If you enjoy your television, you will almost certainly be familiar with satellite antennas. Many television service providers offer satellite dishes and receivers included their paid packages.

Often, the satellite dish will be installed and set up by an expert and TV channels and services are delivered on a contract basis.

However, with the right equipment and a little know how, satellite antennas can be utilized to pick up hundreds of channels from across the globe, legally and without paying a cent.

To achieve this, two essential bits equipment are required – a satellite antenna and a satellite receiver. There are a number of varieties of satellite antennas available for purchase, so you will have to decide which one best suits your needs.

Basic – The most basic variety of satellite dish. These can be mounted on a wall or pole and directed towards a single satellite, so all adjustments need to be done manually.

Multi-satellite – These are a more costly variety of satellite dish, but they can receive signals from a few different satellites without adjusting the antenna.

Motor-driven – These pole-mounted satellite dishes can be directed towards any satellite position using a remote control, allowing convenient access to a huge number of channels. These are costly, but a must have for enthusiasts.

Satellite dishes are inexpensive both to buy and set up. A basic satellite system including antenna, receiver and a remote can be purchased for less than $150. A low-cost motor-driven system should cost about $350. Set-up costs for these systems should be in the region of $150.

Top-of-the-range satellite dishes with full features can set you back thousands of dollars, with set-up costs running to hundreds of dollars. But you can offset some of the expense by setting up the system yourself. There are many guides and dedicated websites on the internet that, with the aid of a satellite finder signal meter, will give all the advice you need to install and tune in your antenna to receive the free-to-air stations of your choice.

Before you splash out on a satellite antenna you should do your homework. Look into what free-to-air stations are available, which satellites transmit them and decide on the ones that you want. Again, all of this information is easily found on the web. You can then choose your satellite antenna based on these requirements.

The real advantage of owning a quality satellite antenna is that you can enjoy the best of both worlds. You can receive the best in free-to-air television from around the globe, and you can also pick from a wide range of subscription-based services that are available in the US.

Therefore, if you want to add a new dimension to your television viewing, a satellite dish could be the way to go.