How to Wire Direct TV
Wiring up a DirecTV unit is a lesson in signal flow. If you have ever hooked up a stereo or entertainment system, you'll be able to hook up your DirecTV. Read on to learn how to wire DirecTV.
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Things You'll Need
- DirecTV satellite dish
- DirecTV receiver
- DirecTV subscription
- Television
- RCA cables
- S-Video
- Component audio/video cables
Instructions
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1
Have your satellite dish professionally mounted. If you can do this yourself, great. Otherwise, have someone do this for you. Having a properly mounted dish is crucial to it being usable in a storm or on a windy day.
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2
Run a coaxial cable with a ground wire from the satellite dish into the house. Some houses will have jacks on the outside that you can simply plug into to get your signal indoors. Otherwise, you can drill a hole to run the wire into the house. If you are only wiring one room or an apartment, sometimes you can just run the wire through a window or door frame.
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3
Connect the coaxial cable to the receiver. Take the cable from the satellite dish and get it to your receiver, wherever you plan on watching DirecTV. Screw the cable into the spot that says "Satellite In." The signal is now in your receiver.
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4
Connect the receiver to the television. Using the outputs on the back of the satellite receiver, run cables to your television, or any other devices you plan to use, such as a VCR or a digital recorder. For this you can use either RCA cables (red, white and yellow), S-Video or component cables, depending on what your television accepts. If you're not sure what to use, discuss this with someone when you are purchasing either the television, satellite dish, components or cables. Once you connect the satellite to the receiver, and the receiver to the television, you should now be able to watch your DirecTV.
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Tips & Warnings
Try out the different cables to see what looks the best on your screen. Sometimes the best option is not the most expensive.
Label your cables if you have a lot of them. A simple piece of masking tape on the ends will help you when it comes to troubleshooting and rearranging.
Keep your components unplugged when working with cables, just to be safe.
Call an electrician if you plan to drill a hole to run the cables into the house or through walls.
