Atlantic Ocean sat hunting - where am I?

[skysurfer]

I am working on my 90cm dish/motor combo and decided to head out over the Atlantic instead of setting my limit at AMC-6. AMC-6 is where my knowledge base of sats end on Ku-band so I have never gone east on Ku-band beyond that before.

I found AMC-6 and Star One C2 and then went east. I found T14/EDS1 (verified by the SCETV lock) and then I headed east more.

Next stop, I was looking for Amazonas-1. I don't know if I"m there or not. Is there a lockable signal (data, no video) at 11916H, SR 3195? I did a blind scan of this bird and came up wit no video.

I don't think it's Intelsat 9 as I thought there would be a bunch of sky mexico carriers on that bird and I am not seeing it on the bird I'm currently on.

If it's not Amazonas-1, which bird am I on?

 

[Othea]

Perhaps one of the Echostar birds at 61.5°W? I stop at AMC6 myself. According to Lyngsat none of the transponders on Amazonas point to North America.

 

[ACRadio]

Intelsat 707 at 53W...

 

[mikelib]

I am working on my 90cm dish/motor combo and decided to head out over the Atlantic instead of setting my limit at AMC-6. AMC-6 is where my knowledge base of sats end on Ku-band so I have never gone east on Ku-band beyond that before.

I found AMC-6 and Star One C2 and then went east. I found T14/EDS1 (verified by the SCETV lock) and then I headed east more.

Next stop, I was looking for Amazonas-1. I don't know if I"m there or not. Is there a lockable signal (data, no video) at 11916H, SR 3195? I did a blind scan of this bird and came up wit no video.

I don't think it's Intelsat 9 as I thought there would be a bunch of sky mexico carriers on that bird and I am not seeing it on the bird I'm currently on.

If it's not Amazonas-1, which bird am I on?

At what degrees is (I found AMC-6 and Star One C2 and then went east. I found T14/EDS1 (verified by the SCETV lock) and then I headed east more.) I could not find any reference to that sat in lyngsat?

 

[ACRadio]

Amazonas is at 61W...

Atlantic Ocean - LyngSat

 

[pedrogarcia]

Any further east and you will need an Universal LNB to get ful range of transponders

 

[skysurfer]

I don't know what satellite anymore than was (I can't find the signal again). I did carefully find T14/EDS1, amazonas-1 (one data carrier) and then I did find Intelsat 9 with all the sky mexico stuff. I suppose it's possible the other night I went further east than I-9 and hit I805 or I-707 as the third reply suggested.

I'm stoping at I-9 as the DG380 motor is gutless with a 90cm dish on it (just east of I-9 I had to help the dish move back west because the dish was too heavy at that extreme low angle to be driven by the motor at that angle).

 

[jayelem]

I'm stopping at I-9 as the DG380 motor is gutless with a 90cm dish on it (just east of I-9 I had to help the dish move back west because the dish was too heavy at that extreme low angle to be driven by the motor at that angle).

Are you serious ? , What type of dish are you moving ?

I remember reading that the DG380 was a workhorse that could handle a 1.2 meter and had the most travel on the arc.

Geosatpro dishes are solid and heavier but Fortec star dishes are pretty lightweight in comparison making the load on a motor easier, guess there are some real advantages in having different dishes from different manufacturers.

I still have my STAB HH100 but it's snap crackle and pop as soon as I get near 43.0 west , I believe my gears have worn down and I also have alot of back lash hurting my FTA experience , I was thinking about a DG380 motor .

 

[mikelib]

I get signals on the following sats in Southern NJ, on my motorized 90cm dish and Fortec Dynamic receiver.
T-Star 12 -15W
Hispat 1C/1D - 30W
Intel 3R -43W
Intel 1R -45W
Intel 9 - 58W
Echostar 3 - 61.5W
Nahuel 1 -71.8W
AMC 6 72W

On an 18x20 Dish I get:
Atlantic Bird 2 at 8W (Have to go down by the Bay to receive it)

From the front of my house I get all sats from 15W to 125W

I can get Galaxy 27 by going down to the Bay.
Some time this week I am going to go down by the Bay and see if I can get 148W on the small dish, I have a clear shot west over Horse Neck Creek.

 

[skysurfer]

Are you serious ? , What type of dish are you moving ?

I remember reading that the DG380 was a workhorse that could handle a 1.2 meter and had the most travel on the arc.

yes, I"m serious. Fortec star 90cm. Works great until the look angles get low, apparently. I have no problem with the motor across the domestic arc. I-9 is at 25 deg look angle for me so the dish seems like it's looking fairly straight to the horizon.

the DG380 does have a lot of travel and is designed for a 1.2 meter dish, but things should be updated to say it can only handle the dish if look elevations are a certain amount (say no lower than 30 deg each side of the arc just to be safe). I can't say how my stab hh120 compares with gutlessness - it has a fortec star 1.2m dish on it but it only goes to H2 because the western AOR sats are blocked by trees. I can't do the I-9 test and see if the stab dish will pull its way back to domestic arc from I-9 or if it would need help to get the dish there.

I was at the sat I was on in the original post (let's say someplace east of I-9 since I haven't found it again now that I have I-9 and points west programmed in) and then I commanded my dish to go back to AMC-6 to re-verify my programmed slots. Nothing happened so I went out to the dish and saw it sitting there almost looking at the horizon. It was not moving and I relieved pressure on the motor by lifting up on the dish lip and the dish started to move west. I aided the motor until the motor had enough juice to finish the moving of the dish on its own.

I'd say it's a good motor for the most part but gets gutless quickly as the look angles decrease. By my attempts, I'd say about 23-25 deg is the lowest look angle one should push the motor to take a dish to. My von weise does a much better job moving my orbitron 8.5' dish than this dg380 motor does on a 90cm fortec star at that low of look angle.

 

[jayelem]

yes, I"m serious. Fortec star 90cm. Works great until the look angles get low, apparently. I have no problem with the motor across the domestic arc. I-9 is at 25 deg look angle for me so the dish seems like it's looking fairly straight to the horizon.

If this is true than I'm better off with another STAB Motor , I remember reading a thread on Sadouns forum where somebody's DG380 was struggling and I believe they were in Central America and you would think their look angle would be problem free.

 

[skysurfer]

If this is true than I'm better off with another STAB Motor , I remember reading a thread on Sadouns forum where somebody's DG380 was struggling and I believe they were in Central America and you would think their look angle would be problem free.

I would get the DG380 if you have proper look angle satellites you want to get and your offset dish is probably between 20 and 55 latitude. It seems faster than the stab in moving the dish, it seems more accurate and seems to have better resolution, and it's quieter than the stab.

I'm sure it's probably just as gutless as the stab for fairly low look angle sats.