For example, to receive 1316 Mhz (a popular frequency in the UK) you would set the receiver box to show either 11,066 Mhz or 11,916 Mhz. If your receiver has controls for vertical or horizontal polarisation, you might find that vertical selects one of the frequencies and horizontal the other.
Assuming you have now found a station, you are probably looking at a rather washed-out and gloomy picture. You may not have sound yet either. Sound should be easy to sort out, all you need to do is set the receivers sound frequency to match the one used in your country. In the UK it is 6 MHz, in the US it's 4.5 Mhz, your country could be different but in most cases it's somewhere around those figures. As you tune there will be a noticeable drop in background hiss as you approach the right tuning point. When the noise is quietest you are tuned in to the best spot.
Livening up the picture takes a little more effort. Firstly, if your receiver has a control for narrow or wide bandwidth, set it to narrow. This will give an immediate boost to the picture quality. If the picture is still weak, it will have to be amplified a little, this can be done in two ways. For the adventurous, it can be tweaked up by turning a control INSIDE the receiver box, for less confident, it can be done with another box wired on the outside.
If you are prepared to open the receiver, please remove the power plug first and take great care not to touch components on the circuit board inside. Even when unplugged it is common to find dangerous voltages stored in some components. Possibly hundreds of volts may present and that's plenty to give a nasty jolt if you aren't careful. You will have to power it up again to proceed so keep your fingers out and make the adjustment with a small insulated screwdriver. In most receivers you need a screwdriver blade no bigger than about 2mm (1/16") wide. Try to find a control labelled "video level" or "video gain", if you can't identify it the next clue is that the control is usually next to an Integrated Circuit (IC) bearing the number 592 or 733, these are two of the most common video amplifier devices and the control has to be close to them. If you still can't locate the control, you will have to resort to finding a service manual - good luck! Make a note of the present position of the control in case you have to restore it then give a slight turn each way. If you have found the right one, the contrast of the picture will rise or fall and all you have to do is set it to a satisfactory viewing level.
We would like to point out that we accept no responsibility if you fry the receiver - or yourself, you do it at your own risk !