Contemplating the best location for my BUD, and at the same time considering a good location for a motorized Ku dish in my yard. The picture below is a screen shot from Google Earth using the DishPointer sat aiming lines showing possible locations for my BUD on the right (west), and a Ku dish on the left (east).
The positions indicated should allow the BUD to see over the trees from 72W to 111.1W, and the Ku from 87W to 125W. This is kind of a visual example of why I've been pondering a 125W dedicated dish. There is a big chunk of wasteland in the arc on a motorized Ku below 125W that would mean I can't locate my dish in a position where I can be sure I will get anything below 87W.
The Ku location in the picture may allow me to hit some birds below 87, but I'm not absolutely sure about my distance and height to clear the closest trees given the declining elevation as I move east. I've gone through all the various lists of known 24/7 signals I might be interested in and these sats look like they will serve our needs. The "wild" card is whether I am really giving up anything else worth hitting if I used these locations.
The tree shadows between the lines are ~75 foot poplars that will be coming down, similar height as the tallest parts of the surrounding canopy on the south and west sides of the picture. Those shadows also indicate the boundary of my property with my neighbour to the south. I have no control over any other vegetation that I am attempting to work around by choosing these dish positions.
Any thoughts about the area of the sky I would be scanning with Ku or C-band given the physical constraints I have to deal with?
The positions indicated should allow the BUD to see over the trees from 72W to 111.1W, and the Ku from 87W to 125W. This is kind of a visual example of why I've been pondering a 125W dedicated dish. There is a big chunk of wasteland in the arc on a motorized Ku below 125W that would mean I can't locate my dish in a position where I can be sure I will get anything below 87W.
The Ku location in the picture may allow me to hit some birds below 87, but I'm not absolutely sure about my distance and height to clear the closest trees given the declining elevation as I move east. I've gone through all the various lists of known 24/7 signals I might be interested in and these sats look like they will serve our needs. The "wild" card is whether I am really giving up anything else worth hitting if I used these locations.
The tree shadows between the lines are ~75 foot poplars that will be coming down, similar height as the tallest parts of the surrounding canopy on the south and west sides of the picture. Those shadows also indicate the boundary of my property with my neighbour to the south. I have no control over any other vegetation that I am attempting to work around by choosing these dish positions.
Any thoughts about the area of the sky I would be scanning with Ku or C-band given the physical constraints I have to deal with?
.. There are modern cellphones which show satellites' locations, but watching the Moon on certain days can also provide information. If you can get familiar with U.S. navy site which provides co-ordinates (altitude and azimuth) of Sun and Moon for every minute of every day, you could find out if these trees are an obstacle for certain position of your pole. The Sun can help only 2 times in a year, but Moon -50 times, usually every 2 weeks.
