Adventures in Satellite Hunting.....30°W

[Inno]

So I have been re-bitten by the satellite bug recently and I have dusted off my 1m dish in search of something I have never received before. After all, for me that is what this hobby is all about. So from my location 30°W is attainable.........as far as I know. Biggest problem is all the trees to the east of me. I had almost decided to wait until all the leaves were off the trees but this evening I got out my trusty Stihl and went and took down a couple of larger ones which I believe were in the way. Based on info from dishpointer.com I am pretty sure I am in the right area. The view from up on the roof of the house is the first picture. I don't believe I'll have much better luck from up there. Then a shot from the deck where the dish is currently and temporarily mounted. And one from after the two large and offending trees have been removed.

So after removing the trees I have still not been successful in finding the satellite I'm looking for but I intend to keep trying. Even if I have to clear more trees. They are in an area that I intended on thinning out anyway.

 

[Mikey11]

If you are in the eastern half of north america I would say the trees would not be in the way,

They might be in the way if you are on the west coast,

Just my educated opinion, but always hard to tell from pics,

 

[Inno]

I thought so too but the elev. to 30°W from here is 8.5°. The trees are just in the way. I agree it is hard to tell from the pics as I was having a hard time taking one that truly showed what I see when I look down my makeshift inclinometer.

 

[crackt]

i hit it at 2.7 degrees elevation but had to do so from a farm field with a laptop and a prof 7500. a good makeshift inclinometer is a fist at arms length. should be roughly 4 degrees.

crackt out,.

 

[SatPhreak]

I can recieve 30W on my 90cm dish on a HH-90 rotor from Thunder Bay. It is an 11.3 degree angle for me.

 

[FaT Air]

HAAT of inclinomiter at dish position - Height of trees - Distance to trees from dish position. Think it's algebra that''s needed. Dishpointer has a box you check that will calculate obstruction height. place marker on the green line, If dish is mounted more than a few feet off the ground, think you can subtract the dish height above ground from the indicated obstruction height.

 

[Inno]

Yes I agree some sort of math is needed...........and I generally try the logical way when I have exhausted all other options! lol
The problem with dishpointer is that the imagery on google is from early 2007 and we have made many changes to the property since we moved there in the fall of '07. There is a barn for reference which is likely the best bet. I will have to make some measurements etc. and make good and sure I'm taking out the right trees.

 

[linuxman]

The best suggestion is to get up before sunrise, and see where the sun peeks through the trees at. This time of year, the sun will be just a few degrees north of where you need to point, but we are only a month away from the autumnal eqinox when the sun will be exactly where the equator is.

That should give you a pretty good idea of where you need to be pointing the dish. I agree with the others, I don't think the trees at that distance are the problem. If they are, you should be able to see which needs to be trimmed.

 

[Inno]

Even at 8.5° elevation? The farthest east I have been able to capture was 58°W but the signal quality was off the charts both C and Ku band.

I must investigate further. This one has me perplexed but in a good way. The solution is always so much sweeter when you have to work for it!

 

[Mikey11]

I thought so too but the elev. to 30°W from here is 8.5°. The trees are just in the way. I agree it is hard to tell from the pics as I was having a hard time taking one that truly showed what I see when I look down my makeshift inclinometer.

You need to add in the offset of the dish, if dishpointer is telling you to set your dish elevation to 8.5 degrees that means the signal is actually coming in at about 30 degrees after you add in the offset,

 

[Inno]

Here is what I did..........when I locked on 58°W I put the inclinometer on the back of the dish mount and measured 5°. 58°W has an elev. of 24.6° from my location therefore the difference is 19.6°. So for an elevation of 8.5° I would subtract 19.6 and get an "offset corrected" elevation of -11.1°..........which is what I have the dish set to currently. Someone tell me I did that wrong and all I have to do is raise the elevation and I will be a VERY happy man!!

 

[Anole]

Your angles sound good, but I'd like to see a picture before blessing anything like that.
Are you sure your skew is set, and set the correct direction?

I was talking to PowerSurge just now, and he and I agree that maybe inverting the dish would be preferable.
At least that wouldn't require you to fudge your dish to 'look down' ... something you really need to explain, I think.
Tilting the J-pole is another source of potential error.

 

[Jim S.]

You need to add in the offset of the dish, if dishpointer is telling you to set your dish elevation to 8.5 degrees that means the signal is actually coming in at about 30 degrees after you add in the offset,

I don't think so. Yes, the elevation of the satellite will be 20-odd degrees higher than a line perpendicular to the center of the dish, but Hispasat certainly isn't at 30 degrees elevation from NWT when it's only 22 degrees here in PA.

 

[phlatwound]

I don't think so. Yes, the elevation of the satellite will be 20-odd degrees higher than a line perpendicular to the center of the dish, but Hispasat certainly isn't at 30 degrees elevation from NWT when it's only 22 degrees here in PA.

I agree.

Dishpointer is saying that Hispasat is 8.5 degrees above the horizon from Inno's location.

 

[Inno]

Skew is -38 (give or take) which I take to mean counter clockwise when facing the front of the dish.
J pole? Those are for sissies.........lol here's what I have...

 

[Inno]

Here is another thought. Is 22° a common offset for offset dishes? I'm guessing my figure of 19.6° is pretty close. Maybe I need to adjust down a bit more to -13.5° on the dish for an angle of 8.5°.
The dish is an old Star Choice 1m.

 

[linuxman]

Ok, I thought you might be able to look at these pictures of my 1M Primestar when I had it pointed at Hispasat, which if I remember correctly was at about 14 degrees elevation for me.

Take a look at the angle of the feed support arm from the bottom. Also, not pictured is the back of the dish which was almost touching the mast, but not quite.

I'm sure that is why Anole and Pwrsurge suggested inverting the dish, because from the look of your pictures, the feed is not yet low enough for 8.5 degrees.



EDIT: If you want an accurate reading of the angle of the dish, place a straight edge across the face of the dish from top to bottom and that will give you the true elevation of the dish.

 

[Inno]

Thanks for that Linuxman, your pictures indicate that I am doing things correctly or at least I am in the ballpark. I have thought about inverting the dish but after modifying the mount (a lot!) I think it will get sufficiently low.

 

[linuxman]

Skew is -38 (give or take) which I take to mean counter clockwise when facing the front of the dish.

The skew should be clockwise when facing the front of the dish.

 

[phlatwound]

I don't see an easy way of doing it with your mounting pole but when I hit Hispasat from my place I had to tilt my pole about 10 degrees off of plumb to get my dish low enough.

My elevation was 12.2 degrees.