How Low Can You GO?

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Magic Static

SatelliteGuys Master
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Oct 12, 2010
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The closest to the horizon I seem to go before I don't get anymore sats is 12.5° elevation. Below that everything seems to be mushy. So I was wondering how low can you go? That is with normal equipment. I don't get anything east of 55.5W. But 50.0W is still 8.5° in elevation. Is it reasonable to expect to get those?
 
I would love to be able to see 30W, but that is definately not gonna happen :(. I might be just into the mountain at that elevation. Next time I'm on the roof at the heighth of the dish I'll have to take a sighting of the horizon from there.
 
From my location in Southern California I can see as far down as 45w which is at an elevation of 5.5deg. This is using Brex2001's old Orbitron SX10 and the MicroHD.

Sempre ubi sub ubi
 
I have 30W at 6° on a 1.2m. Think it's overkill and a 30 inch would be sufficient except for weather events east of here. I know a while back, (when 30W just became a hot subject) someone north of me near Hudson Bay got it at 4°(or + slightly) and (I think) a 90cm.
What is the angle to the mountain top from the ground? Moving up 20 ft isn't going to change the angle that much. (unless it's not that tall or you're really close)
 
Too many trees to get 30W here even if I put the antenna 20 feet above ground. I suppose I could put my 1m at the top of my 48 foot tower where I'd definitly have a clear view on the eastern horizon........
 
I have 30W at 6° on a 1.2m. Think it's overkill and a 30 inch would be sufficient except for weather events east of here. I know a while back, (when 30W just became a hot subject) someone north of me near Hudson Bay got it at 4°(or + slightly) and (I think) a 90cm.
What is the angle to the mountain top from the ground? Moving up 20 ft isn't going to change the angle that much. (unless it's not that tall or you're really close)
4° wow. I should be able to pick up 50W then. I went and taped a straw to my angle finder and sighted the top of the mountain. From the ground I get 7.8° to the mountain top.

50W 002.JPG50W 004.JPG50W 006.JPG

I think it's right between the light pole and the rooftop on the right, just above the hilltop. It's close.
 
Here in NJ, I can go from 15w to 125W by moving my 1 Meter motorized dish around the front of the house. I get most of the eastern arch 15w to 50w by aiming the dish between the houses accross the street from me. Dish pointer is the best tool for maneuvering the dish to the correct spots. I have tried to get 12.5w but USAL ends out around 15w. Tried a couple of times to get 12.5w manually with out much success.

I can take the dish down by Barnegat Bay and manually get 12.5w, I have done that a couple of years ago. There is even a thread on it, the satellite was call Atlantic Bird 2, today it has new name Eutelsat 12 West A.
 
I haven't tried yet with a fixed Ku band dish, but on my C Band dish, about the lowest I can go is 45W, but the limitation is the actuator arm is in as far as I can make it go, so I stopped at 50W C Band.

And what's REALLY stupid about this (I hate to admit this) but I failed on two accounts, I was looking for 30W (not the 50W I found) and I was doing it with a C Band dish, not Ku Band.

Pretty stupid, eh?

Oh, this from 90 miles south of Las Vegas, 70 miles south of Hoover/Bolder dam.

But the really GOOD thing is, I now have a really great alignment on the entire arc from 50W to 139W, though I don't have an H2H motor, just a short actuator arm (so far).

Photto
 

- - 50.0W is still 8.5° in elevation - - From the ground I get 7.8° to the mountain top
With that mountain at 7.8°, 50W at 8.5, your 'effective' elevation is only, no, less than 1°
Going to the roof isn't, unfortunately, going to get signal from 30W.
(Need HAAT for the mountain and distance to to calculate receiving antenna height, but it's going to be HIGH)
 
Here in Ct i can get lower than 30 on my 1 meter ku dish but havent found anything lower than 30 (maybe due to some trees) up to 135w.With my 6 ftr c/ku dish i can also get from 30 to 135w but dish tends to get alittle unstable at 30 or less.
 
Toronto Canada 12.5 atlantic the last Tv pampa Toronto 30 west 36 inch, t12 1.2m, Eutelsat 12.5 1.2 meter c band 55.5 west good and 45 west day no good after 7to 8 pm ok on the colder weather the 45 are ok on the summer not good on the day
 
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I used to be able to go to 58W but my current dish sees 45W-45E.

58W sure is a funny looking position to look at the dish here in the UK on a diseqc motor.
 
I can receive 15W - 129W on my Ku dish. I'm sure I can go a few degrees lower, but there's nothing there to test. There's nothing above 129W for a Ku dish either.
 
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