Thread: am I the only one that hates the new Lyngsat Beam Maps?

I hate those lyngsat new maps!

Originally Posted by AcWxRadar

John,

Try Satbeams.com instead, I think you will appreciate it once you become accustomed to the format and navigation. Their maps are "interactive" and you can zoom in/zoom out and paneast/west/north and south. You can even dial them in down to the city level and beyond. Very nice!

It is all that I use now.

RADAR

Wow....this is a cool site. It tells you everything you need to know for dish setup. I located my house, and pinpointed the exact location of my dish. Very cool. Thanks for the tip, Radar!

Originally Posted by qwert1515

It probably came from the sat owners as they publish more data (If I remember correctly, the gain and a latitude / longitude coordinate) to the FCC database that is publicly available but very hard to find.

EDIT - About a year ago I tried to parse the FCC data and here are a few examples of what I was able to get.

I figured that this must be available via the FCC, at least for US sats, but I usually give up before I find anything at the FCC. Years ago, I had some success looking up sats at FCC, but I can't make heads or tails out of their web pages now. Only thing I can find is broadcast stations, and sometimes ham data.

thanks for the recommendations!

Originally Posted by Scott Greczkowski

Try Satmaps, its even better.


FCC Satellite Maps - Chrome, Firefox or Safari required to view and sort Spreadsheet. IE may require adding "https://www.google.com" to IE Trusted Sites. (Satkml)

Not better if you're a Linux user.

Originally Posted by John Popper

I can't even make out the numbers

In my experience the former maps were accurate and you could at least see the letters and numbers

I think you got it right with your first statement. And if you think these are bad try searching for footprints in the UK.

I tried satbeams and have to say I still like the old Lyngsat maps best. Even satbeams has the small print or no print at all on some of the maps.

I tried looking for satellite footprints two days ago and found they had changed the format, looks like all the maps are links from other sources. I wish there was archieves of the old maps, I would continue to use them.

I usually go between Satmaps (here), Lyngsat and tracksat.com
footprints

I can't say they're any better but it doesn't hurt to compare.

Satbeams should present you with a large "bubble" or balloon like in the comic strips which is easy to read and presents the highly pertinent information such as estimated power in dBm, recommended mnimum dish size and other data.

You have to bring up the EIRP map, then "click" on a specific location or area on the map for this informational "balloon" to appear.

I did not appreciate this format at first, as they had a different scheme when I first started using Satbeams, but now I rather like it.

When I first investigated SatBeams, you would simply position the mouse cursor over a general area on the map. The contour line surrounding that area would be "highlighted" as would a certain color block off to the side of the map that corresponded to the dBm value for that area. Similar to a color bar graph or chart, but interactive. You would have to read the pertinent data for that color bar that was highlighted to determine the minimum dish size recommended for that specific area from the KEY on the chart.

The way he has set it up now, you must position the cursor over the site in question and "click" the mouse key for the bubble to appear. The bubble has a good sized font and is very clear to read, even with my eyesight.

Now that I have grown accustomed to the scheme of the site, I like it very much.

The channel listings are more difficult to analyze. Here the font isn't so presentable (size-wise) but they have much more accurate data and include much more detailed information about the channel. Or at least the capacity for such is there. Since the format is supported partially through USER input, some channels listed may not list everything because the USER did not provide the information, but eventually this data gets filled in with highly accurate and informative data. I find it better than most other sources. Better than any other source, in my overall opinion.

I am not trying to convince anyone that it is the only thing to use, but I am trying to persuade everyone to use it in conjunction with all other sources and to give every one of them credit where credit is due. Some sites are better at one objective than another, and if you use them all, you gain a better overall picture of everything.

RADAR

AcWxRadar-

I found using satbeams maps the other day for Europe that a good many of them that open display print so small that it can not be read. Also for many of the C-band sats they only show that there is a broadcast pattern and list no dbm at all.

For quick reference and ease of use I prefer the way Lyngsat use to display the maps. I'd like to see a poll taken to see who likes or prefers which style maps and the source providing or had provided them.