Where are the satellites?

The geostationery satellites used for TV reception are positioned around the equator some 23,000 miles away from the earth.

For simplicity, I've shown only a few here but there are hundreds all around the earth.

If you live on a hill, you just might be able to point your dish at the satellites from around 60 degrees East of south to 60 degrees West of south, but the signal from satellites near the horizon will be very weak, even if they are transmitting towards the UK (unlikely).

For obvious reasons, it is impossible to receive signals from satellites located above the USA, China, Australia etc. (Not obvious? OK, apart from the fact that they are not beaming their signals in our direction, the satellites are out of sight below our horizon).

Just so you can see it in perspective, remember that the satellites are about twenty three THOUSAND MILES away in space!

That's why your dish alignment is so critical.

I have shown three of the satellites here. They are positioned above the equator so that, if a line were dropped directly towards the centre of the earth, it would pass through the equator just off the coast of Africa.

A similar line drawn from the satellite to the UK would be at an angle of about 25 degrees elevation above the horizon, for those satellites near to the Greenwich meridian (due south). For satellites further east or west, the angle would be less.