acronym 'DiSEqC' switch (Digital Satellite Equipment Controller, (pronounced 'disec'). It is in fact a European standard for how to handle multiple equipment, so what you want is, one, the piece of hardware outside that joins the cables from the LNBs into one (the switch), and two, that your receiver inside has the software to control the switch and pick the right LNB. However, the DiSEqC standard has gone through several generations, and how much the equipment can do, depends on which version of DiSEqC it supports. (IsleSat supply Technomate receivers and all models are compatible and support the latest DiSEqC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 & 1.3 ).

Glossary & other questions

What is an LNB?

LNB is the acronym for 'low-noise block converter'. Simply put, it's the 'receiving bit' on the end of a satellite dish. The latest LNB's are very sensitive and can pick-up and amplify very weak satellites. The lower the dB figure, the better. You'll find a full explanation here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-noise_block_converter

What is a DiSEqC switch?

A DiSEqC switch is a device which enables one to connect multiple LNB's to a satellite receiver. The DiSEqC protocol works in a similar way to a motorised system, but instead of the receiver actuating the motor in choosing a satellite, the DiSEqC switch chooses an LNB on a fixed dish that's 'aimed' at a particular satellite. The DiSEqC switch is weatherproofed and is installed outside, usually on the satellite bracket. The maximum number of LNB's on a fixed dish is four. The picture on the right illustrates a twin LNB set-up.

What does the term USALS mean?

USALS is the acronym for 'Universal Satellite Automatic Location System'. Once the dish motor is set South and other angle parameters are in perfect alignment and your longitude and latitude is input into your receiver, the dish (via the receiver) will find every single satellite available in your location won the Clarke Belt. You'll find a full explanation here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USALS

What is the 'Clarke Belt' and what does it mean?

The Clarke Belt is rather like an imaginary rainbow going from 90° East to 90° West. TV broadcast satellites are placed in orbit directly above the equator at a height of about 36,000 km (22,000 miles). They travel through space at the same speed the earth's rotation - so to us on the ground the satellite appears to be stationary. This is known as a geo-stationary orbit.

The Clark Belt viewed from northern Europe. There are over 30 broadcast satellites accessible from Northern Europe, but the ones shown above include the so-called 'Sky' satellites (Astra2 & Eurobird) at 28° East, Astra1 at 19° East, Thor at 1° West and Hispasat at 30° West.

What is a geo-stationary orbit?

In this animation, the satellite travels around the Earth in a west-to-east direction at a rate of travel that completes one orbit in the same amount of time that it takes for the Earth to complete one rotation. This type of orbit enables the satellite to maintain a fixed position relative to the Earth.

It was Sir Arthur C. Clarke's article published in the British Journal 'Wireless World' in October 1945 (Click here) that mapped out the potential of the geostationary orbit for satellite communications. Clarke's theory was that at an altitude of 36,000 km above the earth a satellite would make one revolution every 24 hours; i.e., that it would remain stationary above the same spot. Today, over 300 satellites are located in the 'Clarke Belt', providing broadcasting, broadband and telecommunications services around the world and forming a vital component of the Information Society. In the Northern Isles we can 'see' around 34 broadcast satellites in the Ku-band. For more information about satellites Click here

Do I need planning permission for a satellite dish for a multi or motorised satellite system?

Under the The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992, a dwelling house (in a 'non-designated' area) is currently allowed only one satellite antenna (dish) up to a maximum of 90cm without any planning permission.

Details of current planning criteria: Click here

Fortunately, dishes up to 90cm are usually quite sufficient for the majority of multi or motorised satellite systems, and providing the dish and its siting meets the general critera, and your dwelling is not 'listed' or in a designated conservation area, you should not require planning permission.