Setting a satellite dish anywhere, as long as it has a fairly unobstructed view of the southern sky—is already a good idea. Mount it on a chimney or bolt it on the roof, it doesn’t matter. The most important factor is it has a wide, clear and unobstructed view of the southern sky. If mounting it on the chimney gives your satellite dish a nice exposure, then by all means, since a chimney is more stable than any 6-foot tripod anyway. Although you’d be pretty much a hardcore for bypassing qualified technicians to install a satellite dish yourself.

Unless if you perfectly know what you are doing, don’t do the installation yourself. Even if you manage a secure and correct mounting, there is the satellite dish’s elevation and azimuth adjustments that you need to perform before you will start getting good reception. Even with the right tools this is already a tiring process that require a lot of trial and error.

If you really must, it is highly recommended that you get a satellite signal meter which you can use to detect whether you satellite dish is aligned correctly. A satellite signal meter reads the strength of the signal going through your satellite dish and you need to readjust the dish until you arrive at a fairly strong reception. You can also do with just a compass and a TV within viewing range for visual checks if you chose not to purchase a satellite signal meter. In any case, you should take your time fine tuning the satellite dish adjustments until the strongest signal is achieved.

Lastly, remove any obstacles that can get in the way of the satellite’s line of contact with the southern sky. There mustn’t be any obstacles, such as trees or tall buildings in between the line of contact of the satellite dish and the satellite. Move the entire assembly if you have to.