Is there a tool that satellite installers use to pinpoint the location of a satellite - mainly to see if a clear "shot" exists from a given location?
---MIKE---
New Hampshire
There are tools. But they are expensive. There is a web site that you can plug in your address and it will give you the direction to most of the commercial satelites. You can even get an overhead view of your property with directions on it.
Unless you are extremely wooded or pretty far to the north getting a clear shot at the satelites is usually possible. If you want to swag it, t's going to be somewhere between south east and south west at about 90 - the deg of latitude you are located at.
snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (---MIKE---) wrote in news:26470-4E00A84D-13385 @storefull-3173.bay.webtv.net:
I'm sure they do. But you can get away with a compass and the elevation guide supplied to you by your satellite TV company with your hardware.
There are online tools you can use, too:
Smitty Two wrote in news:prestwhich- snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:
Last time I looked up in the sky, what I saw wasn't a bird or a plane, it was Superman. Maybe I should give up eating in those cheap restaurants.
another neat way is to look up the dates and times of "sun outage" in your area for that bird.
on those days, at those times, wherever the sun is, thats where your bird is...
Mark
yes, but i have no idea what it is called. it is basically a tube they look through with a compass and elevation scales on it. It's pretty basic.
New Hampshire
When you sign up for satellite service, the provider will install and align the dish when he brings out the receiver. They also make the connections from the dish to the receiver and TV set.
If this doesn't work for you, the start up program supplied with the receiver will assist you(located at the TV set) and a helper(located at the dish) to fine tune the aligment to your location.
JoeG
Let me explain why I want this. I have two dishes for the Dish network. They have been working well for about ten years. The dishes are aimed through a hole in the trees. The problem is that the trees are growing and I would like to determine when I can expect tree branches to block the signal (and what I have to do if it happens). I would like to aim a tool at the satellite and be able at the same time to see the nearby tree branches. Possible?
---MIKE---
Yes. But a compass and a "angle finder" at Home depot in the tools dept. works too.
If you have a iPhone iPad or Android device, there is an awesome app that you just point the screen in the sky and it tells you what is there!
I am told if you reverse polarity on your dish, the flames that shoot out will clear the path for the signal again.
New Hampshire
From your second post it seems you have an arborist problem, not an alignment one. Call a tree man (One with a bucket truck) and have him open up the window in the branches.
JoeG
snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (---MIKE---) wrote in news:26470-4E00CA9F-13464 @storefull-3173.bay.webtv.net:
Very possible. I've done it myself.
Here's a simple and reasonably accurate way to determine what you want. It can be done visually, with no instruments, not even a pencil and paper.
1) Trace an imaginary line that comes out of the center of the dish, perpendicular to the plane of the dish's rim (just like the stem of an umbrella coming out of its umbrella). This line will be pointing up, away from the ground.2) Now trace a line from the center of the LNB surface to the center of the dish, where your first line came from. This will be at an angle to the umbrella-stem line.
3) Now flip the LNB-to-dish angled line, using the umbrella-stem line as the mirror line.4) Now trace that mirrored line upwards to the trees.
You can use your fingers or arms as guides to help you ensure your angles are correct.
GROVER wrote in news:c7086222-8073-4ff8-8a30- snipped-for-privacy@h17g2000yqn.googlegroups.com:
Or you can move the dish, which I've had to do twice in the 12 years we've had our dishes.
The first time was because of my neighbor's birch, which eventually blocked the signal. I moved the dish to the roof, where it came loose, then I moved it to its final spot, which is a less-than-ideal one. Then my neighbor's birch died and he cut it down. By that point I was tired of moving the dish, so I never took advantage of the birch's removal.
Yes. Anything from a compass/inclinometer to a fancy expensive purpose-built meter they hook up to the dish, to special software on a laptop that does the same thing. Compass/inclinometer (and experience) is enough for most installs- they know the direction and elevation of the birds they use- verify with a compass, and look up. (One reason it is best to get dishes installed when trees are in full leaf.) If you have two people and some walkie-talkies, you can also zero it in with most satt receivers- aim at best guess, and see if the receiver handshakes, shows the right name, and wiggle it around till you max out the signal.
If you wanna play, buy a receiver and dish at a garage sale/thrift store for 10-20 bucks, and hook it up to an old TV. You can't get any programs, but it will still read the self-id from the birds.
It gets a tad harder with a 2-way dish setup. I'd ask on the alt.dbs.* groups.
Some people prefer to install their own- the 'free professional installation' is often worth what you paid for it. Whaddaya mean you don't want a hole drilled through your living room wall behind your TV?
What I really need is a viewer with a little magnification (like a small telescope) that will also display (in the view) azimuth and compass bearing. That way I can aim at the satellite (based on its coordinates) and see if there are any branches that are too close.
---MIKE---
snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (---MIKE---) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@storefull-3171.bay.webtv.net:
This thread got me curious: what would dedicated angle-seeking device be called? Some Googling revealed the term "angle level". Maybe you can find something here, on this Google Image search:
I have another DIY suggestion involving your kid's school protractor and a spirit level, but I'll let it go for now.
Another vote for the iphone app here. Can't believe how many people are suggesting you do it the low-tech way. Good luck with that. The iphone app I used about a year ago made it a piece of cake. You look on the screen and as you move it around the skyline it will highlight all of the sats for you superimposed on the image of the sky shot through the camera. It's brilliant. I used it to relocate a directv dish after rebuilding a roof. Was able to lock on to the signal almost immediately, and then use the on-screen meters to fine tune to a high signal strength (with helper watching the screen on the end of the phone).
New Hampshire
Use geometry. Measure the distance from the ground to the center of your dish. Measure the distance across the ground from directly below the center of yourr dish to directly below the "hole" in the tree. You may need to put up a ladder and hang a weighted line to be exact. Then you have one side of a triangle. Your satelite setup will give you the degrees for your location. Calculate the height of that side of the triangle, add the distance the center of your dish is from the ground. You get the height of your "hole" in the trees.
Maybe a tree trimmer would be an easier solution?
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