LOS : Line Of Sight Discussion for all ...

[jayelem]

What's your LOS ?

If you have a motorized setup how much of the Clarke belt can you see ?

Trees in the way , do you need a Chainsaw ?

Got a Penthouse View - Horizon to Horizon Dream LOS - Do tell .

Who has gotten the lowest bird in the sky , elevation under 10 degrees please .

Got a neat story or figured out a way of gaining an extra bird (sat) by ingenious plan like blowing up a hill or cutting down a tree , or maybe mounting a dish on your chimney.

 

[Mr Tony]

Now you know not everyone will have the same but there should be bonus points depending on location. Obviously someone in Texas will have the opportunity for a better LOS than someone in MN

What's your LOS ?

30 to 148W

If you have a motorized setup how much of the Clarke belt can you see ?

43W-148W....the motor hits the mast when going to 30W

Trees in the way , do you need a Chainsaw ?

no trees in way

Got a Penthouse View - Horizon to Horizon Dream LOS - Do tell .

just lucky...having a TS at 93W which is almost 1/2 way between the main clark belt for us in the US.

Who has gotten the lowest bird in the sky , elevation under 10 degrees please .

Hispasat...9 elevation here in MN...dish looks like its at the ground (pic below)

Got a neat story or figured out a way of gaining an extra bird (sat) by ingenious plan like blowing up a hill or cutting down a tree , or maybe mounting a dish on your chimney.

my C-Band dish is limited to 87 to 107 so to get the western satellites I have a 2nd C-Band dish. I wheel it out of the garage and aim it that way. Use ot put the receiver and TV on the tailgate of the truck but now I have an old microwave cart out there

1st 2 are Hispasat & last 3 are the C-band dish outside

 

[Radioguy41]

I'm in eastern Pennsylvania. I'm pulling in everything from AMC8 (139W) to AMC6 (72W). Can't go farther East due to my house blocking it. I'm putting a second dish up the hill behind the house with an H-H mount to solve that problem.

Speaking of trees, yes, I did saw down a white pine tree that had gone crazy (18inch growth a year) and blocked everything from 133W on west. Wife wasn't pleased but she got over it.

 

[vfrjim]

Atlantic Bird 1 to AMC 7 (ku)
AMC 6 to AMC 7 (C band)

If I walk to my neighbors house, I can hit Echostar 1 but a tree is in my way at my house

 

[linuxman]

2 - C/Ku dishes with 30W - 148W
4 - C/Ku dishes with 43W - 148W
1 - motorized Ku dish 30W - 148W

30W is 13.9 degrees elevation here.

Never tried for anything lower, but could probably go down to 12 degrees if I had the right setup to pick up the signals on circular C-Band satellites.

 

[phlatwound]

From my dish locations I can "see" 72W-137W, then I get into trees either way.

I will be taking out the one that is limiting me on the east, that should allow sight to around 60W. Don't think I can do much to improve my LOS to the west.

 

[Fizbi]

What's your LOS ?

I get all the FTA birds from 72W to 129W. Mountains block anything lower on the horizon. I think the earth's diameter is just too big.

If I had a Ga-zillion watt laser, I might be able to cut some deep canyons below the horizon to pick up more birds.

 

[voomvoom]

I have plenty of spots with a clear line of sight, entire Ark. I use 2 motorized ku 1.2m dishes on the entire Ark. I have 2 C-Band dishes, setup for the Western Ark, from AMC6 @ 72.0w to AMC8 @ 139.0w, one is in an entire Ark spot, the other is next to or near a tree and will only get the Western Ark. I have a 5' H-H (former fixed) C-Band dish (used primarily for experimental purposes) sitting in an entire Ark spot, idol at the moment while I enjoy my laziness. I also have several (well maybe not several, but some) fixed dishes in more convenient spots, but they don't need the entire Ark. The lowest sats I get are AMC8 @ 139.0w with an elevation about 20.5 on my west, and Hispasat @ 30.0w with an elevation about 21.7 on my east. I have thought of trying to reach a little further and lower in both directions, just haven't took the time yet.........

 

[jayelem]

My LOS is from 30.0 w to 129.0 w (it's in my signature)
Unfortunately I only get 129.0 west after the leaves fall off my neighbors tree and anything further west is blocked by the same tree or my house .

I'm currently working on getting some lower Atlantic Sats , my Stab motor will not go Easterly past 30.0 west and in the distance I have trees and a nice clearing that I'm hoping will help me.


Armed with a lenticular compass and a magnetic angle finder I have that think I can mentality , I wont know till I try it and that might just be this weekend .

What I'm aiming for.

NSS 7 @ 22.0 west 9.2 Elevation
Telstar 12 @ 15.0 west 4.0 Elevation
Atlantic Bird @ 12.5 West 2.2 Elevation

Ill be happy to get any of these.

 

[Pepper]

30W-127W on my motorized dish (winter) 43W-127W (summer)

I should theoretically be able to get 148 from a couple spots on my property if i shoot between the trees.

 

[DiscoLoveGrapes]

What's your LOS ?

About 58W to 123W, but I'm hoping I'll be able to get the new bird at 125 without too many headaches.

If you have a motorized setup how much of the Clarke belt can you see ?

Ditto.

Trees in the way , do you need a Chainsaw ?

I have the neighbor's vines on the west (where a chainsaw would be nice) and my house on the east (where a chainsaw would get me in serious trouble with the landlord)

Got a neat story or figured out a way of gaining an extra bird (sat) by ingenious plan like blowing up a hill or cutting down a tree , or maybe mounting a dish on your chimney.

What I need to ensure a little more view on both sides is:

-Boost the dish a little higher on the clothesline pole.
-Poison the vines this winter before they bloom.
-Concoct an alibi regarding reasons for purchasing weed killers in case receipts are found.

 

[rv1pop]

On the East I have confirmed 43 and to the West I have locked White Springs. The dishpointer says I cannot get further East, but I have gotten signal at least two more east, but no lock. I know I can go further West, but have not tried yet. Too many as it is to watch. When I get all my things moved into the building, I may take the time to see how much more I can get. For the East, I may play with a dish on the roof of the furthest NE building. That would give me another 35 feet of elevation!

I have thought about having a "Field Day" on the property and have people come up and see what they could get! But they would have to bring their own ground anchors.

 

[iafirebuff]

30w to 148w for me

 

[jayelem]

My quest for Telstar 12

Yesterdays mild temperatures in the Midwest made for a good day of bird hunting , Telstar 12 that is ..... quite a elusive bird if you ask me especially since the elevation is around 4 degrees for me.

First time using my 3ABN Azure Shine 90cm dish mounted on the brick wall of my house , heavier than my 90cm fortec I quickly found out I would need the additional support arms for the mast.

My problem was that since the dish elevation bracket doesn't go below 10 degrees I decided to give my mast a -20 degree inclination that way I'd have room to play with , the support arms included were for keeping the mast at a 90 degree angle so I ditched them and improvised with another set of supports from another mount that I had.

I now had my dish pointing lower and my CS5K on a selected Transponder with my analog meter chirping away , fine tuned -adjust knob - continue fine tuning - continue knob adjustment but never getting (GREEN) a quality signal.

BTW eventhough my Dish elevation bracket only goes to 10 degrees I found out a little too late that the dish will hit the mast before getting to 10 degrees leaving me thinking if maybe I should've lowered the mast even more to offset the difference.

Spent 2-3 hours on the porch roof ( willing to spend more )with many doubts , my compass heading contradicts Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com by about 5 degrees which is enough to be blocked by trees , I am now hoping that the leaves drop sooner to see if that is the case , honestly I wouldn't mind having this bird just for for 5-6 months if that's my only solution.

Will keep trying and will post more info.

vfrjim if you have any strong live transponders for atlantic bird 1 @ 12.5 and NSS 7 @ 22.0 , it will give me other frequencies to play with , leaving you a PM also.

 

[rv1pop]

Well, I got out my transit/level and checked the horizon to the east I can see to -5°. To the west, only +28° or so. The wind started blowing harder and it was 40° in temp so bones were chilled in a hurry. I was only about 40 inches off the ground which is about 10 inches lower than my lowest dish edge so far.

 

[skysurfer]

I live in the mountain time zone.

Primary steerable dish:
89W to 170W on C/Ku/DBS/Ka

Secondary steerable dish:
70W to 139W on C/Ku (year-round)
58W to 139W on C/Ku (winter)

Trees are limiting factors for both dishes, and since they are neighbor's trees, I have no control about removal or trimming to give a more fuller arc to either dish.