Hello all,

My name is Anthony Hidalgo and I am a soldier in the U.S. Army.  I'm new to the site, although I have been using several of the tools to adjust our satellite over the past two deployments.  This is my third deployment and second where we have been lucky enough to have internet for our platoon.  We will be moving out to a FOB in Farah Province, Afghanistan.  Currently we're running on a HX50 through the SESAT2 from Bentley Walker.

I've gotten a Generic LAT/LON for Farah and was wondering how much deviance would we see because I can't get an exact LAT/LON for the FOB we will be at. Info is as follows:

LATITUDE / LONGITUDE (FARAH PROVINCE) – 32° 25’ N, 62° 10’ E
SESAT 2
Dish elevation= 51.0
Azimuth= 193.5 (magnetic compass)
Polarisation= 14.1

W6
Dish elevation= 32.5
Azimuth= 234.8 (magnetic compass)
Polarisation= 45.7

We are thinking about switching to the W6 to obtain a FAP Free plan since we always hit our bandwidth cap.  I've had pretty good success using the integrated signal reader with the HX50 system.  I also have access to a SAT Meter, GPS and other equipment that will be helpful for the new install.  Anyone have any pointers when trying to acquire signal without having exact location given?

Thanks in advance,
SSG Anthony R. Hidalgo

My first thought is just to get a GPS fix. You can't actually set up till you're "there" anyway. As far as deriving Az/El/Pol from GPS coordinates, take PC-based satellite pointing software with you. I recommend SatFinder. Been using it for years myself.

Thanks for your service, and here's hopin' for a safe and productive 3rd deployment.

//greg//

Your lat long accuracy to 1 minute accuracy (approx 60 miles) is fine.

Best regards, Eric.

Thanks all who responded, I went ahead and downloaded the SatFinder software and installed it on my laptop so I could play around with it a little more.  The numbers given for Farah Province are slightly off from the online calculator but will give me a great starting point to putting up our dish again.  

@Greg - 4 months remaining just trying to make sure my guys will have a way to communicate with family.  This is the second year of me running the net, and it's been such a awesome morale boost for the troops.

Thanks for everything

Respectfully,
SSG Anthony R. Hidalgo