Need how-to on my own site survey

[hancox]

So - looking to check out LOS for the 5 D* birds that are forthcoming, or at the very least, the current 3 LNB Dish. I currently get pretty good #'s with a Dish500, so I'm most concerned about anything left of 110, as I have some ominous trees.


I'm thinking I need at least:

1) compass
2) Sat finder (?) - The one from dishstore?

Figuring the FTA guys are snickering at how easy this is

 

[Mr Tony]

hee hee

you need a compass for sure. Use a paper towel roll for elevation. If you see tree in view, then you may have some LOS issues.

PSB will know a little more

 

[PSB]

If you have a good line of sight with the Dish 500, the 101 DirecTV satellite is only 9 deg. to the left of where the Dish 500 points (110+119). I use one of these for site surveys but you can also make one from cardboard and a compass, but this one pinpoints the satellites in the sky when you close one eye and open the other, and can be used over and over, on a side note if your installer does not have one of these he is not a satellite installer!

http://www.dmsiusa.com/site_survey.htm

 

[hancox]

yeah - I'm more concerned about the ones left of 101 (the 2 they're adding). I might not need them in my DMA (NYC), but it's something that might factor in my decision to switch from E* vs stay.

Aside from the survey, I'm wondering if the D* birds (5 of them) will follow the same skew pattern as they do now, with 101 being higher in the sky than 110, and 100 than 119. Anyone know?

 

[Mr Tony]

It all depends on location

As an example, My ExpressVu system (82 & 91) I dont have to skew. They're even with each other (the elevation difference is about a degree)

being on the east coast, I have a feeling the new satellites would be higher than the 101, 110 & 119

 

[hancox]

that would certainly aid my possible LOS problem, unless it's too far left (61.5 is highest in the sky for me, but a fairly massive tree takes that out for me).

Why can't D* have a neato program like E* for things like this?

 

[Mr Tony]

Well I went to here
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Installation/Satellite-Heading-Calculator.htm

and put in NYC as the city and here is some elevation notes

119-24.5
110-30.4
101-35.4
72.5-42.9 (!!)

I dont jknow exactly what satellites Direct is going to use, but go to the above and play around. You can even put your latitude & longitude in there

 

[hancox]

close The 103, 99, and 91's are guesses based on the current birds there

119 - 23.7
110 - 29.5
103 - 33.6
101 - 31.6
99 - 35.5
91 - 39.1

thanks Iceberg - exactly what I was after.


Can you explain "Use a paper towel roll for elevation?" Maybe I just need another cup of coffee, but I'm not getting you

 

[Mr Tony]

What Pete posted above.....I use a cardboard tube and get a real close to the elevation of where I need to put the dish. If I see trees, then I might have LOS issues.

I might be moving, so when I've been looking at houses, I walk around with my compass and cardboard tube to make sure I have LOS

 

[PSB]

Cut out a 6" bit of cardboard, cut it into a triangle using your elevation angle for the satellite you are aiming for, then hold the bottom edge parallel to the ground and look up along the top edge of the cardboard to see if you have a clear line of sight.

 

[hancox]

great tip - would I need to account for skew?

 

[jimisham]

If you can wait two or three weeks, you'll be able to use the sun to see if you have a clear shot. http://perso.numericable.fr/~gjullien/satellite.htm

 

[hancox]

BUMP!

I was hoping someone would repost that - VERY helpful!

 

[CablerMN]

Broke down and picked one of these up:

http://www.alignasite.com (just the tool not the mount)

Took it out to a DiRECWAY site we've thought to be impossible to install at. 10 minutes of looking through the viewfinder found a spot that I still thought was impossible. The guys sunk a pole, aligned, peaked & cross-polled and the customer is surfing.

All the trucks will be getting one, they'll pay for themselves in the jobs we'll save from aborting for LOS issues.

FWIW!

 

[hancox]

I'm "reviving" this thread to sanity check - also some good info...

1) The 2 new spaceways coming are at 99 and 91, correct? Am I right that they should be close to the FTA birds for aiming purposes?

2) I lost my orienteering merit badge. I can't remember how to account for mag. declination. Can someone point me to how I line these up with a compass? (I have a -14 deviation around me, I believe)

 

[hancox]

As for aiming - this site works well for everything:

http://home.att.net/~tarek/azel1.htm

 

[hancox]

a-talkin' to myself, but...

It's 99/101/103/110/119 WOOHOO!

 

[Mr Tony]

I'm "reviving" this thread to sanity check - also some good info...

1) The 2 new spaceways coming are at 99 and 91, correct? Am I right that they should be close to the FTA birds for aiming purposes?

91 has DBS and FTA there (DBS being ExpressVu). 99 has some FTA stuff, but its a different animal (Digicipher II) so a regular FAT receiver wouldnt work