Sky and Freesat dishes in SS17
Stanford-le-Hope has plenty of dishes on its walls, many of them put up in the early days of Sky and never touched since. Plenty still work. Others have rusted mounting arms, LNBs that have been baking in the sun for twenty summers, and cables that were clipped along the brickwork and have since perished. Those are the dishes that start dropping out whenever a squall comes up the Thames from the west.
We fit new dishes, rescue old ones where it’s worth it, and wire up homes so the Sky or Freesat signal reaches every room you want. Each dish is peaked on a signal meter rather than by eye, because a dish that is almost right gives a picture on a dry day and fails when you most want to watch something. We work across Stanford, Corringham, Fobbing, Mucking and the villages up to Orsett and Horndon.
Our dish work in Stanford-le-Hope
Sky dish installation
A dish and LNB to suit Sky Q, sized for the boxes in your house, with the cable run inside where we can. Sky Glass and Sky Stream stream over broadband and don’t use a dish, so an old one can be taken down or left to feed a Freesat box.
Freesat installation
No contract and no monthly bill, with the main channels in HD. Handy as a second source of live TV for homes on The Homesteads or in Corringham where the aerial reception is borderline.
Dish realignment and LNB replacement
Wind, ladders and roofers all knock dishes out of line, and LNBs eventually wear out. One box losing signal while the other carries on is a typical LNB fault. We re-peak the dish and swap the LNB if it tests weak.
Moving a dish
Building an extension, replacing the fascias or rendering the front? We take the dish off, keep it safe, and refit it somewhere with a clear south-easterly view, with the cable rerouted and sealed.
Multi-room and communal satellite
A multiswitch lets one dish feed several boxes or a whole block of flats, each tuner getting its own clean feed. We design new systems and repair older ones that have started losing channels.
Foreign-language satellite
Second dishes or dual-feed set-ups aimed at Hotbird and other European satellites, for channels in Polish, Romanian, Italian and more, positioned so they don’t block your main dish.
When Sky or Freesat loses the satellite
Most satellite faults we’re called to in SS17 are outdoors. A dish fixed to soft mortar works loose and tips a fraction; the conifers at the end of the garden put on another metre and creep into the signal path; gulls blown in off the estuary sit on the arm; water finds its way into the F-plug under the LNB. Inside the house, a cable crushed behind a sofa or a dead multiswitch gives exactly the same on-screen message.
Two quick checks first: switch the box off at the wall for a minute, and see if a heavy storm is passing, since both of those can clear on their own. If the picture still won’t come back, we test from the dish down to the box and repair whatever has failed.
Picking the right wall or roof
A dish has to see the south-eastern sky with nothing in the way. In Stanford that often rules out the front of houses facing north-west and the backs of homes overshadowed by tall trees or a neighbour’s extension. For most houses a dish doesn’t need planning permission. Thurrock has seven conservation areas, though, including the historic hearts of Corringham, Fobbing and Horndon on the Hill, and there the rules on dishes facing the road are tighter, as they are for listed buildings. We’ll find a spot that works and let you know if Thurrock Council should be asked first.
Areas we cover in and around Stanford-le-Hope
Dishes fitted and fixed throughout Stanford-le-Hope, Corringham and the east Thurrock villages.
Stanford and Corringham
- Stanford-le-Hope town centre
- The Homesteads
- Balstonia
- Corringham
- Fobbing
- Mucking
- Linford
- Coryton
- London Gateway
Villages nearby
- Horndon on the Hill
- Orsett
- Bulphan
- East Tilbury
- West Tilbury
- Chadwell St Mary
- Langdon Hills
- Vange
- Dunton
- Bowers Gifford
Nearby towns we also cover
Stanford-le-Hope questions
My old Sky dish has been up for years. Is it still usable?
Often, yes. If the arm and bracket are sound we can fit a new LNB, realign it and reuse it for Sky Q or Freesat. If it’s badly rusted, we’ll say so and suggest a replacement.
Does Sky need a dish any more?
Sky Q does. Sky Glass and Sky Stream use broadband instead, so no dish is needed for those.
Why does only one of my two boxes lose signal?
That usually points to one output on the LNB failing, or a fault in the cable to that box. Both are quick to test and replace.
Do I need permission for a dish in Corringham or Fobbing?
Usually not, but both old village centres are conservation areas, where dishes facing the road are more tightly controlled. We’ll suggest a position that avoids problems.
Can I have channels from Poland or Romania?
Yes. We fit and align dishes for Hotbird and other European satellites, often next to your existing dish.