This is an old post I saved from Usenet, but it's good advice around this time of year. You can go to this page to calculate the best day and time to look for obstructions.
http://perso.numericable.fr/~gjullien/satellite.htm
(Proper operation requires that Java be enabled in your browser).
Remember that you have to look for obstructions at the exact time indicated, so make sure you have an accurate time standard to go by.
From: capt@no.spamwanted.com (Capt. Video)
Subject: Solar Outage Time - great time to check for dish obstructions
Date: 1998/10/01
Message-ID: <6v0gdl$ckh$0@205.138.137.202>#1/1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Mime-Version: 1.0
Newsgroups: alt.dbs.echostar,rec.video.satellite.dbs
Solar outage time is upon us again, and what that means is that for a
few minutes each day you will lose your signal from the satellite as
the sun is directly "behind" the satellite as viewed from your dish.
The signal from the sun is many times stronger than the signal from
the satellite, so your dish loses the signal until the sun passes by.
Now if you see this happen, and you suspect that your dish's view of
the bird may be partially obstructed, you should go outside and take a
look and see if their are any shadows on your dish. We found the
shadows of a couple large leaves that were on a very small branch
coming off a nearby tree, and those leaves obstructed enough of the
signal that we gained almost 15 points in signal strength just by
hacking off that one branch. WARNING: If you see shadows, it will be
tempting to look up to see where they are coming from. If you do that
you will be looking directly into the sun! So DON'T DO THAT! Take a
long pole or something and back up until you see the shadow of the
pole touching whatver the obstruction is.
Another use for solar outage time is finding a new site for your dish.
If you don't like your present site, but are afraid to move your dish
because you have a lot of trees and don't know where you can put it,
wait until the signal fades and then go outside. Anywhere you see
sunshine with no shadows is a place that you can "see" the bird. Tape
an 18" (or 24") circle of paper or cardboard to the end of a stick
and you can hold it at the location you have in mind and see if any
shadows fall across it. Remember, once you see the outage occur, you
only have about 3-4 minues to get a fix on the location, because the
sun can move quite a bit in 15-20 minutes, so if you want to do this
have your cardboard circle ready to go.
Or if you have a friend who has wanted a dish but thinks he can't have
one because his view is obstructed by trees, wait until the outage
occurs and call him up and have him look to see if there are any
patches of sunshine falling on his property at that moment. If so,
and they're in an otherwise useable location (not right in the middle
of a swimming pool or something), that is where a dish could be
mounted.
So even though solar outages are a nuisance, they can be a big help if
you're trying to find a clear path between the satellite and your
dish. Just remember, DON'T LOOK INTO THE SUN. Not even with
sunglasses! You will not enjoy your dish nearly as much if your
retinas have been burned by the sun!
http://perso.numericable.fr/~gjullien/satellite.htm
(Proper operation requires that Java be enabled in your browser).
Remember that you have to look for obstructions at the exact time indicated, so make sure you have an accurate time standard to go by.
From: capt@no.spamwanted.com (Capt. Video)
Subject: Solar Outage Time - great time to check for dish obstructions
Date: 1998/10/01
Message-ID: <6v0gdl$ckh$0@205.138.137.202>#1/1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Mime-Version: 1.0
Newsgroups: alt.dbs.echostar,rec.video.satellite.dbs
Solar outage time is upon us again, and what that means is that for a
few minutes each day you will lose your signal from the satellite as
the sun is directly "behind" the satellite as viewed from your dish.
The signal from the sun is many times stronger than the signal from
the satellite, so your dish loses the signal until the sun passes by.
Now if you see this happen, and you suspect that your dish's view of
the bird may be partially obstructed, you should go outside and take a
look and see if their are any shadows on your dish. We found the
shadows of a couple large leaves that were on a very small branch
coming off a nearby tree, and those leaves obstructed enough of the
signal that we gained almost 15 points in signal strength just by
hacking off that one branch. WARNING: If you see shadows, it will be
tempting to look up to see where they are coming from. If you do that
you will be looking directly into the sun! So DON'T DO THAT! Take a
long pole or something and back up until you see the shadow of the
pole touching whatver the obstruction is.
Another use for solar outage time is finding a new site for your dish.
If you don't like your present site, but are afraid to move your dish
because you have a lot of trees and don't know where you can put it,
wait until the signal fades and then go outside. Anywhere you see
sunshine with no shadows is a place that you can "see" the bird. Tape
an 18" (or 24") circle of paper or cardboard to the end of a stick
and you can hold it at the location you have in mind and see if any
shadows fall across it. Remember, once you see the outage occur, you
only have about 3-4 minues to get a fix on the location, because the
sun can move quite a bit in 15-20 minutes, so if you want to do this
have your cardboard circle ready to go.
Or if you have a friend who has wanted a dish but thinks he can't have
one because his view is obstructed by trees, wait until the outage
occurs and call him up and have him look to see if there are any
patches of sunshine falling on his property at that moment. If so,
and they're in an otherwise useable location (not right in the middle
of a swimming pool or something), that is where a dish could be
mounted.
So even though solar outages are a nuisance, they can be a big help if
you're trying to find a clear path between the satellite and your
dish. Just remember, DON'T LOOK INTO THE SUN. Not even with
sunglasses! You will not enjoy your dish nearly as much if your
retinas have been burned by the sun!
