Multi Satellite Dish Azimuth

[jp_vabeach]

Hi, I just moved into a new home and would love to get either Dish or DirectTV but I may be facing some LOS issues. The property has many trees around it but there are some decent sized clear areas to the south and southwest. I've called both Dish and DirectTV asking for the azimuth and elevation for their multi satellite dishes but the response is that if I go ahead and order and the installer can't get a clear LOS, I'd get my money back and be under no obligation. I'd just as soon go out in the yard with a simple compass first but that doesn't seem to be the way they wish to do business.

Can anybody tell be how to calculate, or where I can look up, the information I need? I have a pretty good idea of which satellites I need to point to (3 for Dish, 2 for Direct) but I'm not sure how to calculate the azimuth and elevation for a multi satellite dish. Any help or pointers you can give me will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Stuck with Cable in Yorktown, VA

 

[PSB]

Here are the angles you need to the satellites, of course a multi satellite will be pointing at a few satellites at the same time, but the below should help to see if you have a line of sight to the satellites individually.

Yorktown, VA 23690
Latitude 37° 13.722'N Longitude 76° 32.538'W

Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m) El Skew
-------------------------------------------------------------
*** Of Particular Interest ***

EchoStar 3 61.5W 156.0 167.2 44.0 -18.9
EchoStar 6 110.0W 227.5 238.7 34.5 36.0
EchoStar 8 110.0W 227.5 238.7 34.5 36.0
EchoStar 7 119.0W 236.5 247.7 28.3 41.6
EchoStar 5 119.0W 236.5 247.7 28.3 41.6
EchoStar 9/Telstar 13 121.0W 238.3 249.5 26.9 42.7
EchoStar 1 148.0W 258.5 269.7 6.0 51.3
EchoStar 2 148.0W 258.5 269.7 6.0 51.3
EchoStar 4 157.0W 264.2 275.4 -1.1 52.4

DirecTV 3 81.8W 188.6 199.8 46.5 6.9
DirecTV 2 100.8W 216.7 227.9 39.9 28.4
DirecTV 1R 100.8W 216.7 227.9 39.9 28.4
DirecTV 1 101.0W 216.9 228.1 39.8 28.6
DirecTV 4S 101.2W 217.2 228.4 39.7 28.8
DirecTV 6 109.8W 227.3 238.5 34.6 35.8
DirecTV 5 119.0W 236.5 247.7 28.3 41.6

Also Dishnetwork has a program you can download that will give you the angles for multi satellite systems like the Dish 500........

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/installation/azimuth/index.shtml

 

[jp_vabeach]

Thanks! I appreciate the help.

 

[miller5]

Go to sadoun.com for coordinates. Should be a link to a calculator there.