Installing an HD satellite dish isn't much more complicated than installing a regular satellite dish, but there are a few key differences, especially in your upfront purchases and your wiring. Especially with the upcoming digital transition, HDTVs are starting to take over, and it would be wise to install your satellite dish accordingly, even if you do not yet have an HDTV.
Considerations
You probably want to avoid the urge to install a satellite dish yourself, because if you are a new customer, or even a current customer upgrading to HD, DIRECTV and the Dish Network will install everything for you for free and even provide you with the equipment for nothing. If you sign up for one of these deals, they generally even throw in a few months of free programming.
Installing the Dish
The dish virtually always goes on the roof like an old-school television antenna. All satellite dishes need a clear view of the southern sky to receive a signal. Satellite dishes come in four parts. The first is the dish mount, one end of which attaches to the roof and the other to the dish itself to hold it in place. The second is the 18-inch diameter piece that looks like a pizza pan. The Low Noise Blocker, or LNB, will contain anywhere from three to five round plastic pieces with screw-on wire connections. The LNB is what actually receives the signal from the satellite and sends it down the wire. Finally, the LNB connects to the satellite dish using the LNB arm.
Outside Wiring
An HD dish requires a satellite splitter, which will receive the signals from the dish and route them to the correct television. This usually gets mounted outdoors near your power transformer. Two wires run down from the dish to the satellite in ports on the splitter. Keep in mind that any wire you use for a satellite dish installation needs to be high-grade satellite wire, or RG-6 cable, and is significantly more expensive than a regular piece of coaxial wire you can pick up at a basic hardware store. Coaxial wiring is that thick wire, usually black or white, with a round screw-on end and a small metal pin sticking out of it.
Bringing the Wire Inside
Unlike cable, each television that receives a satellite signal needs to receive a signal directly from the outdoor satellite splitter. This means running a wire from point A to point B, which also means from outside to inside. This will mean drilling holes unless you want to keep a window or a door permanently open. Getting the wire inside is usually only half the battle, unless you're lucky enough to have your television on the outdoor wall where the cable comes in. To get it there, unless you plan to run the wire across the floor, the wire will run through walls or on baseboards and over doors. This can be a bit unsightly, if not done correctly.
Installing the Boxes
Again, unlike cable, each television that receives a satellite signal needs to have that signal run directly through a satellite box. While televisions and satellite boxes differ, the two things they all have in common are that you need to hook up the satellite wire and you need to somehow connect the box to the television. The good news here is if your HDTV is less than 5 years old, it probably has an HDMI (High Definition Media Interface) port, a wonderful invention that allows you to connect your video and audio at top digital quality with just one wire.
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