There are quite a number of channels other than the Freeview ones available from a satellite dish in New Zealand. The majority of these are foreign language channels, or religious (predominantly Christian). Most of these channels are on a different satellite to those used by Sky and Freeview (Optus D1) which means that you will need to do one of three things – re-align your existing dish (losing the Sky and Freeview channels on D1), install a second dish (not always practicable, and usually unsightly), or get a setup that allows use of all the satellites at once. There are also other channels available from other satellites, but those generally require larger dishes (1m – 3m) and most are C band.

Satellite positions (degrees from true North, not magnetic North given)

• Optus D1 – 160.0°E (Sky and Freeview)
• Optus D2 – 152.0°E (previously B3)

A multi satellite dish setup can vary quite a bit. A dual LNB can be used, most only have a 4° separation on the throats however (like the Sky Dual LNBs), which doesn’t allow for use with Freeview and the channels on D2. Some do have an 8° separation, but the ones we’ve tried have not worked well with a 60cm Sky dish, and will require the use of a larger dish. The best setup we’ve found uses multiple single LNBs in a specially designed holder. These are available in different varieties, a twin LNB setup with 8° separation, and a triple LNB setup with 4° between each one. These do require a larger dish in order to get good signal levels on all LNBs.

For Freeview and the D2 channels a twin setup with a simple 22KHz switch is perfect as a single decoder can be used for all channels, and can automatically change between the LNBs by outputting a 22KHz tone through the cable to the dish. If more than one decoder is used with this setup however a multi-switch is required to be able to use the two LNBs simultaneously (if one decoder is set to a Freeview Channel, and another to a D2 channel for instance).

Available TV and radio channels

The list below has the transponder frequency and polarity as well as the symbol rates for those who are trying to set their decoders to receive these channels. Some channels may not be available to all systems (those on the vertical polarity when using a multi-switch for example).

This list was correct at the time of publication. An up-to-date list can be found at LyngSat’s site